knee pain

Jillathia

I finished two weeks of the program and I was so excited and felt so good about myself. Then tragedy struck I have serious knee pain in my right knee now. It got progressively worse over the last 5 days. I chose to skip my run on Monday to see if it would get better but yesterday and today have been quite bad. I am actually limping as I walk. I took some Alleve and I have even tried to ice it. I expect this will just take time. One thing that did concern me was that my knee makes horrible grinding noises when I bend and flex it now.

I will be the first to admit I wasn't entirely responsible in the stretching area for my knee. I also pretty much only warmed up with the 5 minute walk on Chubby Jones' podcast. If I start again, I will stretch more and I think I will need to warm up for longer than that. I did have good shoes (bought at a running store so they are the right kind) tho I was running on uneven surfaces since the outside is covered in snow and ice.

First, has anyone experienced this and gone to have to a successful program or I am stuck with a body that just can't run. Second, how long should I wait until I can try again? I have had tennis elbow in the past and the doctor said that I could use my arm as long as I was within a decent amount of pain level but that I should listen to my body. Is it the same for knees? Can I run with a bit of pain as long as it isn't overwhelming?

I made an appointment with my doctor (for other reasons) for next Monday so I will ask him then, but in the meantime I was hoping for some advice from people who have been in the situation!

Thanks

SRH7

So sorry to hear this. I've had problems with sore and grinding knees since I was a teenager and agree that it is something that needs checking out by your doctor.

I'm not a doctor, but my own personal experience was:

1. Rest - the grinding sounds suggest there is inflammation and running on it will just aggravate it.
2. Put an ice pack on it and take an anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen, asprin or paracetamol - assuming you are okay to take one of these)
3. Your doctor could diagnose one of many things, this could include cartilage problems or a patellar tracking disorder. These can be difficult to diagnose and you may not get a diagnosis at all and just be told to rest, ice the knee and take medication.

After 20 years of knee pain I finally got a diagnosis by going to a physiotherapist rather than a doctor (who just kept ordering X-rays then telling me nothing was showing up). The physio diagnosed patellar tracking disorder due to my feet overpronating. Basically, my feet fall inwards so the bones into the knee joint are at weird angles. This has caused my knee caps to not stay in the place they are supposed to and rubbing over parts of cartilage and bone they are not supposed to. This has caused bits of cartilage to wear off and also causes pain to the surrounding ligaments which are being stretched the wrong way.

I got exercises from my physio (lots of squats to strengthen the knees and stretches to lengthen the hamstrings) and she referred me to a podiatrist (foot specialist).

The podiatrist adapted some orthotic insoles for me (making small adjustments every few weeks to give my legs time to adapt) and gave me a list of the kind of shoes I need to wear (I have to wear one inch chunky heels that are either lace-ups or have a strap across the front and no flat shoes or pumps - this is specific to me and would be different for each person depending on the problem with the feet).

It was only after getting this advice that I was able to start running. I wear the orthotics in my running shoes with a heel lift at the back. The difference the orthotics and physio exercises has made to my knees is incredible. I still get knee pain after particularly big hikes (downhill kills my knees) and when it is bad I just have to rest them - any kind of exercise while they are sore just aggravates the problem.

I also wear knee supports to help stop the kneecap moving about - have a look online for jumper's knee straps.

Oh, and one word of warning - I went to a supposedly really good running shop to get fitted for shoes and they recommended a pair of minimalist shoes, despite me taking in my orthotics and explaining that my physio had recommended neutral highly-cushioned shoes. The soles were really thin and the shoes not deep enough to fit my orthotic. After one run I had blistered heels, could barely walk and had stabbing pains in my ankles. With knees that were already damaged they were the worst possible shoes I could have had. I took them back to the shop and got a refund. I'm not saying all running shops are that bad but my experience was not good (I ended up doing research about neutral shoes online then went to a discount store and tried on every pair of neutral shoes they had with my orthotics, running up and down the shop until I found one that felt right).

So, go to see you doctor. If you get no success and the pain continues then consider seeing a physiotherapist. I only paid £30 to see mine and it's the best money I've ever spent.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

bostonwolf

^great advice.

Also might be worth going to a running store if you have one nearby and have them take a look at the shoes you are wearing and your stride to see if either can be modified to make your running gait less stressful on your knees.