Quad stretch/knee

Question
QUESTION: Nick what's the good word?
I recently added a quad/hip stretch to my arsenal and have a question. Lying on the stomach I bring my foot up to my glute and hold a stretch. I have more flexibility on my left side than my right. The left foot comes easily to touch my glute. The right side does not quite reach the glute and I feel a pull on the knee cap. What does this tell you and what can I do to equalize the flexibility?

ANSWER: Good to hear from you again, Len.

The pull on your knee cap means that that quad is tighter than the left side. I always use an inferior glide mobilization of the knee cap when I see this with patients. Try this before you stretch to see if it helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSOm1aq7Wfk

Good luck and don't hesitate to follow-up with how this goes or another question.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I will give it a try though my patella doesn't seem to move laterally like in the video. Would additional foam rolling of the IT Band also reduce the pull on the patella?

Answer
Len, Try to keep moving your patella as shown in the video. I normally see rolling the IT band as more painful than beneficial. Try rolling it and stretching your IT band before and then trying to move the patella and see if that makes it easier. If it does, keep doing it, if not then don't bother with it.

Here is a link that shares my thoughts on IT band stretching. https://www.painscience.com/articles/iliotibial-band-syndrome-stretch.php

Let me know what else I can help you with.