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I have this knee problem developed during hiking; it is only on my right knee,

The syndrome is that when I am walking downhill, when my foot strikes the ground my knee hurts, it is not regular pain, but rather I feel like a inside muscle or tendon that is underneath my knee feel intense sore, and during this pain, my knee cannot exert any pressure on it (which can be very dangerous going downhill), this ONLY happens when my feet contact the ground and my knee is bend, however if my foot strike the ground and I try to keep my leg straight, I don’t feel any problems.

Also this only happens when I am going down slope; I have absolutely no problem whatsoever walking up hill, no pain, nothing.

So now when I try to walk downhill if the slope is not very steep, before my right feet hit the ground, I try to snap my leg straight so that my knee is not bending. Or if the slope is too steep, I use both of my pole to push the ground as hard as possible before my right leg hit the ground, however I still feel some pain, but it is a lot better.

I also find that before the problem gets worse, if I just rest for 5-10 minutes, my knee feels fine, however if I ignore the problem and keep going, I can get to the point there even if I am walking up or straight level, when I lift my right leg, my knee still feel something, just from my lifting up my lower leg, and the force it exerts connecting to the knee.

when I first had it, I thought it was just a small problem, so I took 1 week off from hiking, when I went back the next week, as usual walking uphill was no problem, but as soon as I was walking down, the problem come back. Then I took about 2 month off, I want to hiking last week for the first time, and as usual, as soon as I start hiking down, the problem come back, luckily, I was able to use that straight leg technique, hiking pole and constant break to make sure the problem didn’t get too bad. But it took me 2x as long going down than going up.

I didn’t take a lot precaution when I first felt pain, I just kept on walking which make it worse, when I went home, the knee was swollen, and if I try to touch the right side of the knee cap and try to dig finger deeper, I can feel the muscle or tendon that is feeling the problem, the pain/sourness goes right underneath the knee cap.

Sorry for the long post, I had doctors look at it and they find no problems, but I don’t think they specialize in sports related injuries, and my insurance does not cover that kind of doctor visit, because after the hiking, I recover in as little as few hours to a day, so this is not like some kind of problem that is effecting my daily life.

So I guess many people on this forum are into hiking, so maybe someone can help me to solve this problem, because I really need my hiking back, because I am already getting FAT from doing nothing.

Hi, I have some similar experience in my past. This is what helped me: http://www.amazon.com/Trigger-Point-The ... 1572243759. Basically it's the trigger point model. Check it out briefly on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_point. I'm not going to bother explaining the model because there's so much info out there on the internet, but in my personal experience this is by far the best way to treat most joint pain of any sort, when there's not actually an acute injury. You may actually have an injury, like a sprain for example, that doctors just aren't finding (in which case this stuff won't help you much), but it's a lot more likely that there is truly no "injury" and that the problem stems originally from your muscles, probably your quads. Essentially you can fix it with targeted self massage, and that book will tell you more about it. You can also find free info out there on the internet if you like but you might have to search a little harder. In my opinion, just get the book, it has been a life-saver for me! I've been doing all the running/hiking/climbing I desire to do and have been pain-free for 2+ years ever since I discovered it. Beforehand I would have nagging "injuries" like that all the time.

A general practitioner or even an orthopedist just doesn't have the tools to diagnose or treat a minor joint injury with much specificity. Cartilage doesn't show up very well on X-rays. Your doc might suggest a steroid injection which would help with inflammation, but it doesn't sound like your knee is inflamed all the time, just that it hurts in one particular situation.

Get yourself to a physical therapist. Your insurance might require a prescription from an orthopedist, which might require a referral from a general practitioner. But you should have no problem getting that.

I am already getting FAT from doing nothing.

And every insurance company knows that obesity => a long list of expensive medical problems sooner or later.

You likely have patellafemoral pain syndrome, or possibly patella tendonitis. I'm guessing PF pain because you say it hurts under the kneecap, and especially because it hurts when the knee is bent, but not straight.

Basically, the cartilage or fatpad material between the kneecap and femur are meant to keep good cushioning and also allow the kneecap (patella) to slide. If these tissues get aggravated or inflamed, then you'll have pain whenever the patella is pushed down into the tissue. When you contracts your quadriceps muscles, they pull on the patella. When the knee is bent and you activate the quadriceps, you are effecitively pulling down on the patella, which will aggravate the pain.

I would go to a specialist. But in general, at best you may have a muscle imbalance that is forcing the patella "off-track" into a bad position, or you there is structural damage in the tissue underneath. Good luck, and let us know what you find out.