I’m looking for experiences from people who have had knee effusion or excess synovial fluid after overloading the knee, especially without pain.

The issue started after a very high-load few days:

- Saturday: 3–3.5-hour hilly march with a 26 kg backpack

- Sunday: 100 km bike ride

- Monday: another 40 km bike ride, including nine one-minute intervals above 300 watts, also fixed the lawnmower and sat on my knees for 30min.

While walking to swimming, I felt a brief needle-like or sticking sensation behind and toward the outside of my knee. It wasn’t really painful, but later the knee started filling with fluid. It felt like a balloon inside the joint, particularly when bending it fully.

The knee still felt strong and stable. I had no real pain, no problems bearing weight, and no reduced skin sensation. The main symptom was pressure from the fluid and reduced range of motion when bending the knee.

I was assessed by an orthopedic doctor 14h after. They believed the joint lining had become irritated from the high training load and was producing too much synovial fluid. They aspirated 39 ml of clear fluid from the knee. According to them, there were no obvious signs of infection or significant inflammation.

The knee felt much better immediately after the aspiration, and the balloon sensation disappeared. I was advised to avoid loading it for 48 hours, take ibuprofen, and then gradually test the knee based on symptoms.

However, some fluid returned afterward—probably around 20–30 ml. It still wasn’t painful, but the knee again felt slightly restricted when bending fully.

Interestingly, activity has not necessarily made it feel worse. I did 10 × 200 m swimming intervals after 24h, and the stiffness and swelling actually felt somewhat better afterward.

48h after I ran seven × 400 m intervals. My average time was about 1:16, and the final interval was 1:12. The knee felt very good while running. There was no pain, instability, weakness, or unusual sensation. The only limitation was probably around 10% reduced range of motion because of the remaining fluid.

After the session, the fluid did not seem noticeably worse.

Has anyone experienced a similar painless knee effusion caused by overtraining or a sudden increase in cycling, marching, or running volume?

How long did it take for the fluid to disappear completely? Did you continue training while monitoring the swelling, or did you need complete rest? Did the knee sometimes feel better after exercise even though fluid was still present?

I understand that individual stories aren’t medical advice. I’m mainly interested in hearing about comparable cases and how the knee responded over the following days and weeks.

I tripped over a root and my knee landed directly on another one pretty hard like really hard and it went up now after like a hour or so it looks like all the ligaments or whatever around the knee bones are social distancing

For ref a photo of me regular bruises I took the night before and rn

It hurts like hell but I really dont want to go to the doctor if I can avoid it

Is this something I can just take advil and tough it out or does it look too fucked up bc it feels too fucked up

2.5 years searching for someone with the same pattern and coming up empty, so trying Reddit directly.

Standing still in one spot = my worst trigger, pain builds within a couple minutes

Walking is noticeably easier than standing.

Hiking, especially uphill, is genuinely one of the best things my knees do — better than standing.

Sitting causes discomfort more than pain.

Pain sits mostly just below the kneecap, sometimes above too.

Both knees, no clear cause (no dislocation, no instability episode)

Stairs are fine — no swelling, ever

Multiple MRIs, several orthopaedic surgeons, sports med docs, physios. Main finding: patella alta, plus hypermobility that nobody's tied to the pattern.

Months of structured physio and gym work haven't touched the standing-vs-walking split.

Not fishing for a diagnosis here — just want to know if anyone else's knees work like this.

Did you get a diagnosis?

Did your MRI show much?

Did anything actually help?

Did you find a doctor/physio who got it?

Hey all,
Multi ligament injuries are very rare and have one of the toughest recoveries. Usually it’s an acl tear paired with other ligaments and require a massive surgery were all ligaments are reconstructed using usually a mix of allograft (donated tissue) and auto graph (own tissue).

I tore my ACL + PCL + PLC in a car crash back in march and just had surgery 16 days ago to repair all the ligaments. My post op protocol has me locked in a PCL bolster brace at 0° and NWB for 6 weeks, then locked at 90° for another 6 weeks while weight bearing as tolerated. Currently my knee is still super swollen as I can’t even make out my knee cap and it feels very unstable. I am mobile using crutches but the straight leg makes it very hard to sit in chairs normally. Current PT is very limited as surgeons want to protect the graphs as much as possible.

This is my story but I am very interested to hear of other people’s stories if they have gone through a similar injury

About 2.5 years ago, my right kneecap dislocated after delivering a hard low kick to someone's thigh during sparring.

The ambulance arrived and was able to reduce the dislocation within 20–30 minutes. After that, my leg was placed in a cast for one week, followed by six weeks in a brace. Once I was cleared by the doctor, I gradually returned to training.

My kneecap felt completely normal again and never felt unstable. Over time, I worked my way back up to training three times a week, including sparring twice a week.

Two days ago

Two days ago, while blocking a kick with my left leg, my right kneecap dislocated again.

The ambulance arrived and attempted to reduce it twice using fentanyl, but they were unsuccessful. At the hospital, I was given morphine three times, and another reduction attempt also failed.

Eventually, the kneecap was put back into place under general anesthesia, and my leg was placed in a cast.

Apparently, my quadriceps muscles were so strong that they prevented the kneecap from being reduced while I was awake.

In total, it took about two hours before my kneecap was successfully put back into place.

At the moment, the pain is manageable. The orthopedic team is planning to follow the same treatment approach as last time: a short period in a cast, followed by a brace and physiotherapy.

I'm a 30-year-old male, physically fit, and before this injury I trained kickboxing three times a week, including two sparring sessions.

What can I expect?

Ill never forget the pain of the docs shoving and twisting trying to get my patella back in. Eventually they couldnt get it back in so i needed to be sedated so they could be 'more' aggressive with it.

Traumatised lol

Ill be doing those exercises forever. How is anyone else dealing with physio?

I've been dealing with bone marrow edema in my left knee, likely caused by a prior meniscus repair from a few years back. I'm currently off running and focusing on cycling, swimming, and rowing, plus rehab exercises. My ortho has essentially put running on indefinite hold, but I'm not ready to give it up completely. Has anyone here gone through something similar and found a way back? Would love to hear what worked for you, whether it’s PT strategies, cross-training advice, or just your long-term perspective.

TIA!

I'm 23 years old and I've developed pain behind my right knee

The strange part is that I haven't exercised or done any intense running for about a week, and the pain seemed to appear without any obvious injury.

My symptoms:

Pain is mainly behind the knee and extends slightly into the upper calf (I've attached a photo showing the painful area).

The pain isn't constant but whhen I bend my knee fully (heel towards my hip) and then straighten it the pop sound is regular

For About 25 to 35% of the time, that pop is painful

I can still walk, but I'm worried because it appeared without any clear cause.

Right knee pain for around 11 months

**Age:** 34
**Sex:** Male
**Height:** 185 cm (6'1")
**Weight:** 101 kg (223 lbs)
**Race:** Caucasian
**Location:** Denmark

I've been dealing with significant pain in my **right knee** for the past **11 months**, and despite seeing multiple doctors and physiotherapists, I still don't have a diagnosis or a treatment plan that has helped.

# How it started

I have a history of strength training, running, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Around **August 2025**, I spent about a month running approximately **2 km to and from my BJJ classes**. There wasn't a specific injury, twist, fall, or moment where I felt something "go." The pain developed gradually during that period.

Since then, the pain has never completely gone away.
It fluctuates between better and worse days, but I'm never pain-free, and I feel it has slowly become worse overall.

# Pain location

The pain feels like it's **deep in the front-middle of the knee, underneath the kneecap**. I can't pinpoint it with one finger, and pressing around the kneecap or patellar tendon doesn't reproduce the pain.

There has never been any noticeable swelling, redness, or warmth.

# What makes it hurt

The pain is almost entirely related to **movement**, especially when the knee is **weight-bearing**.

As soon as I begin squatting (around **30° of knee flexion**), the pain starts and progressively worsens. It is most severe just before **90° of knee flexion.**
Once I'm no longer weight-bearing, the pain largely disappears. For example, I can sit on my heels without much pain, but **getting into and out of that position is very painful**.

Activities that consistently hurt include:

* Squats
* Walking up and down stairs
* Standing up from a chair and sitting down
* Cycling
* Kneeling (it feels like there isn't enough space inside the knee)

Activities that cause little or no pain:

* Walking on flat ground
* Sitting
* Sleeping
* Jogging is mostly pain-free while I'm running, but the knee often becomes much more painful afterward.
* Spanish Squat

# Other symptoms

* My knee feels unstable, although it has never actually given way.
* There is frequent grinding (crepitus) and uncomfortable clicking.
* I have full range of motion, but parts of that range are painful.
* When lying on my back and extending my leg in the air (non-weight-bearing), extending the knee is painful and produces significant clicking.

# What I've tried

I've spent months trying to strengthen the leg with exercises that are tolerable, including:

* Leg extensions
* Leg curls
* Leg press (limited range of motion)
* Spanish squats (usually tolerated)
* Slow step-ups and step-downs

(Weight training for around 6-8 months without success)

I've also done a significant amount of stretching. Stretching temporarily reduces the pain for approximately **20–30 minutes**, with **psoas/hip flexor stretches** seeming to provide the most relief.

Despite consistently trying rehabilitation exercises, I haven't experienced any meaningful long-term improvement.

# Pain severity

During activities that require bending the knee under load, I'd rate the pain around **6/10**, sometimes higher.

# Medical evaluation

I've seen **three different physiotherapists**, all of whom have suggested different possible causes, including:

* J-sign / possible lateral patellar tracking
* Runner's knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome)
* Meniscus injury

All three agreed that my ligaments appear to be intact and advised progressive strengthening without provoking pain, but this hasn't improved the problem.

I've also seen multiple doctors in Denmark. None have been willing to order imaging (X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI), and I've essentially been referred back to physiotherapy each time.

# Impact

This has had a major impact on my quality of life. I've had to significantly reduce my training, I've started walking with a limp, and over time I've also developed hip and lower back pain, which I suspect may be related to altered movement patterns.

The ongoing pain and lack of answers have also taken a significant toll on my mental health.

**My main question is:** based on these symptoms and the fact that this has persisted for nearly a year despite rehabilitation, what diagnoses should be considered, and do you think I should be pushing harder for an MRI or referral to an orthopedic knee specialist?

Any further ideas or tips and tricks would be very highly appreciated.

I can provide a link to show the clicking in my right knee if someone think that might help

I also think it's worth mentioning that if i press my kneecap down and move it up and down it feels like it's on a very unstable surface, like it's rolling on pebbels.

(Due to the face that english is not my first language i asked chatGPT to rewrite my summary)

Has anyone felt with Proximal tibiofibular joint (PTFJ) instability?

Every time I squat, lunge, or do prone leg curls, I feel it popping in and out. You can also feel it if you place your hand on it.

I’ve already had surgery on my left shoulder due to hyper mobility issues.

I’m a d1 athlete trying to get through my last 2 seasons, but with horrible PT and surgeons at school (had to have a revision surgery on my shoulder due to the horrible PT and surgeon work) I’m at a loss on what to do next.

Been having some "new" knee issues that I just got the results of an MRI back for. Trying to see if there's a trend of issues people generally start having after a TTO or my knee is just perpetually deranged 😅

This knee, I had a cartilage cleanup when I was 12 (27 years ago) and then eventually had a TTO that'll be 17 years old in a few weeks. I've never had an issue since then, though the last few years it's been more achy, and after a recent fall backpacking I got an MRI for a suspected meniscus tear (that was negative) but identified a lot of other issues that are relative to the pain I'm having, but also seem relevant to the TTO.

I (38m) am not new to injuries that require surgery - I’ve had two in each shoulder and two in my right knee including an ACL tear.

Recently coming down the stairs of my home, I tripped over a dog gate at the bottom that I’ve walked over hundreds of times but ended up taking a really hard fall on the right, inward side of my left knee along with the rest of my body. It hurt bad and I was down for a few minutes, and babied it/limped for a handful of days. I didn’t feel or hear a pop, it was more like a crash landing than any type of twist as far as I could tell.

This happened on July 11th and at the suggestion of a friend who is a physical therapist, I gave it some time before making an orthopedic appointment. The last 5 or so days have felt a good bit better, I can walk normally with a little soreness, I’m fine on stairs usually if I take it slow, but I do occasionally get a sharp pain where (at least according to Google) my mcl is but also basically where I landed from the fall. No clicking or popping etc. I also get some overall general soreness still at times and while I do have full range of motion, it definitely doesn’t just feel 100% and feels a little weak (which could be the injury or babying it). I had my ortho appointment yesterday and assumed he would the physical examination and also set up an mri to be safe.

He did the various twists and pulls of my leg and knee to check for instability and pain and for the most part I - to my surprise - didn’t have any pain during those movements. He said he thinks I likely am spared from something serious and that it may be a deep bruise from the fall - and that I can start up my exercise routine again in a week or so but start light, refrain from full squats at first, etc and come back to see him in 6 weeks to confirm it’s better or if not, likely get imaging.

I don’t know how to feel about this. Of course I would be thrilled if nothing tore - I recently bought a home and if I needed surgery I would likely need to live with my parents during recovery to help with my dog and I. But the fact that it’s sore and still doesn’t feel right despite having full ROM and not having constant pain, had me wondering if I should have pushed harder for an MRI.

I guess I’m wondering have any of you just had a deep bruise, and how much weight/accuracy should I give to the physical examination versus getting an MRI right away so we’re not wasting time? I hate that my brain continues to wonder if anything else is wrong because we don’t have definitive proof, but it’s just what it does given previous injuries.

Hi everyone, 25M here.

I've been dealing with pain in the left knee(I can't actually pinpoint the location because I feel like the entire knee is hurting) sometimes it moves around on the top of the knee and sometimes on the bottom.

I experience pain right after running for even 30 seconds.

I experience pain after sitting on my desk for more than an hour(I'm a software engineer so that's something I need to do but for now I lie down in the bed and work from there)

I experience mild pain while even resting sometimes.

Any sort of sports activity increases the pain. I have stopped going out, going on hikes or runs or even the gym.

I feel quite depressed at times because I'm still very young and this stupid thing has stopped me from doing 80% of the things that I used to do. I got my knee checked up and the MRI only showed a bit of fluid in my knee and rest all was fine.

What do I do? How do I fix this damn thing?

Glue exercises work for me, it takes some pain off of my knee.

Any sort of quad related strengthening increases the pain exponentially for some reason.

How do I solve this?

PLEASE HELP! I'M DESPERATE 🥺🫠

Many people focus on the surgery itself, but I'd argue that the first 6–12 weeks of rehabilitation are just as important.

Gentle movement, strengthening exercises, and following your rehabilitation plan usually have a big impact on long-term function.

Which part of recovery did you find the most challenging?

• Pain control
• Sleeping
• Physiotherapy
• Regaining confidence while walking

So I fell in the shower hitting my knee again the tub wall. I have bruising and a bump little pass my knee and a bit lower. How do I tell the difference between it just being a bump or something else is going on. I can walk on it and there very little pain.

Calling all MPFL survivors (💀)

How long before you were walking unassisted? (no crutches, walkers, etc)

How long did you do PT for?

Overall do you feel like the surgery was a good thing or you could’ve just dealt with more dislocations?

I am 2 weeks post op and just curious what everyone else’s journey looked liked.

TYIA

Ill never forget the pain of the docs shoving and twisting trying to get my patella back in. Eventually they couldnt get it back in so i needed to be sedated so they could be 'more' aggressive with it.

Traumatised lol

Ill be doing those exercises forever. How is anyone else dealing with physio?