I Knee A Little Help
Background: Been bothered by mild pain discomfort in left knee for about 3 weeks now. Do not know what caused the pain to suddenly appear one day. The pain is on front-inside of leg towards lower part of knee. If one were looking straight at me and 12 o'clock represented staight up my legs up the quads, then the pain is approx between 6 o'clock and 7 o'clock.
It's very frustrating. I feel zero pain or discomfort when cycling or walking; and I have been performing a lot of hill climbing while riding and zero issue (And No, I have not been climbing at super low cadence. My cadence on the climbs is close to 80rpms with my compact crank). I can also stand still, lift the leg and bend the knee back and forth to zero discomfort. So my thoughts are that the basic mechancical function of the knee is ok. But upon a jog or run, the pain surfaces rather quickly. I have perfomed only very limited very short duration easy slow jogs over last 3 weeks in hopes of it healing itself (whatever the issue is). I became very disappoimted this last Friday when I joined my daughter at her grade school for a parent-child mile run. It was run on a soft dirt surface and by about three-forths into the mile I had to slow significantly down due to the pain. My daughter was running fast (approx 7:10 pace) and that was the fastest I tried to run during these last 3 weeks. I am bummed, that given I basically have rested the knee from running the past 3 weeks, that the issue still exists. It has tossed any run training out the door right now.
I am beginning to think (and hope) it is solely a stretching thing that will lead to a remedy. BTW, I have never stretched before, am a little inflexible in the hammy, and hip rotation, and am no young/n (age 48 now).
So has you can imagine, I desperately am seeking a Knee.
Thank you.
Comments
Today was the next run workout and it started to ache in the first few minutes. I adjusted my run by bending my legs more and running more softly like I was trying to run quietly. This made the aching go away immediately so I kept that approach up for the rest of the run. Walking up the stairs after the run was fine and I have barely been able to detect any pain walking up stairs throughout the day.
So far it seems manageable but I want to be sure I'm doing everything possible to keep it from becoming an injury and impacting my ability to compete in the IMCDA this June. Any suggestions beyond stretching more than once a day are welcome.
@ David - check out these two blog posts that Patachin suggested in the Jan OS thread. This sounds pretty close to what we're both experiencing: http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/category/overuse-injuries/patellofemoral-pain/
Just a quick follow up guys....for what it's worth, my experience w/it. Same symptoms. No prob walking or cycling, just w/running. Tried to "fix" it myself by just resting it and icing, but made little progress. Finally went to orthopedic doc who took some pictures and concluded this is just a muscle issue. Sent me off to the PT who said my real problem seemed to be right ankle flexibility, which if you don't have enough of puts a lot of extra strain on the right quad, which then pull the patella out of alignment and brings the pain. Solution was stretching and rolling the quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, the works. Also, stretching the top of the foot (see that ATA link) and working the ankle around to loosen it up. After a couple weeks there was huge improvement. I do this 5 nights a week now having learned my lesson. We're all drifferent, of course, but this seems to be a common problem. In fact, the PT said, "we see this all the time and pretty much everyone is able to get through it fine."
hi guys,
good links and perspective from patachin. definitely follow up on those and see what works.
so far we have:
riding & walking = no pain;
upstairs knee bend and running = pain;
pain relieved with running light and smooth and with PT/stretching over time.
serious causes of this pain are unlikely: cartilage tears; fracture in a bad spot (unless you guys omitted a fall or any type of trauma like that in your history of present illness);
sounds more like a patella femoral issue, which can have many causes, but in all your cases the cause is not likely serious or career ending. just inflammation. so usual recommendations against inflammation should be followed.
one thing you might try is running light and easy, barefoot, on a track or non-glass or sharp object containing grass field. Z1 pace one/two laps at a time, especially if you have never run barefoot before! this will allow your body to self correct your form and kind of force you to run light and smooth. it also will limber up all the stiff parts, in a sports specific way, that can be contributing to the pain.
good luck!
DrGH
Definitely sounds muscular versus structural which is why rest usually results in no change when you return to running regardless of the time you take off.
There's no easy way out of this one. You have to loosen the leg up so that you can push off with that quad without wrenching the knee cap around. Not a bad a idea to jump start the process with a sports massage if you have the time and resources. Let them deal with the tough stuff (calf, foot, hamstrings and back of the hip) and follow it up with regular work on your own and frequent stretching.