grapplers: carpenter's knee?

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Street/Reality Fighting
1

Hello,

I took some time off from my BJJ school lately. Two weeks ago when I had finished class my right knee felt a bit sore. I get sore very frequently whenever I practice, so I decided that it wasn’t too big of a deal.

The next time I had a class, we opened with a drill involving rapidly shifting from crossbody to mount to crossbody (some kind of warm-up). What I discovered was that every time my right knee touched the mat I felt
PAIN. Lots of it.

I didn’t see any bruise, and I felt perfect walking around, sitting, and basically everything else. However, whenever that knee touched the ground it really hurt. I decided that taking some time off would get rid of whatever was bothering my knee, and I did seem to get better.

However, after going to class today I found that my knee hurt as much as it had two weeks ago. After some discussion with my instructor, I was told that what I had was a common wrestling problem called carpenter’s knee. He said that there was no structural problem, and that I should ice the are 3 times a day for 20 minutes (will do.) He also said that I could continue going to class, which I plan on doing. (I’ll probably have to stop rolling for a while, though).

HERE’S MY QUESTION(S): Have any of you heard of this type of problem? If you have, what are some ways to help get rid of it?

This definitely isn’t even close to a major injury, and I’m sure most of you have had worse. However, it does seem to adversely affect my ability to learn, so I would appreciate any advice.

2

I would go see a doctor.You may have torn your maniscus or worse.Dont just take his word for it and keep training.You may do more damage that way.See a doctor.

3

I was considering that, too. It seems to take a long time to get appointments, though. I was thinking that by the time an appointment came around, I would already be healed.

Maybe I should just make an appointment, and then cancel it later.

Has anyone actually heard of carpenter’s knee, though? Anyone? Since it’s supposed to be a common type of injury I thought someone might know.

4

Talk to a stripper. I’m serious, they are always dancing around on their knees picking up dollar bills. I talked to some after work and they were bitching about their knees and showed me the huge callouses they developed. Ice might help, but I’m no expert, you had better go to a doctor or a stripper