'runners knee' - a pain.

richardmouland

Hi all, this is my first post on these forums.
I have been commuting for many years now and decided last year to get a road bike as well as my mountain one so can start putting some decent miles on the road.
I have slowly increased distance when in April i was 40 miles in to a training ride and i got a shap pain in my left knee. After months of waiting i went for a ride 2 weeks ago and 10 miles in my knee went again.
I have now seen a proper doc and after a steroid injection in my knee it has been confirmed i have runners knee. Apparently common in cyclist.
Has anyone else got this problem and if so how do they go about getting round it?

Cleat Eastwood

If you'll just take a seat, the doctor will be with you in a minute.

Cleat Eastwood

So...runners knee...let me see...

The knee is basically a hinge joint, allowing backwards and forwards motion, but it is also able to rotate slightly in on itself. The bending and straightening is controlled by the hamstring and quadriceps muscles at the back and front of the thigh bone respectively, and their size and position affects the angles the legs move at, and particularly the way that the patella (kneecap) moves. Your anatomy and the patterns of your muscle use determine many of the injuries you will suffer.
‘Runner’s knee’ used to be known as chondromalacia patellae, but is now more often referred to as patello-femoral pain (PFP). It occurs when the patella fails to move smoothly and centrally through the femoral groove at the lower end of the thigh bones. This is sometimes due to muscle imbalance or abnormal anatomy, but it can also be the result of another injury which causes you to favour one leg in some way


I actually have the problem the other way round. I find if I runt I get knee pain in one leg only. But thats just my muscles being set to a position that favours cycling, after about 10 mins it goes.

Can you ride the pain off or is it constant?

mea00csf

go to see a decent sports physio. They should be able to diagnose what the problem is and how to recitfy it. I had IT band problems which is a sharp pain at the side of the knee, the physio diagnosed it as weak glutes and gave me strengthening exercises and it's pretty much disappeared now.

Knees are funny things, many of the pains associated with your knees in actuallity are caused by hips/glutes or by feet/ankles.

danowat

mea00csf wrote:

go to see a decent sports physio. They should be able to diagnose what the problem is and how to recitfy it. I had IT band problems which is a sharp pain at the side of the knee, the physio diagnosed it as weak glutes and gave me strengthening exercises and it's pretty much disappeared now.

Knees are funny things, many of the pains associated with your knees in actuallity are caused by hips/glutes or by feet/ankles.

This, my ITBS is related to my tight hamstrings, copious amounts of stretching helps.

Monty Dog

It's also known as winter knee ns cyclists, particularly when riders ramp up mileage in January. It's mainly due to muscular imbalance - the large quads pulling the kneecap onto the joint and creating a chronic inflammation. It can be relieved with rest and anti-inflammatories, ride smaller gears too & get out the saddle i.e.avoid seated climbing in a big gear.

flateric

I got knee pain when i ran, ITBS was diagnosed, strangely cycling improves it!!

I was also given two pieces of good advice, firstly, spin at 80-90 so you dont feel like you are having to push hard on the pedals.

Secondly was maiking sure that cleats and shoes ect are set up right, pedaling apparently causes your knee to twist and rotate, so a fixed foot will cause pain in the knee.

richardmouland

Cheers guys for the replies.
After a little research from the interweb i can see it is quite common. I think mt saddle used to be too high and that i was cycling in the cold in april. I have made a few set up changes but as i can't even walk properly at the moment i'll have to wait to see if they work.
I have a cadence computer that says i average 80 so i will keep that up.

ex-pat scot

High saddle is one.

Get thee to a doctor for proper diagnosis though. It's very easy for the multiple knee problems to be mis-diagnosed.

I've not been back to my 2009 running levels of 80 miles per week since last year's london marathon - knee is still giving me some aggro, 15 months on!