Pain at rear of knee

lukea-d

After a long ride, particularly a hilly one, I get pain behind my left knee/above my calf. I can't tell if it's a muscle I've overstretched/torn or a tendon. It's in the centre not the side, so not a cruciate ligament. It's not crippling, just a bit sore. Any one else suffered similar and identified what the pain was and what caused it (e.g. poor pedalling technique, insufficient strength, lack of flexibility)?

turnerjohn

sounds like your saddle is to low; to low rear pain rear of the knee....to high pain at the front.
that be first thing I'd check

grazza_e

Could be saddle and i'd agree it's probably first thing i'd look at. Have you been riding same position for a long time, anything specific you have chnaged recently (training intensity / volume etc?). Even cleat position can impact.

I've had similar, and after a while of not sorting itself physio diagnosed as tendonitis, which effectively required rest short term, a lot more stretching (particularly calf / hamtring), and some strength work longer term to keep it away.

lukea-d

I had the pain last year too and have had my bike fitted professionally since (and that has helped). Also, if it was just saddle height, I'd have thought it would affect both knees, but it's only the left. I'm thinking it's a combination of inflexibility and poor pedalling technique (I noticed on my ride home that my pedalling action on the left is less fluid than on the right. Sounds like you could be right, Grazza_e - mild tendonitis. What sort of professional do I need to contact to diagnose it properly?

Monty Dog

turnerjohn wrote:

sounds like your saddle is to low; to low rear pain rear of the knee....to high pain at the front.
that be first thing I'd check

I'd disagree, pain at the rear of the knee is more typical of hyper-extension i.e saddle too high or pulling up on the pedal too much.

turnerjohn

Monty Dog wrote:

turnerjohn wrote:

sounds like your saddle is to low; to low rear pain rear of the knee....to high pain at the front.
that be first thing I'd check

I'd disagree, pain at the rear of the knee is more typical of hyper-extension i.e saddle too high or pulling up on the pedal too much.

its what I'd been told and personal experience when my saddle was to high (years ago) I got pain at the front of my knee...because the knee is extended to far....to low an angle puts more force at the rear of the knee as the hamstrings pull as well.....what I found to be the case

lukea-d

Thanks for your comments, folks. I'll have it looked into.

ut_och_cykla

Sounds like tendon trouble. either top of calf or bottom of hamstring. Position (too high/ low/ too little /too much set back) sitting twisted on the bike (get someone to check your position from behind) or even cleat problem. Check the most obvious first and don't change everything all at once. If you do change anything - change in small increments - e.g. saddle height in 5mm changes. If it is tendonitis rest and wait till its gone before resuming training. Working through the pain will make it woorse/chronic. Anti inflammatories might help (but you might not tolerate them) Ice is good - and check work place position too!

paddlemyowncanoe

Monty is correct.

Lower your saddle by 5mm and see how you get on.

buckmulligan

paddlemyowncanoe wrote:

Monty is correct.

Lower your saddle by 5mm and see how you get on.

+2

I've had exactly the same since doing the Tour of Flanders in April. I had to remove my seatpost to get my bike to Belgium and in hindsight I'm sure I put it back a tiny bit high; also combined with the ridiculously low temperature all day and the extra stress of the cobbles caused what I suspect was a hyper-extended tendon in the back of the right knee. It's taken a while, but nearly 4 months on I just get the occassional day-to-day very mild twinge and feels a little bit sore if I put in too many miles in a week.

I found that having a really good stretch before each ride helps but t'll take time, to heal fully. If you lower your saddle and don't attack the climbs too hard, I found it doesn't hinder my cycling too much. Good luck!

Toks

In my experience whenever I've had pain at the back of the knee I've lowered the saddle (or pushed it forward slightly) and pain has decreased. If it appears to only be at the back of one knee there may be an issue with cleats or a you may have a leg discrepancy which is beginning to manifest itself as pain at the back of the shorter leg. Good Luck and make minimal changes initially

lukea-d

Thanks all. Knee pain seems to have disappeared completely without any changes. I did a few long hilly rides in the autumn (e.g. etape pennines, wiggle hell of hexham) and never had any trouble at all. I'm thinking I must have torn something originally and over time it has healed. However, if it returns, I'll try lowering my saddle as per your advice.