What causes your knee to lock up? Hint: It’s not the meniscus
I hear it everyday – someone comes in after getting meniscus surgery because their knee was locking up and they still have pain. Patients with locked knee usually notice their knee locks up when going from sitting to standing or for no reason at all. The theory goes that a piece of a torn meniscus gets in the way and doesn’t let your knee unlock. But here’s the thing, there isn’t much scientific evidence that this meniscus surgery is necessary. What if I told you there was a key muscle in the back of your knee that unlocks it and most doctors completely forget about it and just go straight to surgery.