Knee Stiffness

Hello all.  I am a 22 year old male, I would say about 5 months ago I started developing a stiffness in my right knee.  At first it would come and then go for long periods of time.  Now however it is quite frequent.  I rarely feel pain in my knee, rather it feels weak, like it will give out on me when I put weight on it.  It is most uncomfortable when I climb stairs.  I fear it could be a running injury, as I picked up running around the same time, however I stopped running like 2 months ago and I figured it would have healed by now if it was related.  Another very odd thing is during my work week (I work 12 hour shifts in manual labor where I am on my feet) my knee will not bother me.  It bothers me on my off days when I am not doing as much physical stuff.  Please I hope someone can help, I don't have insurance and can't really afford the doctor right now.  Thanks!

[Dr Vinod]

Hello!

You need to at least diagnose your problem with a proper examination near an orthopedician.

It can be knee sprain or  knee tendonitis.Your quadriceps and hamstrings have to be checked for the strength or occurence of any injury.

It can be due to osteoarthritis or any other form of arthritis.
You need to check your lower spine also.

The pain on the off day may be due to fatigue or any other reason like gout, septic arthritis or bursitis.

Take care!