Knee Injury / Alternative Workouts

Sh5073a

So I've been running and doing intense cardio boxing sessions for the past 6 months. While it has helped me with my stamina and energy, I think I may have been overusing my leg because the outside part of my knee hurts. The pain feels like a sharp stab when I first start to jog although it dulls if I keep jogging for a while. Afterwards my knee will feel sore, it hurts to do go down or up stairs. I had a mild form of this pain before, but it used to go away after a few days of rest; however, this last time the pain has lasted for over a week and it hurts a lot more. The place location of the pain is on the round "bumpy" bone on the bottom outside corner of my knee, kind of below the kneecap. Although it was swollen lightly, it has gone down after some rest and icing.

Just to give you an idea on what my activity level was when this started:

I was doing a 2.5 jog on a trail once a week, two days of cardio boxing (included jogging warm up, jump rope, sprinting, high kicks, calisthenics and boxing with punchbag) and I threw in a fun night of learning how to tango (high heels required). So... I'm guessing my knee might not have liked it.

I have been icing my leg and resting it for the past week, also had a couple of acupuncture sessions (which has helped with other issues related to running in the past), and have been using a knee brace when running. I'm bummed that I can't keep my regular exercise routine but I don't want to mess up my knee. My questions are:

- what have people done to heal/treat this type of injury?
- how long do you rest for?
- what other exercises do you do (that doesn't require a gym membership or a pool) while letting your knees rest for a while?
- is there a way to prevent relapse into this type of injury?

I figured maybe I can work on toning while I rest my legs, so exercises/routines that can help with that would also be great suggestions.

Thank you!

gmallan

It sounds a bit like patella tendonitis - an overuse injury. Often called jumper's knee/runner's knee. Things you can try for recovery:

1. Icing
2. Rest (I had about 3-4 months off imact work)
3. Eccentric loading either using a fit ball or decline (single leg squats focusing on the way down for the injured knee and then using both to push up)
4. The turning point for me was nitro dur patches if you can find someone who will prescribe them for you. I had to see a sports specialist

I kept very active in those 4 months (and was encouraged to do so) doing mostly cycling, weights and boxing

Unfortunately it's a very presistent injury and even now I don't do a lot of running. You should probably take distance running off the list for a long time

Sh5073a

gmallan - Thank you for the response! Helps a lot!