Runner's Knee won't go away please help

Get in some very easy running the next two weeks and do some quad strengthening stuff.

Yes, quad-strengthening. Last year I took three months off because of runners knee, and still saw zero improvement. Then, after another three months of just one daily set of leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses and adductor/abductor exercises (nautilus machines) plus elliptical training, I was back running 50 mpw. (After the first six weeks, I had gradually replaced the elliptical with running). I assume you're a young person, so it probably won't take nearly as long for you!

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Have you tried switching from trainers to racing flats?

No why?

Helpmepls wrote:

No why?

Racing flats (the Japanese kind) without that heel will fix the problem. Try one of these:

Even a small amount of quad strengthening will likely fix it. Just a bucket of sand etc. held at extension with the quads and then rotating the leg inwards and out from the hip can be enough to quickly stabilize the patella.

I used to have it flare up when I was a kid and this would quickly eliminate it. Yes, I should have just made it a habit.

I've successfully combated patellar tendinitis/tendinopothy over the past 6 months by addressing the root cause of the problem: overuse and imbalances in the muscles surrounding the soft tissue on the kneecap. The RICE method works to numb symptoms, but ultimately is just a bandaid treatment. Taking time off, icing your legs, and wearing compression gear will work in the short-term but not solve the problem. Isometric loading exercises are the most well-documented way to strengthen the muscles around the patella and alleviate pain for good. Basically, exercises that contract the muscles for x amount of time. Start with a wall squat. Feet 1 foot apart and 6 inches from the wall, slowly slide down the wall until you reach about a 45 degree angle, then hold the squat for as long as you can. When I started this, I could barely go down to 30 degrees without experiencing pain, and now I can drop to 90 degrees. You can do tons of variations of this exercise. I like isolating each leg with one-legged wall squats too. Doing this exercise on a ~25 degree decline board has been shown to work slightly more effectively than a flat, but either works. Also, sitting/laying quad raises are pretty effective at strengthening. Gradually increase the load of your routine, and eventually you can even add weight to these exercises. The other great thing about isometric loading is that it decreases patellar pain immediately after, so do these exercises before running to reduce pain during training and then again after to strenghten the muscles and prevent long-term pain.

I'm also following this thread cause I've recently had an acute (size of a dime) pain on the inside top of my kneecap that I know is not patellar tendonitis. Icing/cross-training seem to be the only solutions to that.

I was out for about 8 months because of this. I thought rest alone would help. Nope.

After some research I began working on quad and hip strength. One legged chair sits, clam shells, one legged weightless dead lifts, donkey kicks, etc. Pain was gone in no time.

Helpmepls wrote:

I started having pain while running, in my knee, specifically my patella. I took two weeks off and nothing changed, so I wore a knee brace for the rest of the XC season. The season was over two weeks ago, and i haven't been running since. The pain is still there. What should i do? I've already seen a chiropractor multiple times and it hasn't helped.

You need to see a podiatrist who specializes in sports medicine. I developed chondromalacia (runner's knee) in 1968. I could not get rid of it. George Sheehan sent me to Richard Schuster, who noticed both Morton's Toe and a foot imbalance (on both feet, especially my right). He fitted me with orthotics, and I've been pain free since (yes, fifty years).

I'm guessing that your big toe is not the longest toe on your foot, and if you look at the wear pattern of your shoes, it shoes that you roll over and push off with the big toe (that is, wear on the forefoot on the inside of the shoe). Good luck.

P.S. If you live in the Chicago area, I could recommend a very good podiatrist.

Helpmepls wrote:

I started having pain while running, in my knee, specifically my patella. I took two weeks off and nothing changed, so I wore a knee brace for the rest of the XC season. The season was over two weeks ago, and i haven't been running since. The pain is still there. What should i do? I've already seen a chiropractor multiple times and it hasn't helped.

To the OP:

First off, I feel your pain. Having been there more than once, and taking around 3-5 months off at a time due to the same injury. Some things I recommend to help you physically and mentally during this time...

- Chiropractor will NOT help. Go to a medical doctor, get an MRI of the knee if possible (X-ray is pointless for this injury). Assess the damage with the doctor. Likely they will tell you that there is some damaged cartilage under the patella. However, stop listening to them after this, because likely they will tell you a) stop running, b) you can't run the same anymore (just stay on grass and minimize hills), c) you may need surgery like lateral release, d) you will need a huge and expensive knee brace that is almost impossible to even walk in, as well as "corrective" orthotics.

- Depends on how your coach is, but if they are a bad one, they will make you feel guilty for the injury. Don't even go there. There are tons of factors that could have attributed to this, and I can guarantee you that it's almost always never your "fault." Unless you are just doing a bunch of ridiculous extra mileage behind your coach's back.

- Take up a spinning class to keep up the cardio and your sanity. This exercise I found to be the best substitute for the same adrenaline rush of completing a run. Elliptical is okay but not ideal, as most don't have a stride that is extended long enough to really mimic the running gait. If a spinning class is out of your reach, find an Arc-Trainer (Cybex). Also take up as many restorative yoga classes as you can to focus on flexibility and foundational strength.

- Fix the biomechanical issues that might have caused this injury in the first place. Work on core strength, qlutes and hips. Increase quad strength as well, and hamstrings. Don't necessarily need gym equipment to do this; just body weight exercises.

- Palliative care while healing: Turmeric supplements, taken with coconut milk and black pepper to maximize absorption. Glucosamine/chondroitin supplements. Increase protein intake. Hydrate and hydrate - joints need water for synovial fluid to heal faster. Sleep at least eight hours a night; melatonin also helps. Avoid activities that cause your knee the slightest of pain or discomfort. Ibuprofen but only as a last resort.

Best of luck to you.

First, to weed out bad advice, what you’re describing doesn’t sound like runners knee. Runners knee is iliotibial band inflammation where it crosses the femur at the knee. What you seem to be describing is “jumpers knee” or patellar tendinitis. Outside of the typical RICE treatment, you should be foam rolling and gaining flexibility in your quads (typically). Also, strengthen your hamstrings and glutes, especially the glute medius. You can also do quad massage and or myofascial release. Good luck

This guy is right.

Also-maybe get your gait analyzed and switch up your shoes. I battled my patella for 4 months and what finally got me back on track was switching from stability to neutral trainers.

SlowFatMaster wrote:

http://www.runningwritings.com/2012/03/injury-series-uncovering-role-of-hip.html

thank you for that great link--thorough article with good real-world exercises for me to begin doing daily.

thumbs up

Gotta check your leg muscle imbalances, visit chiropractor, check your gait, play around with different running shoes, all the usual stuff that would sort it out about 95% of runners’ knee cases!

I lost a year of competing due to knee pain that the first orthopedic specialist I saw said was bilateral patellar tendinitis. I had seen 3 trainers, 2 MDs and a physical therapist, over the course of 8 months or so, before I finally found a really, really knowledgeable sports medicine doctor and an incredible physical therapist who had a special interest in runners.

Within 10 minutes of my first appt with the sports med guy, he said, “No one ever mentioned your leg length discrepancy? Or put it together that your frequent back pain was part of a bigger problem that also involved your knee?” Started wearing an orthotic, and worked my butt off in physical therapy - 2-3x/week for 8 weeks over the summer - and not only am I running pain free, I took almost 2 and a half minutes off my 5k time. As everyone else here has said, a big part is strengthening your leg muscles and correcting imbalances in strength and flexibility. For me, it was also adding in a more challenging/dynamic core routine, really working to engage my glutes during running, and addressing some weird hip/pelvis tightness that was impacting my running. Basically, my knees were just a symptom of the myriad mechanical and physiological problems I had from the mid-back down.

I think too often doctors - and runners - are willing to chalk knee problems up to “runners knee” or tendinitis, but if you’re not getting better or it keeps recurring, keep looking for a solution.

Holy crap dude I’m going through the same exact thing everything you said is a direct relation to what I’m experiencing. Can you share with me some of your excersises??? Especially the hip and pelvis stuff