Knee trouble

sarrah78

Ive been cycling for nearly 2 years now and had decided to race this year (09).
Ive been increasing the millage stedily but have recently had alot of pain on the inside of my right knee,has anyone had a similar experience, and know of anything that I should look at too make a recovery???
Please help

unclemalc

Reasons may be many and various but my own experience of such discomfort was due to over-extension of my left knee on the downstroke. My left leg is ~2cm shorter than the right and if the saddle height was correct for the right leg, then the left leg overstretched.
If you have increased your workrate/milage lately then its possible you've found that you're a cm or so too high in the saddle, compared to when you were riding less hard.

Alternatively, if you are clipped in, is your painful leg being forced to rotate at a bad angle (for that particulat leg) by the postion of your cleats - is there enough 'float' in them?

If those possibilities help:
if not, there will be other suggestions along shortly....

Barrie_G

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ance-17010

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... rt-2-17445

Try reading these, they should be of some help.

sarrah78

Thanks for the links, Ive just read them, I did buy time pedals and shoes about 8 weeks ago
http://www.sub7bikes.co.uk/product.asp?pID=131&cID=64
http://www.parker-international.co.uk/1 ... Shoes.html
The cleats feel ok, but the sole on the shoe feels different, could it also be linked to knee trouble?

Anonymous

I have quite bad knee trouble at the moment, seems to be from just above the knee in the middle sometimes and sometimes seems to be inside the center of my knee, I've tried re adjusting my cleats but it does not help.

I'm going to the doctors, had an Xray, they found nothing so going to have more tests done.

sarrah78

im not alone then, its just so frustrating, every time i think its gone and train the pain returns

Monty Dog

Willhub - your symptoms sounds like patellae chrondomalacia, a classic overuse or chronic injury caused by an inflammation of the inside surface of the kneecap - also known as 'winter knee' in cycling and running circles as people attempt to suddenly increase their training load - it's caused by a muscular imbalance where the quadricep muscle pulls the kneecap onto the joint. In all case with chronic knee injuries, try rest, ice, anti-imflammatories, cod liver oil and glucosamine. Lowering your saddle and staying off the big gears also helps alleviate the symptoms.
Sarrah, suggest you get your bike position appraised but suggest you do a web search for your knee pain symptoms too.

Anonymous

So is it something that is more common in winter then? I had sort of symptoms in summer but it never got bad, only since it started getting cold did it get bad.

Weird thing for me is the mileage I have being doing since this knee problem really started and how often I cycle has really lessened, I'm doing quite abit less than I was doing in summer, in summer I was hitting between 1000 and 1200 miles a month.

That muscular imbalance? sounds like it means it's where the quads are too big compared to the rest of the muscles?

It seems if I give my knee a couple days rest, it's happy enough to get me through a day ride of about 100 miles, but then it comes back and I have to rest it again. I tried using a knee support but it felt like it was cutting me blood circulation off and I was unable to pedal with it on too.

I hope it does not cause too much of a problem I do intend on increasing my mileage again, and think I might be hitting 1000+ miles again in summer as I did last year as I should be stronger and faster this year.

Monty Dog

The reasons it's called winter knee is because people starting ramping up the mileage, and because the quads are often well developed in cyclists, it can pull the kneecap offline and affect the tracking of the knee over the joint. I had a case a few years ago - backed off the mileage for a few weeks, changed my bike position and and was OK in about 6 weeks - never had a problem since.

Anonymous

So if it is indeed what I got it's not something that is going to threaten cycling for me and could cause me to have to stop?

I'll give the cod liver oil stuff a try and try to take it abit steadier, just I like to thrash it about, I think that is what has caused it, in Manchester on this 18mile loop, about 20 traffic lights maybe more, each one I push to the max from the lights. Just a weird habit I find it hard not to do.

sarrah78

thank you for the advice,ill get my position checked out.
I hope you recover soon will

calcium

Try sleeping with a pillow between your legs so your knees don't touch and if you sleep on your back put a pillow underneath to bend then a little.

Helps me

tri-mad

Chrondomalacia Patellae relates to damage to the cartridge under your knee cap caused by muscle in balances - if you had this, pain would be felt around the whole knee cap, as the knee cap would not be tracking properly, and agrevating the whole area - as your pain is at the side - this would tend to indicate a strain / muscle in balance.

The majority of knee problems on a bike come from poor flexibility and muscle in balances. I strongly recommend starting a stretching programme - ensure that you work on stretching your Iliotibial band (ITB) and also work on strengthening your glutes.

The ITB is a difficult thing to stretch, have a look at: http://www.ehow.com/how_4536795_stretch-itb-band.html

Refrain from strengthening your quads until the pain subsides, and reduce your mileage - and always ensure that after each ride you apply "RICE" - REST - ICE - COMPRESSION - ELEVATION.

Once the pain has subsided, stear stear of hills in the short term - and build mileage back up at no greater than 10% each week.

I hope this helps!