So about a month and a half ago i (I'm a 26 year old male, very active, no real injuries, although i mildly sprained the mcl on the knee in question when i was 18) was playing basketball and had a severe knee knock. I caught the knock on the inside of my knee, kind of in between the tibia and the patella. My knee instantly went numb, but i regained feeling. there was no snap crackle or pop. I then went out and ran 5 miles (I have boundless amounts of energy). It later turned into a sizable bruise, with some swelling. It started to get a bit better over time, but still a little painful to extend when doing leg extensions in the weightroom. At this time i continued to train for a marathon I planned on running, and it got a bit worse (i was putting in 30-40 miles a week). The pain i was experiencing felt like it was underneath the knee cap, so i assumed it was runners knee and just got a knee brace. After about two or three weeks of the pain not getting better, I decided to take a break from running, which inevitably led to the pain subsiding.
Currently, I haven't run in about 3 weeks and I feel absolutely no pain walking around. I can do squats, stationary bike, and elliptical without any knee pain. Going down the stairs at the gym, I occasionally feel a twinge in my knee (usually under the knee cap, but it could be on the side), and when i do stretch my quad, I do feel some tightness in my knee.
so basically my question is whether my problems are related to a bone bruise/runner's knee combo, or is it likely that I have torn my meniscus? Any insight would be helpful, and just a heads up, I'll probably be getting an MRI done sometime within the next month just to be careful.