Knee Pain (Patellofemoral Syndrome)

sandi117

6 months ago, when I'd been going to the gym, I would get really bad knee pain during my exercises (mainly squats and lunges) and it soon carried on to going up/down the stairs. My doctor said I have "Patellofemoral Syndrome", probably from doing squats and lunges and the such and it was just too much strain on my knees, so I should scale back. I started using only weight machines so I wasn't putting so much weight and pressure on my joints and it went away. Well, I'm doing Insanity now and guess what? Iiiit's baaaack!

Any suggestions for exercises or modifications? I don't go to the gym anymore (I was going to the one at school, but it doesn't fit into my schedule anymore), so I'm only doing at home exercises. Thanks!

Doberdawn

Yes, per my sports med doc and has worked for me:

1. Do NOT do anything on your knees/kneeling... this grinds the back of the knee cap (for those of us with such issues). This means push-ups are guy's style or not on the floor... do not rock on your knees doing girl's style push-ups. If you need to build up to guy's style... work on a kitchen counter, a chair seat/couch seat, work your way down a flight of stairs gradually decreasing the incline as your arms grow stronger till you can do them on the ground.

2. Do NOT do any exercise where your knee goes past a 90 degree bend and you are exerting force (no stair steppers, no deep squats)... make sure any bike is adjusted so the distance seat to pedal has your leg at wider than 90 degrees when you need to push down and pedal.

3. Make sure when you do squats that your weight is on your HEELS and that you can pick up and WIGGLE your toes, if not, you are putting the force on the knee instead of into the glutes.

4. Make sure when you do squats or lunges that your knee does NOT go past the arch in your foot. Stay BEHIND the toesies.

5. You need to strengthen the part of the quads that pulls the knee cap into place and holds it there. To do this you do terminal leg extensions. This is the weight machine (or put ankle weights on, whatever) where you sit, and with the weight on the ankle, you lift your leg out to straight in front of you, lifting the weight. Two important rules... work only ONE leg at a time, not both together because one may try to compensate for the other and only lift the last 20 degrees or so. That is why it is called terminal. You can put your hand on the thigh just above and barely to the inside of the kneecap and you'll feel the targeted muscle move. You lift the weights up to that height, then you keep it up lowering only about 20% and then lift again, repeat. Do 3 sets per leg and build the muscle so find your fatigue weight WITHOUT pain. Here is a video demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpRnulVBGTs

Hope these help you... it is what keeps me up and working

autumntia

I am not going to be much help at all but I have bad knee pain too! One knee is worse than the other. I am in my 3rd week of Insanity and it sucks so bad! Sometimes the pain is almost unbearable. My aunt told me it is probably the extra weight on my joints in conjunction with the exercise. My knee has been hurting all summer though and I just started Insanity 3 weeks ago.
I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I hope he doesn't tell me to scale back on my workouts. I have to get into shape!

mensasu

You look young, so my suggestion is to do some things now so you don't end up like me.

1) Give up high heels - nothing more than 1 inch high and if you don't already get some orthotics
2) Consider a brace when you are working out to keep your knee cap in place.
3) Take up swimming, preferably using a flutter kick and not a butterfly/whip kick.
4) Do exercises in the pool to reduce weight on your knee.
5) Talk to a physiotherapist about what exercises will strengthen the correct muscles to keep your kneecap in place.

My family has a history of a bad right knee. My knee cap was always loose and I have developed bad arthritis under it. In addition it would move out of place causes extreme pain. I blame high heels and jogging as contributing to the deterioration. In 2003 I slipped on a slope and that was the end of it. I went through 1 year of rehab before I broke down and got an Unloader brace. That was good for 5 years and then it got so bad I was unable to do much walking and had to use a cane. In 2010 the doctor put a metal plate (Orthoglide) between my bones as I'm still too young for a knee replacement. (My mom has had her knee replaced and she never even worn the extremely high heels I did.)

Now 2 years later I'm on the road to recovery. The cane is gone and I am able to walk long distances. The pain comes bad at night sometimes, but since I gave up all grains my arthritis and knee swelling have reduced.

Good Luck.

Doberdawn

Oh yeah... and a knee brace of the right kind may help you... for this you will need to see a sports med doctor or phsyiotherapist or like professional. I have a large neoprene brace with a C-cup on the inside that holds the knee cap more in place and I must wear them when hiking. (see e.g., http://www.supportsusa.com/corflex/Products/Knee/cpull_patella_stabilizer.htm). For lighter days, I have used a cho-pat strap to take some of the pressure off and they also have knee stabilizers (see e.g. http://www.cho-pat.com/products/originalkneestrap.php and http://www.cho-pat.com/products/patellarstabilizer.php) These devices can be great, but for your first time get a model and fitting recommended by a professional. JMO

edited to fix typos and misspellings which I hate when I see them. LOL

Carfoodel

Great advice Doberdawn.

Doberdawn

Great advice Doberdawn.

Thanx! Glad to be of help. Sorry to say I have YEARS of experience with it. LOL

sandi117

Thanks everyone!

I don't really wear heels all that often because I'm 5'10" and some change lol

And I actually teach swim lessons so I'm in the pool 3-5 days a week.

Thanks again!

truecaligirl

bump