Constant pulling in knee- stretch??

[valueoflife]

I can not figure out how to release this tension around my knees. I had a back injury a few weeks ago, so I took a week off and have been doing fairly light exercises since recovering, making sure not to overdo it again. However, I have a constant pulling around both of my kneecaps and it is so uncomfortable! I am stretching my quads and hamstrings often, but it's not providing any relief. While exercising, it feels a little bit more uncomfortable, but mostly I just feel very vulnerable and want to prevent a real knee injury.
I have never felt this kind of tension in all of my years of competitive soccer, running and now strength training.

Please help me figure out how to relieve my poor knees!
If it helps, I'm a female, 27 yo, and a 11-year vegan.

Thanks!

[ColleenE]

Hey Girl,
Do you have a "stick" or a foam roller? The Stick in particular is really effective for the knee. You can buy for around $30 on Amazon or just google around for a seller nearby. When that area is really tight for me I roller HARD around the ITBs towards the knee and that usually helps. Another good active stretch is to bend your knees slightly, put your hands on top of them gently, and then gently rotate the knees in a clockwise direction for 20 seconds, and then switch for 20 seconds, 2 sets.