Tendon pain on outside of knee

CarlS_Oxford

Hi

I wonder if someone might be able to help me please. I've just got into road cycling and have found that after some time on the bike, particularly if there have been some hard (for me) hills, the tendons on the left side of my left knee hurt quite a lot.

My girlfriend commented today that I was riding with my knee sticking out, so it may be that and I shall try to keep the knee in in future, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and might be able to offer any suggestions.

(If it helps, I am 42, 6' tall and otherwise fairly fit.)

Thanks

Carl

danlikesbikes

Could be a few things but possibly a combination of a few of them.

If your just getting into riding a road bike riding you might need to build up, its no different from starting out running you need to get your body used to the mileage.

Your knees sticking out might not be doing you any good, especially if your pushing down hard on the pedals (whilst on the hills) your leg won't be tracking straight and could cause you some undue pain.

Pedals - this could be the big one as if you bought clip in pedals you will defiantly need some time for your body to get used to them as its quite common to suffer with some pain in the knees, if they have any form of adjustment just let them out to the loosest setting till you get used to wearing them.

npd1972

Sounds like exactly what i have suffered with in the past. Pain on the outer aspect of the knee at the fibular head.
Probably inflammation of the ilio-tibial band (ITB). This is a tough fibrous band running from the pelvis to just below the knee joint.
You should experiment with your saddle height first to try to see if this is the cause.

Failing that it could be down to your feet position in the pedals. If you are wearing cycling shoes with cleats, then you should reposition your cleats.

If you are wearing soft soled trainers with normal pedals, then change footwear to a firmer soled shoe.

You could try rolling a tennis ball up and down your thigh to relieve the stress/tension in the ITB.

It took me a while to get to the cause of my similar symptoms. I found that by having my feet in a neutral position in the cleats helped. They were previously too turned in.

slowondefy2

As above, you should definitely consider iliotibial band syndrome. Don't be tempted to ignore the pain - visit the doctor if it persists.

CarlS_Oxford

Thanks for the prompt responses. I am using clip in pedals, which I have left fairly loose until I get used to them.

I think I may need to see the GP about it as well.

andrewjoseph

you may need to change the angle of the cleat on the shoe. set it to the same angle that your foot naturally falls when sitting with your feet not touching the floor.

Note, your feet are probably not symmetrical, so don't set the cleat angles the same on both feet. One may need to be further forward or back than the other too.

there are lots of places that can help with bike fit, it may be worth reading up on this or visiting a shop that will help you find the right fit.

Cleat Eastwood

andrewjoseph wrote:

you may need to change the angle of the cleat on the shoe. set it to the same angle that your foot naturally falls when sitting with your feet not touching the floor.

Note, your feet are probably not symmetrical, so don't set the cleat angles the same on both feet. One may need to be further forward or back than the other too.

there are lots of places that can help with bike fit, it may be worth reading up on this or visiting a shop that will help you find the right fit.

Thats really good advice - Iused to get a pain in my leg and to see how my cleats should be set I wore a pair of traineys and noticed which way my feet angled themselves, sure enough my pained legged foot pointed out.

Also the yellow shims here may help with pronation n stuff.

wishitwasallflat

I've found this table spot on and have solved a fair few problems by following it

http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

kayakerchris

Can i suggest not visiting your GP. He really has very little idea about ITB pain and will just refer you to a physio. Better to find a private physio or sports therapist and get a good assessment and some proper advice.

rozzer32

If you have the money then go for a bike fit.

[shout out]

Look at Adrain Timmis at Cadence Sport, provides a great service. I pain in the outside of my right knee, turned out I needed wedges under my cleats to make my foot level. Put them in and the pain went away, took the shims out and the pain returned straight away.

[shout out over]

Zoomer37

Anytime ive ever had slight knee issues its always come down to saddle height. You may want to check yours.

Monty Dog

Nothing is going to be more effective than have an expert practitioner cast their eye over your riding position, particularl to observe the tracking of your knee and foot - particularly as you are experiencing a chronic condition which is unlikely to get better without appropriate action and potentially could get a whole lot worse.