Pain behind knee - can't pull on pedal!!

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Hi

I have suffered knee pain behind left knee after getting back on bike after an 18 mth lay-off with lower back injury. I foolishly raced once with the knee injury and have never been able to ride properly again (13 yrs).

Symptoms

I can't pull on the pedal without incurring a very intense ache behind the knee and deep inside the top of the calf (inner).
This pain usually doesn't come on immediately but after a couple hours after I have stopped and can last days/weeks with varying degrees of intensity (in fact it never really goes away).
I also cannot curl my leg when laid on my front without an increasing pulling sensation down my inside calf and the feeling of 'twanging' hamstring tendons just above the back of my knee.
I have a soft swelling just above the crook of my knee that isn't apparent on the other. The size increases with exercise and the hamstring tendon next to it (the one that twangs) can become very sore (but eases with massage)
I tore my hamstring when the 18 mth lay-off was in force and this does feel weaker than the right. Don't know if this is important
Sorry for all the symptoms but the docs/Physios can't find anything wrong and an MRI shows nothing although it did show a meniscus tear that has been repaired..

Has anyone suffered from any of these symptoms and were you diagnosed and treated correctly?

that looks easy to fix..
just do yoga exercises that focus on the knee; it should then be relatively easy to treat afterwards (I mean recovery)
Japheth

Not sure where you are. I'd suggest a call to your local elite football team and find out who they send their players to, and then go see them.

The only qualifier I'd add is that most of them are used to dealing with trauma-type injuries where yours seems to have a repetitive/overuse strain element.

On that front you might want to track down through your local elite cycling federation who they know the top guys use, and then go see them as well.

What is clear is that your problem won't heal by itself and you need at the very least some well-informed advice. The good news is the knee is a relatively simple joint, is therefore well understood and able to be treated effectively.

that looks easy to fix..
just do yoga exercises that focus on the knee; it should then be relatively easy to treat afterwards (I mean recovery)
Japheth Yeah, I have started to get some remedial massage and it is helping. The masseur has said my legs are totally knotted up and this could be putting the strain on the knee so hopefully once this is remedied I can move on to something like yoga. Thanks for the advice.

Not sure where you are. I'd suggest a call to your local elite football team and find out who they send their players to, and then go see them.

The only qualifier I'd add is that most of them are used to dealing with trauma-type injuries where yours seems to have a repetitive/overuse strain element.

On that front you might want to track down through your local elite cycling federation who they know the top guys use, and then go see them as well.

What is clear is that your problem won't heal by itself and you need at the very least some well-informed advice. The good news is the knee is a relatively simple joint, is therefore well understood and able to be treated effectively.Trying different things including massage. Gonna get myself to a sports injury specialist if the problem is still there after the massage etc. Cheers for the advice.