I've been having some problems with my left knee the last couple of months. When I kneel, sit Indian style or bend my knee in anyway, it hurts to straighten it out. It was minor at first but now it's getting rather painful. As long as I stay standing, it's fine. I can run, jump, and everything without a problem. I play flag football once a week and never have a problem. It's just painful when straightening it out. I was hoping to avoid going to the doctor, but it's not getting any better. Any ideas what it could be?

Which part of the knee is painful? And if you've been standing for a long time does it hurt to bend it completely? Also, does it hurt to straighten even if you've only bent your knee for a few seconds? Or do you have to keep your knee bent for a while and then it hurts when standing?

Left side of my left knee. If I bend it farther than 90 for just a second it hurts wheb i straighten it back out. But I can stand, walk, run etc. for extended length of time with no problem until I kneel down and stand back up.

Have you tried poking around the entire joint with your finger to look for tender spots? Hard to say based off your description, but I had a similar issue in the back part of my knee in an area called the popliteal fossa. The doc I saw said it might be a baker's cyst, however I feel as though it was a soft tissue strain. Either way, lots of rest, along with preventing my knee from going into complete extension, as well as minimizing how much I had to bend it, over the course of about 3-4 months seemed to heal it.

If it's exactly left lateral knee, at the area between the femur and tibia, I'd maybe be concerned for a lateral collateral ligament sprain. Try ice for a few days, even though it isn't acute, and then just stop all activity for at least 2-3 weeks and see if there's any improvement by slowly bending and straightening your knee in small increments. And as soon as you think you're better, give it another 2-3 weeks before you do anything. If nothing improves, even a little, in 3-4 weeks, definitely see a doctor.

You may just be getting old.

Thanks for the info, however it will now be getting plenty of rest. I snapped my right leg in half on Sunday playing FLAG football. Bone sticking out of my skin kind of pain. I now have a titanium rod from my knee to my ankle. With the knee pain I was having, I was thinking of not playing anymore. Guess my decision has been made for me.

Wow. Get well soon.

Sorry to hear that. And yeah, getting old sucks.