Runner's Knee :(

jtcedinburgh
jtcedinburgh Posts: 117 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 7 weeks into my new exercise regime and did my first competitive race last week. However, pushing a wee bit too hard resulted in runner's knee.

I've been doing 5Ks most days, first thing in the morning. They're fine but going up and down stairs is painful for my right knee. I had this a while ago and I went to a physio who did something which more or less sorted it out immediately. However, he's booked solid for the next five weeks and I can't wait that long. I recall he said it was something 'pinching', and was very common. However, I cannot for the life of me remember how he fixed it - I think he applied a fair bit of weight on my flexed knee.

Does anyone have any idea what he might have done? And/or any tips to get me back to normal? I'm doing ~70 miles of walking/running combined each week, and I'm determined to keep that up.

Ta.

Replies

  • Lisa_Ookoo
    Lisa_Ookoo Posts: 134 Member
    I think you're overdoing it, you need to give your knee some rest and recovery time.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    slow down. you are likely injured due to overuse of joints and muscles and etc that are not used to being used in this manner and this frequently

    slow down, take rest days, get fitted for shoes if you have not at a local runner store. then, you can check out workshops and running clubs too
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
    Foam rolling and stretching have always helped relieve stiffness or discomfort around my knees. Ice it, consider wearing a support whilst it recovers, and don't push through pain.
    So-called runners knee can be caused by loads of different things so getting checked out by a physio is probably wise. Could be a muscle imbalance or an injury somewhere else so it's important to try and establish the cause.
  • jtcedinburgh
    jtcedinburgh Posts: 117 Member
    Oh, I was running before - did stuff like Marcothon through December, etc. - but perhaps the past 7 weeks have been the most intense (due to the walking as well). To be fair, up until last Friday's race I was on old trainers, and having chucked them and opened the spare pair, they were clearly past it. Like me knees, LOL....
  • curlsintherack
    curlsintherack Posts: 465 Member
    my wife wears a strap brace that goes right under her knee and she says it alieviates the pain in her knee.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    yesimpson wrote: »
    Foam rolling and stretching have always helped relieve stiffness or discomfort around my knees. Ice it, consider wearing a support whilst it recovers, and don't push through pain.
    So-called runners knee can be caused by loads of different things so getting checked out by a physio is probably wise. Could be a muscle imbalance or an injury somewhere else so it's important to try and establish the cause.

    Good call. OP, look up foam rolling your IT band. That tends to help out quite a bit with this issue. Good luck.
  • Triathlete1502
    Triathlete1502 Posts: 103 Member
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    yesimpson wrote: »
    Foam rolling and stretching have always helped relieve stiffness or discomfort around my knees. Ice it, consider wearing a support whilst it recovers, and don't push through pain.
    So-called runners knee can be caused by loads of different things so getting checked out by a physio is probably wise. Could be a muscle imbalance or an injury somewhere else so it's important to try and establish the cause.

    Good call. OP, look up foam rolling your IT band. That tends to help out quite a bit with this issue. Good luck.

    Agree with the above.

    OP, please check out this article about knee injuries and tight ITB:

    http://runforefoot.com/knee-bend-itbs-heel-strike-runners/

    All the best!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    It's difficult to diagnose "runners knee" as it could be, among other things, ITB issues (quite common) or it could also be weak hips / glutes.

    I think seeing the PT is the right thing to do but you may also consider seeing a registered massage therapist, if it's an ITB issue deep tissue massage can help a lot (I speak from experience, I missed 6 week running after a race a few years ago - my fault, overuse - and my massage therapist had me running again after 2 session of course the deep tissue massage may have hurt worse than the ITB problem)

    If it's hips & glutes there are some simple exercises that you can do at home that may help....

    runnersworld.com/rt-may-2004/stretching-and-strengthening-exercises-for-iliotibial-band-syndrome

    runnersworld.com/workouts/glute-strengthening-workout

    Hope this helps....

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