Knee injury...
Simon Notley
Posts: 1,263
Ok, first off, yes I will go to my GP if this doesn't clear up, just curious if anyone has experienced anything similar.
I did my longest ride of the year so far last Saturday (165k at a brisk pace) I've been doing a lot of shorter (50k) road races though and lots of 40-120k training rides and generally been feeling very fit.
However, in the final 20k or so of my long ride, I begun to some discomfort in my knee, worse when more force is applied. After the ride, the knee felt as if it was bruised inside the joint somehow. Didn't think much of it, took a couple of days off, but the pain returned during a short training ride on Tuesday. Have been resting since then.
The pain is largely absent when i am not using the joint and doesn't seem to become aggravated by walking. The pain is located on the inside (facing inwards, I believe the correct word is medial) side of my knee and is located below the surface of the joint, in the area where the upper and lower leg join, level with the bottom of my knee cap. As I said, feels like some kind of inflammation within the joint, but no visible inflammation and no major tenderness on the surface. I am 22 (and male) so not keen on messing my knees up just yet!
I did my longest ride of the year so far last Saturday (165k at a brisk pace) I've been doing a lot of shorter (50k) road races though and lots of 40-120k training rides and generally been feeling very fit.
However, in the final 20k or so of my long ride, I begun to some discomfort in my knee, worse when more force is applied. After the ride, the knee felt as if it was bruised inside the joint somehow. Didn't think much of it, took a couple of days off, but the pain returned during a short training ride on Tuesday. Have been resting since then.
The pain is largely absent when i am not using the joint and doesn't seem to become aggravated by walking. The pain is located on the inside (facing inwards, I believe the correct word is medial) side of my knee and is located below the surface of the joint, in the area where the upper and lower leg join, level with the bottom of my knee cap. As I said, feels like some kind of inflammation within the joint, but no visible inflammation and no major tenderness on the surface. I am 22 (and male) so not keen on messing my knees up just yet!
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Sounds very similar to what I am suffering at the moment. Went to see a physio last night and he has diagnosed it as my kneecap not quite tracking correctly (quite common from my net searches). The lower quad muscle on the inside has not developed at the same rate as the large quad and consequently the kneecap if very slighty out. My knee has played up for the last 2 months and had got to the point where I was avoiding going out as I knew the knee would be stiff the next day. I tried 2 x 2 week rest periods but this did no good. Get yourself to see a physio asap (I would miss the GP bit personally unless you need a referral to do the physio on insurance) for a proper diagnosis.0
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I've had sooo many knee problems.
Firstly, be careful! Do not keep on cycling. Stop and rest and maybe take some anti-inflammatories and then slowly creep back into your cycling. Gradually improve distance. At the first sign of any pain pain, stop - your ride is over.
Go see a sports physio. There are so many poor physios put there. Try and get to see somone who has cycling experience.
Look at your bike-set up, particularly seat height.
I really recommend Speedplay pedals. They require a bit more maintenance but are excellent at preventing knee injuries. Me and my mate swear by them ( he's just done his 2nd Transalp challenge).
I lost another month this year thru knee pain, but the "old" me would of made that 3 months!0 -
ive had a similar problem, and ive been to the GP's today and ive been informed its a pulled tendon, and to rest it for a week or 2
balls to the GP, im out tomorrow!!!0 -
Your GP is right. You would be very unwise to go out on your bike with a pulled tendon as you may rupture the tendon completely. If that happens, it's in an ambulance to A & E and surgery for you.
But don't let me or your GP stop you from going out on your bike :!:
Bin0 -
Sounds similar to a porblem I had soem years ago because of incorrectly position cleats (using rat trap toeclips so no laterla movement) I use Time RX pedals today as they offer so much movement that my knee tracks a natural arc.0
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Cheers for all the replies. Am still resting, but haven't had any pain on my 2.5 mile commute to work, so am planning to get out for a proper ride soon. I use SPD-SL pedal at the moment, but they have a fair bot of float, so it seems unlikley that that is an issue.
Will keep you posted!0 -
Simon, can you flex the joint properly? For instance can you stretch your quads by pulling your foot up behind you gently without any pain? Can you squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor?
If the shorter rides are not a problem then the cause could be because you upped the mileage in too big a jump. If you can do the above stretch and squat without pain then you could try doing some more squats without weights.
Place your feet parallel to each other ie not with your toes pointing out or in and then bend you knees and squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then return to the standing position. You should to the exercise slowly with out your legs shaking for a 12 or so squats. If that feels ok, do a set of one-legged squats for each leg. Only squat until your leg is halfway to parallel to the ground. Try 10 or 12 reptitions slowly. If you experience any pain stop.
Do the stretch I described above after the squats. The one-legged squats should strengthen the whole knee area as you have to balance as well. They'll also strengthen your quads and prevent what Hugo above describes.
If you get no pain in the exercises you should continue them for several weeks perhaps after each ride while your legs are still warm. Stretch afterwards.
If you get any pain while, or after, riding apply ice and rest the knee.
HTH
Bin0 -
haha i dont fancy a ruptured one!!!
i might cool it for a week or so then!0 -
binlinus wrote:You should to the exercise slowly with out your legs shaking for a 12 or so squats. If that feels ok, do a set of one-legged squats for each leg. Only squat until your leg is halfway to parallel to the ground. Try 10 or 12 reptitions slowly. If you experience any pain stop.
HTH
Bin
your knee joint and ligament will hurt naturally by doing this surely. It has to be "painful" for the breakdown and training effect to happen. The two sensations are different, but easily confused.
Simon, SPD-SL's have a higher resistance to lateral float compared to RX's. It doesnt take much to push your knee out of the correct tracking alignment, especially if you're spinning.0 -
Steve
There is a difference between pain and the sensation of effort when doing exercise. Perhaps a difference between good and bad pain? When you stretch a muscle there should be a sensation of tension and it may feel uncomfortable. But stretch a little further and you experience a different sort of feeling, a sensation that should tell you you're over doing it.
A healthy cyclist should be able to squat, balancing on one leg until their thigh is half-way parallel to the ground without feeling any pain in the knee area. I can do at least 20 reps of this exercise without any pain in my knee. Note, I'm not squatting on one leg until my thigh is parallel to the ground; I'm only going halfway to parallel.
Bin0 -
You're right BIn there is a difference in the pain sensation (I was being slightly tongue in cheek, just omitted the smiley icon oops). Mind you I cant squat without a pain in the tendon at the top of my right kneecap, which also makes some interesting creaking noises when I do them.0
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Steve
Perhaps if I lightened up a bit I'd spot the humour more easily
Bin0
