knee injury

cantdecide

I've been running since May in order to throw off that excess weight I've had since I was a child (I'm now 25) and get my level of fitness up from rock bottom. I was making good progress but I've hit a hurdle (pardon the pun).

About a month and a half ago, I ended up missing a couple of weeks of my daily run due to a combination of overtime, sickness and a bunch of other trivial annoyances, that just all conspired- I wasn't secretly happy, I was cursing my bad luck.

The first proper time I ran again was about a month ago, and it went surprisingly well- I expected to be back to square one but it was ok. The very next day, I ended up getting a twinge in what seemed like the very middle of my right knee joint running upstairs at work.

I've been on my feet at work for the last month and the overtime was cutting into my personal time again so the running was off but I thought this was okay because I knew the break would probably be good for my knee.

I was aware of an intermittant tenderness in my knee in my month away from running but I decided that just like my old ankle complaint, the activity would do it good. I ran yesterday and took it slowly and easily and stuck to the grass and it was okay. Today, I ran again and took it easy again but my knee came over stiff and painful half way through. It wasn't the sharp twinge from a month ago, it was more a heavy, hot pain and this time it seemed to down the right side of my knee and I might be imagining this but I think I might have developed a 'clicking'.

Any advice or suggestion of what it might be before I miss another month of exercise???

jrar

Obviously it could be a myriad of things that are causing these knee pains but I'd book an appt. with a physio to start with - he/she might be able to a) check it out for you and b) prescribe some specific exercises which will either help to address the issue or help to rule in or out some specific possibilities as to what it might be etc.

trinewbie

cantdecide wrote:

I've been running since May in order to throw off that excess weight I've had since I was a child (I'm now 25) and get my level of fitness up from rock bottom. I was making good progress but I've hit a hurdle (pardon the pun).

About a month and a half ago, I ended up missing a couple of weeks of my daily run due to a combination of overtime, sickness and a bunch of other trivial annoyances, that just all conspired- I wasn't secretly happy, I was cursing my bad luck.

The first proper time I ran again was about a month ago, and it went surprisingly well- I expected to be back to square one but it was ok. The very next day, I ended up getting a twinge in what seemed like the very middle of my right knee joint running upstairs at work.

I've been on my feet at work for the last month and the overtime was cutting into my personal time again so the running was off but I thought this was okay because I knew the break would probably be good for my knee.

I was aware of an intermittant tenderness in my knee in my month away from running but I decided that just like my old ankle complaint, the activity would do it good. I ran yesterday and took it slowly and easily and stuck to the grass and it was okay. Today, I ran again and took it easy again but my knee came over stiff and painful half way through. It wasn't the sharp twinge from a month ago, it was more a heavy, hot pain and this time it seemed to down the right side of my knee and I might be imagining this but I think I might have developed a 'clicking'.

Any advice or suggestion of what it might be before I miss another month of exercise???

Definitely go see a physio or sports doctor - I had similar issues when I first started running, and I did have a "Clicking" in the knee - Turned out it was a piece of torn cartilage from an old rugby injury , but needed to be rectified with keyhole surgery..

Dont take any chances, get a professional to check it out. You only have 2 knees

(Unless your some sort of spiderbaby in which case I dont know how your using a computer....hmmm)

cantdecide

trinewbie wrote:

Definitely go see a physio or sports doctor -


(Unless your some sort of spiderbaby in which case I dont know how your using a computer....hmmm)

I have an appointment for a physio but will she be qualified enough to diagnose successfully??? (Not being insulting to physios but I've never been to one before)

hotnipples

I've had what seems like endless knee issues in both my knees for the past 3 years now. What the physio will do is basically check the various ranges of movement of the knee and try to detect any pain you may feel, so they can get an idea of whats wrong. He will check also for ligament damage. If his findings are inconclusive (which will probably be the case, knees are very hard thing to diagnose a problem for), id recommend going to see a orthopaedic surgeon about it, but be prepared for a long waiting list.. it seems a high percentage of people have knee trouble. I went to a number of physios, one had me doing extremely monotonous quadricep exercises which didn't seem to help at all, so if you are not satisfied with what this physio says, get a second opinion. Went to a surgeon and I got keyhole surgery on my left knee a few weeks back, doesnt feel much better yet but its still in the healing process, doesnt help when you have to walk up and down a production plant every day :mad: It has however removed the clicking.

One thing I would certainly recommend is stop jogging altogether until this is sorted, no treadmills either. Use a bike or rower or swim or something in the mean time. I continued jogging despite pain (hoping to run it off) and it had me in a worse situation than I should be in. Trust me with a knee its better to be safe than sorry, and ask the physio what exercise are you capable of doing. Hope the physio has some good news for you though, everyone is different and hopefully your problem is less severe than mine!

cantdecide

I hope so, guys- It wasn't really that bad so far but it's the month I spent walking around on it that I'm worried about...

Koroibos

It looks like you only ran 3/4 times in the last 2 months. If after 1 or 2 runs and a month off the knee trouble didn't go away it may be caused by factors other than running. Physio (not all) in my experience will hear you do running and have knee pain and jump to a conclusion. By not running your muscles would have weakened, also you may not stretch as much when not training. The knee pain when not running for a while is just as important as the pain you felt when running when you explain the issue to the physio. All they can know is what you tell them and what the see on the day.

cantdecide

That sounds like sound advice there but don't worry- I'll explain EVERYTHING to the physio. Poor girl is getting my life story tomorrow! Just look how prattle is in my original post:D

I think you're right though- I think I pulled something when I ran up those stairs because the muscles were weakening from lack of use...

I'll try not to give the physio any conclusions to jump to though...

barclay2

I think you might have the same injury i got over the summer. I actually started jogging for the first time in may as well and everything was great until the joint where my thigh bone meets my shin (i think), basically my knee joint, suddenly got intensely painful. only when i run though.

anyway i saw a couple of physiotherapists in edinburgh (where i was living until a couple of weeks ago) and another one today. they all concluded that the shape of my heels and arch and ankle structure mean i send too much shock up my legs instead of absorbing it, and that this is aggravating the joint.

the first two concluded that i'd need new trainers, with good shock absorption. they also said i might need insoles. i got new trainers in august and the trainers reduced the pain somewhat but not completely. the guy today said i will definitely need insoles. And surprise surprise, they're not cheap. they cost 250 euro. and on top of that there's 50 euro for each time you see the physio

hotnipples

Be careful barclay, sounds identical to what I experienced. I made bits of my knees from continuous road running. Take it easy!

cantdecide

She reckon it's a strain associated with the temporary lack of use.

She told me I have flat feet and odd ankles which are probably the root cause of the strain, but the sudden jump back into running gave me a jolt. I had forgotten I had been walking daily for a month before I started running. I suppose this is why it hadn't reared it's ugly head when I first started running.

She's given me exercises and I must see her again in a week but she thinks it's nothing to worry about long term. (thank god)