Runners knee?

rootsrocker

Has anyone here had this?

My knee has been very grumpy on and off for a few months now - mostly when descending stairs or twisting my leg to one side - a sharp pain behind the kneecap - also on full extension of the leg.

It seemed to flare up when riding anything other than my fixie (now SS) road bike. A ride or two on that soon cleared the problem up . I don't think it's down to saddle height etc on the other bikes - I've tried all that.

However,my leg strength has increased a lot over the past 6 months (due to the fixed) & I'm wondering if weak hamstrings/underdeveloped inner thigh muscles could be causing the kneecap to be out of alignment? I'ts' really frustrating - I've never been so fit and strong but my knee is bugging me.

Trouble is - it's more persistant now & I'm worried that grinding away on the SS (74") will aggravate it - although it doesn't hurt when riding and it still seems to help.....

Can anybody shed light on this at all?

BlackHelmet

Runners knee is usually caused by a strength inbalance in the muscles around the knee cap. There's various exercises that can help - a physio would be able to advise.

Hotblack Desiato

Oh yes.

Sitting with an ice pack on my knee as I type.

Flared up big style after a 13 mile run on Monday morning.

10mins of ice every couple of hours.
Ibuprofen
Arnica cream
No running for 2-4 weeks (depending on how quickly it settles down)
Hopefully able to spin on the bike by Monday

In the meantime I shall walk slowly to and from the the fridge & wine rack.

.

Monty Dog

Google for chronomalacia pattellae. For cyclists usually caused by the pressure from the quads pulling the patella onto the knee joint and causing chronic inflammation on the underside of the kneecap. Best not to try and grind big gears in the saddle - keep the gears low and sit lower / more forward in the saddle. As well as the anti-inflammatories and the ice, also worth using glucosamine and or cod liver oil - these help to 'lubricate' the cartilage tissues

stevejmo7

Monty Dog wrote:

Google for chronomalacia pattellae. For cyclists usually caused by the pressure from the quads pulling the patella onto the knee joint and causing chronic inflammation on the underside of the kneecap. Best not to try and grind big gears in the saddle - keep the gears low and sit lower / more forward in the saddle. As well as the anti-inflammatories and the ice, also worth using glucosamine and or cod liver oil - these help to 'lubricate' the cartilage tissues

Make that 'chrondomalacia patellae'

rootsrocker

Thanks guys - just about to do some more searching with your spellings instead of mine!

Saw a physio and it is indeed the condition you describe - i've been mashing (well it's mashing for me anyway) a 44X16 for acoupla months on my SS.Ithought it would help me grow big Arnie thighs so I could make my riding buddies (who are all male & I'm female), cry as I flew off in to the distance..... ;-) My muscles are bigger...but my knee is unamused........and I have to spend a whole 7 days off the bike. ah well.....

Whoops :oops:

timestar

I was diagnosed with chondromalacia patella by my physio, although it was actually circuit training that caused the pain - I was okay on the bike. Several months of exercises to re-educate my quads and the problem went away. Lie on a bed - weight on your ankle (bag of sugar will do), lock out your leg and then raise to 45 degrees maintaining lock, hold for count of 10, gently lower still maintaining lock. Start with 5 reps, then 10 and so on.

Cajun

Hoping herein lies some aid: http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

McBain_v1

My left knee is acting up and I know what caused it -kneeling down to pick up mini-McBain (now 21 months old so the need to kneel down to pick him up is diminishing). I noticed that the left knee on two pairs of jeans had worn through and concluded that I was stressing this knee way more than the right. The result is that the tendon that feels as though it connects my lower leg to my knee cap has been "squished" over a period of months and now protests a lot when I place a fair load on it (e.g. by cycling out of the saddle to honk my way up a hill).

I'm considering going to see a physio to see whether there is anything that can be done (other than not kneeling down on it any more) that will help speed recovery.