Runner's Knee?
I think I have runner's knee. Never had it before but here are the symptoms: Soreness around kneecap, tightness when I've been in one position for an extended time. I've been rolling my IT band and icing. Once stretched it isn't as acute. It doesn't bother me on the bike at all (did 50 miles on Saturday). Once I warm up on the run I don't feel anything but after 6-8 miles it starts feeling gimpy. I noticed this morning my right knee in question is a bit swollen compared to my left ( I did an 8 mile tempo run yesterday)..see attached pic.
I'm in week 14 of JOS and have a business trip tomorrow through Friday so thinking of going run free all week to give it time to heal.
Beyond that, continued icing, rolling, and advil.
Any thoughts/suggestions?
Comments
You probably already know this, but it will happen when the kneecap (patella) isn't "tracking" correctly, which in turn is caused by imbalances of some key muscles/tendons in the knee area. Some common "players" that I've found with patients are:
- IT band tightness
- Rectus femoris (which become the patellar tendon, which runs under the kneecap) tightness. This is the center portion of the Quads
- VMO (the medial part of the quads) weak
- Popliteus weak (this muscle runs from outside knee/lower femur to the inside of upper tibia, and provides rotational stability to knee)
- Hamstring and/or calf (gastrocnemius) tightness
- Glut medius weakness
Sooooo, what I have found effective is to reduce inflammation of course....NSAIDS, rest, ice, passive physiotherapies (EMS, cold laser) from a chiro. or PT. But more importantly is to address the imbalances that caused it to begin with.
The tight areas/adhesions need to be broken up....diligent stretching, foam rolling for sure. A consideration is a visit to an ART practitioner to not only further treat the adhesions, but to identify the real problem areas to begin with.
Also, key strengthening/stability exercises will almost for sure speed up the recovery and help prevent a reoccurrence. One that I've found can be very helpful is done with a simple gliding disc that you can get on Amazon. Have the gliding disc under the unaffected foot, and SLOWLY, in a very controlled way, extend that foot behind you bringing the affected knee into flexion, keeping the bent/affected knee above, not in front of the toes. This is more a stabilization exercise, that a strengthening one.....do it slowly! Strengthening exercises of both the glut. medius and/or poplitius may also be in order....you can look those up.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Jeremy....I think if you would shave those things that your problems would disappear immediately.