Knee Pain

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Possible arthritis

I'm no expert but I had knee pain recently -- it is hard to tell where the pain is from your description. Is it below the kneecap or on the inside of the knee? The pain is very likely due to weak / tight muscles which are overworking / or straining the tendons in the knee.

Take 2 weeks off from running / biking. Try the elliptical or swimming. Google some hip and groin strengthening exercises and do those every other day. Stretch and foam roll your quads, hamstrings, calves, hips every day. When you start back with activity do it gradually and stop if the pain in your knee comes back beyond just minor ache.

I would start with the vastus medialis first. Press on it as you are going down your leg. If you get to a spot that hurts, press on it for a minute or so until the pain starts going away. Keep doing that for a few days and see if the knee pain goes away. I would never just stop running though. Better for the muscles to get lightly used while you work on them unless the pain is unbearable.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vastus_medialis

Honestly, it's impossible for any of us to know. It could be any of a huge number of issues, some less likely than others - pes anserine bursitis, patellar tracking problems, meniscal issues, MCL integrity, fat pad problems, arthritis, SIJ stuff, hip musculature problems, weird nerve things, etc. Hell, it could be something serious like osteomyelitis. The point: NONE OF US KNOW. If I were you, I'd either go to a PT who specializes in running injuries, or an orthopedic MD.

Seriously, what you'll find on letsrun are armchair docs who are throwing out guesses, know-it-alls who are sure they have all the answers, and people who think they've had the exact same problem as you and have found the magic bullet. Go see someone.

If you move it gently back and forth, with your head near the kneecap, do you hear a light grinding sound? Is the pain kind of under the kneecap (not superficial), to the inside? That indicates swelling under the kneecap, which might be similar to a problem I had last year. The cartilage under the kneecap was damaged from pounding, and it swelled up internally, causing pain. It took about 4 weeks to resolve and i saw a physio twice and learned some strengthening exercises to stop it coming back.

Obviously your problem might be different, so get it checked out. My understanding was that this was similar to patellofemoral syndrome (runner's knee), just in a more unusual location, and more severe.

Ok. Few weeks off, and the time was spent in a position that flexes the knee and tightens the hips, IT band, hamstrings and lower back.

It might be runners knee imo, because your muscles got weaker throughout the time off, you spent the time in an unnatural position, and you tried to get back into your regular running schedule that you had when you were fairly active. Alittle too much too soon began to develop pain in your knee.

I would first suggest gently dynamically stretching your hips hamstrings lower back, IT band and quads. These all affect the knee directly or indirectly and they are the muscles most affected by sitting positions. For a week just work on stretching. Don't cross train on the bike because that flexes your knee. Try elliptical or swimming.

After a week of stretching start incorporating a strengthening program. I would suggest the knee extension Machine for your quads. Now people will disagree with me because of its bad reputation. You have to use a light weight, it's bad reputation comes from people tryin to do 2

120+ lbs on it. it is the only position that works out the last 10-20 degrees of the knee extension movement, which is the precise area that hurts you. That area isn't strong.

Sh*t like this is exactly what I was talking about.