Persistent Knee Pain

onabike

Just looking for some advice from fellow sufferes re: knee pain.

Several hours into my ride, i sometimes get a pain developing on the OUTSIDE of my knee. Initially it feels like a niggle but then quickly becomes so painful that cycling is impossible, and soon I cannot even lower my weight on that leg or walk up and down hills. If I lie on my side, with the affected knee/leg upper side, flexing the knee is absolute agony.

I've had it both road and mountain biking, but it seems worse mountain biking, especially when i need to push through muddy conditions as in yesterday's Builth Wells Merida where I had to withdraw after just 40K.

I think it could be a tight ITB, but not sure. Any suggestions as to what it could be, causes and how to solve it are very much appreciated. I'd be really interested to hear from people who have experienced these symptoms.

I've had the problem off and on for a few years now and am completely fed up with it. I've seen a couple of physios but was disappointed with their lack of knee injury experience, and so I guess any recommendations for sports physios are also appreciated ( I'm in Cheshire)

halfmanhalfsnookermachine

Hi

I have been having knee pain for a while now, although this is actually related to table tennis and not cycling. Having started cycling seriously again, I have been trying not to flare up my knees again. My pain is fairly non specific, general aches around the patella but I was referred to a physio who told me I had ITB syndome.

The ITB links the hip to the knee and if it is too tight, it will pull on your knee muscles and give you pain. I was given a set of exercises designed to stretch my ITB. After 4 weeks of stretching and no physical exercise at all, my pain actuallly got worse and much more localised - including stabbing pain on the outside of both knees and pain when walking upstairs.

I stopped doing the exercises nd concentrated on sensible cycling. I made sure that my saddle height was a little lower than normal to ensure that I did not overextend my knee.

I am still getting some ache if I push too hard, but it is better. A few things I would recommend:

1. http://www.itbs.info/index.html log on to this site re ITBS
2. Try some sensible exercises aimed at stretching your ITB, but don't overdo it
3. If it is ITBS, don't expect a quick fix
4. Read Dr Andy Pruitts book - its full of good tips re bike set up and knee issues and can be bought cheapish off Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pruitts-Complet ... 1931382808
5. Read this months Cycling Plus re knee pain
6. Keep your knees warm on a ride - I now use knee warmers a lot unless it is hot (25 deg C plus) - there are lots of blood vessels close to the surface of your skin in your knee area, so keep them warm.
7. Pedals - Do you need more float? or something that stabilises your knee more i.e. less float. If you can, put your bike on a turbo trainer and watch yourself in the mirror / video your knee action to see if there is any movement during the pedal stroke.

I m not going to pretend to be an expert on this, there are lots of things it could be, but a little reading can help you understand what might be happening. If you are paying for a phsyio, consider trying to find one that specialises in sports related injuries.

Hope that all helps, good luck

HMHSM

robgodd

Hi,

Just thought I'd relate my experiences with my right knee with what sounds like a similar problem. Not good news, though.

I'm 31 now, but between the ages of about 13 and 23 I did loads of running and sprint training at the local AC, which came to an abrupt end when I developed the knee pain. Since then, I've seen 4 physio's (3 of which were private), 2 NHS specialists, a podiatrist, had injections and 2 MRI scans. No treatment has worked (including IBS stretching etc), no-one has any idea of what it is, and the specialists basically ended up telling me "tough luck".

The pain occurs if I run a few hundred metres, or walk more than a few miles. It's an intense pain just on the outside of the knee, particularly felt when walking down slopes or stairs. It's normally gone by the next day, but is easily aggravated. Generally, though, I don't feel it when riding (which is why I've since taken up cycling!), though I do get twinges occasionally on the bike. I can no longer do any running, and not much walking. Does this sound like your problem?

I don't want to hijack your thread, but I wonder if it's the same thing? Basically, I'd also be very interested in what people think.

Rob

felgen

You could have a plica, a extra thick band of synovium which tends to scuff over the lateral femoral condyle, causing irritation. Its hard to pick up on MRI as its quite thin, and might be missed in the way the scanner makes up the pictures. You can see them on Arthroscopy, but of course that is invasive, and it would be a hard task to convince an orthopod to take a look just on the off chance as arthroscopy isn't a benign procedure. Having said that if you did have one and it was removed it may sort the problem.

HTH