My knee feels very swollen could there be a fluid in it?

What is wrong with my knee?

• I run cross country for my high school team, and monday we started conditioning and our coach had us run about 4 miles (3.6 because our course is a little off) and i hadn't run in about half a year (yikes!). I got this weird feeling in my knee when i came home. By the kneecap it's really swollen. It doesn't hurt, but it feels like my knee is swollen up like a balloon. Its a really annoying feeling and it kind of feels like there's fluid in my knee. If i bend my knee, you can see this really big swollen area. What can i do? It doesn't hurt if i run on it. I ran today (2.4 miles) and I didn't feel a thing. I don't think i should be running on it, but i dont want to be out of practice for too long. What is it? Should i go see my doctor? Should i ice it? elevate it? I'm not really sure. Thanks for the answers!

• Answer:

  My mate had the exact same problem last year. He wasn't suffering any pain like yourself, but his knee would just swell up like a balloon. When he went to a doctor and had different check ups and what not, it turned out he didn't have enough cartilage, so the bones were rubbing together or something like that. Hopefully it's not the same thing, (my mate had to stop doing X Country) Good luck, hope this helps