Painful Knee

Lila

Over the last 10 weeks or so I have been upping my mileage in preparation for the Dublin City Marathon in October. I'm following one of Hal Higdon's novice programmes and am now up to about 30 miles a week. Prior to that I only ran about 8/10 miles a week and did four or five 10km events every year.

One of my knees seems to be suffering lately with a constant dull pain. It's never 'scream out loud' painful and is actually fine while running but still bothersome. The pain is at the front and sides, not the back.

My Asics runners seem to be fine and were only replaced recently. Is this something I should get a physio to take a look at or deal with it at home? Any advice from seasoned runners? Thanks.

--amadeus--

Hi Lila,

When I first started running I had quite a bit of dull joint pain as well and it is fairly normal (to an extent).

Basically your joints and tendons need time to acclimatise to the demands that long distance running place on them and they adapt to these strains much more slowly than your heart and lungs do. This adaption can cause exactly that slow, low level ache that you describe.

That doesn't mean you should just grin and bear it though. RICE (Rest, Elevation, Ice, Compression) will help alleviate teh pain. I have heard great things about ice baths but personally I'd rather have the pain! You should also take particular care to stretch before and after your runs (look up some ITB stretches in particular). I know you have new trainers but it's always worth getting them from a specialist shop - good trainers will make you faster and protect you better.

And if teh pain ever goes from low level ache to pain tehn stop and get medical advice.

Good luck!

Lila

Thanks Amadeus. I'll look into more specific stretches and keep an eye on it - will probably get better over time. The increased mileage must be quite a shock to my joints so must just need some time to adjust.

Hope I don't fall apart before the big day - getting excited (and very nervous!) already!

clem

i had a similar problem last year on the right knee, turned out i overpronated on the right foot. i bought some orthotics and the problem has gone. although it is worth mentioning the mileage has dropped also:D