Mildly Strained The PCL

Kinda strained the right knee. At the back. The back tendons were a tad painful. There was a light pop and a tendon or ligament went around the world (knee) and snapped back. WALAOEH. That rolling sensation hurt! I wasn't even doing anything. I was in a gym class, but not moving. I was done with a set and was going to sit down from a kneeling position. 

The last few times I had that over the years, were when I was squatting to water plants or mopping the floor on my knees and an odd bent angle caused the roll. That would either be the ITB (iliotibial band) or popliteus tendon to the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament).  

ChatGPT's fairly thorough explanation and a deep understanding of my body and weak points allowed me to pinpoint the strain. It's really due to weak glutes and weaker (or tight) hip abductors that caused excessive knee valgus (knees caving in), which will lead to that rolling sensation and pain. 

This sort of 'pain' goes away in two hours, and in two days, with the correct stretches, I'm back to 100%. It's a minor mechanical issue and not a significant injury. I've never gone so deep reading about VOP! Valgus Overload Prevention. I'm trying to prevent repetitive valgus stress so that the I don't actually get a full injury. Valgus stress on the medial side leads to MCL (medial collateral ligament) injuries. An ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury would be even worse.

After that rolling pain, I iced that knee. I didn't have to hobble. While I don't have much issues with regular and functional movement be in kneeling or squatting or going down stairs, I noticed that in the day after the injury, I can't deep squat comfortably. The strained muscles and tendons in the back of the right knee twinged a little in a deep squat. So I know it's not 100% and I shouldn't push it. Luckily Pilates and Gyrotonic sorted me out. The final spirals and rotation at Gyrotonic resulted in a magical 'click' in the right knee and the last little bit of spasm cleared. Whewwwww.

I know I need to strengthen the posterior chain — glutes, hamstrings and especially my hips. Otherwise I would really have to hustle to the orthopaedic clinic. Thanks to strength training, I am very much stronger now, but in ratio, the hamstrings and glutes are still weak! OMG. And both my knees having a habit rotating inwards or outwards too much. Ugh.