mah knees hurting!!

Anonymous

As title really, my knees are hurting on the bike, well its mostly my right knee, I've tried putting more effort in with my left leg but it's very hard to do, anyway I don't know why it has started but it is annoying and means I cant push hard.

When I stand up and move my lower leg up and down I feel a click in the knee sort of.

Any ideas?
Thanks
Will.

BUICK

I have had a similar sounding issue with my left knee. I would advise you go straight to your gp if you are patient or straight to a reputable physiotherapist if not. Expect some time off the bike. If you are comfortable doing so, you may want to start taking some antiinflammatories like ibuprofen for a couple of days.

Good luck!

Mine is improving but has been an issue now for about 3 months

Anonymous

OMG not another issue for the doctor!!

I did not expect to have to see a GP about this one, I'm going to have to register with a doctor tomorrow. I in no way do not want to take time off the bike apart from the usual rest, my fitness will go down to drain and I don't want that I'm still recovering from having 2 weeks off the bike doing no exercise.

Al_38

Does it feel like something is inflamed / irritated / slightly swollen. It could be that you have antagonised something in your knee if it hasn't been caused by anything unusual. If so Ibuprofen is probably a good way to go, unless you have stomach ulcers or they do bad things to you. It should help to reduce the inflammation / damage and it isn't a pain killer so you will be able to assess it if you keep riding. If it continues to be a problem then seek medical advice from a gp / physio etc.

My usual rule of thumb with injuries is if it is only minorly annoying / sore then it is probably fine. If you get stabbing lancing pains etc that are close to what you can tolerate it isn't.

Having had recent knee problems that sounds similar to yours (left knee clicking, felt like it had pressure behind it when trying to straighten it and the muscle fibres just above the knee cap moved very rougly over each other), i found that it was better thinking about putting more through the sore knee... bizarre. Also I found the slow release ibuprofen to be much more use than regular stuff

Anonymous

I'll have a look for this ibuprofen stuff tomorrow. I wanted to go on my bike again tonight but seems like I should not now

I cant really tell what it feels like, I'd say not swollen, just clicked and their is this weird pain there, like not a pain I cant cope with, but It has just came along in the past couple of days.

I really like to thrash it about and usually accelerate madly from traffic lights and put allot of power down, wonder if that is what is causing it?

doyler78

If you have ramped up the amount of riding or have suddenly started training much more intensely than before then that is likely your problem. Knock it back again and build more slowly.

mhuk

Have you tried adjusting your pedals/ cleat position?

When my knees hurt (they're dodgy from running) I put a wine cooler wrapped in tea towel around them (the cooler is the type that opens up and seals with velcro).

Anonymous

I don't know how my cleats should be, they are sort of at an angle at the moment, like if you turn the right shoes upside down the cleat is pointing on an angle to the right, sort of pointing at the little vent hole but abit further to the right.

When I stand my feet are more like in a duck position, like both of them pointing out and thats how I normally stand.

roadrider84

I had a similar problem which went on for at least 3 months.

I spoke to a few people, read some articles on the net and adjusted my cleat position. That with the aid of some cod liver oil has seen my knee trouble vanish completely!!

Anonymous

I don't know what my cleat position should be, would they help me get it right at a bike shop?

Tempestas

Knee issues need sorting straight away, it’s very easy to do damage and takes a long time to heal due to its constant use. I know this from experience, I crashed and someone elses fork blade went in just below the knee, but nothing was broken so no cast was used and my GP said ‘rest it’. Which I did for 4 weeks and then I raced on it (and won, but that’s not the point :P) but the next day my knee swelled up like a balloon and the damage had been done, 4 years later after rest and a lot of work on it, I couldn’t get back into racing.....enough of my problems 
So, my advice on cleats goes like this....

When setting up your cleats they should mimic your natural foot position when at rest, I set mine up by eye and feel after sitting on my kitchen worktop with my feet hanging down freely. I relax and let them settle just dangling, then take a quick photo(much better if someone else can take the photo for you), from the photo you often see one foot is at a different angle to the other, this is because each side of the body is different. Now I attach the cleats and clip the shoes into the pedals and transfer the position/angle of the shoe from the image onto the bike (another thing to do before finalising the cleat position is to get the ball of the foot over the pedal axle). For me my left foot is ‘ankle inwards’ while my right foot is ‘ankle slightly outwards’.

Other things to consider are saddle height, road and mtb’s are different due to the different front end heights/reach of the bars causing different amounts of rotation at the hip joints, so take this into account if you ride different bikes. Then there is also the horizontal crank position and thigh length, your knee should be more or less directly over the pedal axle when the crank is horizontal.

I tried to keep it short.

If unsure though I would ring around a few shops and ask if they have staff that can advise you on this, and remember, never make lots of adjustments in one go, always make gradual adjustments or you could cause an injury...

sicknote

Also look here and here for some tips

Anonymous

Maybe if I take picture of my feet when I am standing and then how they are on the bike? and post them on here someone can advise?

Even after reading the above I'm still unsure.

doyler78

willhub wrote:

Maybe if I take picture of my feet when I am standing and then how they are on the bike? and post them on here someone can advise?

Even after reading the above I'm still unsure.

Standing isn't good as you are unlikely to put your feet in a natural position straight off therefore you are unlikely to get a meaningful picture.

Do as was suggested and sit on the end of something and let your feet dangle for a minute or so to allow them to fully relax and then take the photo (ie have the camera in your lap before you start )

Anonymous

doyler78 wrote:

willhub wrote:

Maybe if I take picture of my feet when I am standing and then how they are on the bike? and post them on here someone can advise?

Even after reading the above I'm still unsure.

Standing isn't good as you are unlikely to put your feet in a natural position straight off therefore you are unlikely to get a meaningful picture.

Do as was suggested and sit on the end of something and let your feet dangle for a minute or so to allow them to fully relax and then take the photo (ie have the camera in your lap before you start )

then take a photo stood up or with them dangling?

doyler78

willhub wrote:

doyler78 wrote:

willhub wrote:

Maybe if I take picture of my feet when I am standing and then how they are on the bike? and post them on here someone can advise?

Even after reading the above I'm still unsure.

Standing isn't good as you are unlikely to put your feet in a natural position straight off therefore you are unlikely to get a meaningful picture.

Do as was suggested and sit on the end of something and let your feet dangle for a minute or so to allow them to fully relax and then take the photo (ie have the camera in your lap before you start )

then take a photo stood up or with them dangling?

Whilst dangling and fully relaxed.

Anonymous

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/ ... 0030-1.jpg

top pic is standing up just incase, middle is dangling.

and the bottom pic done suppose that shows anything into my position? Also are knees supposed to be redder than the rest of your leg? sorry for the bottom pic I did it for another forum when you had to post a body part for their bday , thought it may be useful tho.

gb-locks

Try one of these, http://www.prosportworld.com/product_in ... oduct_id=4
I found it helps and only 7 quid.

Tempestas

From the bottom picture it appears your left foot is ankle in slightly and your knee tends to kick out slightly, try adjusting the cleat on the left foot to accommodate this. Remember to make small adjustments only and use low gears when trying it out.

Anonymous

But its mainly my right knee that is hurting, in fact putting any pressure what so ever on my right knee results in pain for a short while, even standing up from sitting down.

I'm hoping it'll fix itself before the weekend, not doing any cycling apart from the 3 mile there and 3 mile back commute from college where I am now mainly using my left leg for power now.

doyler78

willhub wrote:

But its mainly my right knee that is hurting, in fact putting any pressure what so ever on my right knee results in pain for a short while, even standing up from sitting down.

I'm hoping it'll fix itself before the weekend, not doing any cycling apart from the 3 mile there and 3 mile back commute from college where I am now mainly using my left leg for power now.

It really depends on how you have your cleats setup at the min. If you have them setup on both sides the same and in such a way that your feet point outwards (or heels inwards which is the same thing) then your left foot would be correctly setup therefore that could explain why you suffer no pain in your left foot but do in your right however I think the pics are really hard to tell anything with. The bottoms get in the way of seeing the foot properly though I would agree with Tempestas that it would appear that you are toes out on the left and rather straight on in the right foot though as I say it is difficult to be sure.

Basically put your bike next to a wall, climb on, clip in and look down. What way are your feet pointing when you are clipped in? Try and replicate what you see in the phot with what you have on the bike. Depending on the cleats you may be able to twist them slightly left or right to give your foot more angle if required in order to get you the position you want.

Anonymous

When I am clipped in I put one foot at a time at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and I can see both of my feet are in the same position, sort of pointing out/ straight, I can move my feet alot due to something called float or something. Just pedaling around hurts my knee I hope it does not mean stopping cycling for months I'd be devastated:(

GyatsoLa

Oddly enough, last time I answered something in this forum I linked to a New York Times article, and here I'm doing it again (although I think there are some dubious things in this particular one, the Bikeradar link sicknote linked to above is much better)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/healt ... .html?_r=1

Personally, i'd always go to a physio with experience of cycling rather than a doctor. My physio recommended me a few simple exercises which have definitely helped my knees.

Anonymous

Don't a physio cost money though?

Casbar

willhub wrote:

Don't a physio cost money though?

Do you work for free? :shock:

Obviously Physio's cost money ( hopefully I dont have to explain why )...but it will be cheaper than seeing a doctor and then a physio and in the long run you might save your knee from serious damage

Go and see someone

Anonymous

Of course I don't work for free but so don't doctors and you don't pay them pay them.

How much are physios?

gb-locks

At least £30 an hour.

telemark

...unless you can get your GP to refer you. Mine in Oldham did - free consultation with an NHS physio resulting in some stretching exercises which fixed a clunking swollen knee - almost instantly as well.

100%

I too would strongly recommend looking for a good physio. I was lucky, my local gym has a physio in it and the person I saw turned out to be an ex-triathlete from New Zealand and so she knew her stuff about cycling injuries. Are you a member of a club you could ask at? If you're at college you may be able to get discounted prices etc. - nothing to lose by asking.

She also picked up a problem I'd had with my left knee (which wasn't what I was actually there for) since I hurt it in a fall 2 1/2 years previously that had left it with reduced flexibility and prone to a pain very similar to what you are describing. After some exercises etc. that she recommended it's much, much better and has full range of movement, no pain etc. such that this winter I've started racing cyclocross! Not that I'm any good, but I don't think I would have been physically capable before.

Cheers,
Steve

Anonymous

Since I came to Manchester I always push hard, like full throttle allot of the time from traffic lights, and started going out at nights, so allot of cold weather. And it's only since I have been here the problem has started.

Would it be safe to say those are the 2 things that are most likely causing my problem? I try to warm up but I'd not say I am good at warming up.

I'm going to have to get my left knee checked out now too, today it has also started with similar symptoms to my right knee, I am hoping it is just swelling but it does not help that the whole of the right side of my upper right leg (quads?) is aching when I tense it up, must have pulled it today.

Bronzie

willhub wrote:

Would it be safe to say those are the 2 things that are most likely causing my problem? I try to warm up but I'd not say I am good at warming up.

Having also seen your post in Cakestop about blasting away from traffic lights etc I would say there's a good chance that you are pushing yourself too hard on cold muscles - really hard sprints are best done when you are thoroughly warmed up - for me that would be 20-30mins of gradually increasing intensity.