Tag: runner's knee

Can’t Stop – Won’t Stop

I went for a run today. I probably shouldn’t have. Couldn’t help myself. People say that running is hard, but for runners, not running is just as hard. My left knee needs a break, and I have been pretty good about letting it rest, but with some mild winter weather we’re having, I couldn’t help myself. It feels better, or maybe feels good enough to give a short run a try.

I chose my typical route to the forest preserve, and within the first quarter mile, I was already feeling some knee discomfort. I thought about shutting it down, but my previous experience with this injury told me that it would loosen up. Fortunately, it did; my pace picked up, and I carried on my merry way. The catchall “runner’s knee” type injury can mean several things, but this one seems to let me actually run. It’s just the post-run knee achiness that gives one pause.

Five hours post-run and my knee is feeling sore again. I’ve never been a running gizmo guy, but after trying and having some success with the knee straps I have been wearing (which I unfortunately forgot for today’s run), I saw an advertisement about red light therapy on Facebook. I swear, Facebook can read my mind, or is spying on me. I did a little googling into it and found some on the almighty e-tail website that everyone uses, with some good reviews, so I bought one to give it a go. I wrapped the dumb thing around my knee and hit the ON button, which brings it to life and starts to warm and massage my knee slightly, in addition to zapping me with whatever red light and near-infrared light thing it has. The jury is out on this gizmo, but I have only used it for two days now. We’ll see.

The coach-wife says I need to stretch more. She’s probably right. I stretched at work for a little bit today. I’ll try to remind myself every day to do that.

When runners who love to run can’t, they do a lot of crazy things to keep themselves going, everything that is except the thing they need to do – stop running. But running is life for me, and I can’t just stop doing it. I won’t stop doing it.

A Glimmer of Hope

For a little more than a month now, I have dealt with some knee pain that has prevented me from running.  I’ve had aches and pains over the years as a runner and for the most part rest and easing back into running was sufficient.  But not this time.  This injury seemed to be lingering and not getting better with rest.

I tend to self-diagnose, and I came to the conclusion that my knee pain was most consistent with “runner’s knee,” aka – patellofemoral pain syndrome.  But just knowing that alone, along with rest wasn’t cutting it for me, so I swallowed my pride and went to see my doctor.

I was able to quickly get an appointment to see my doctor’s physician assistant and she advised me to take a prescription anti-inflammatory and try some physical therapy.  So with the referral in hand, I went to get some “physio” as the hip kids say.

The first trip didn’t do much for me, she evaluated me, told me that I had no flexibility, and rubbed some cream on my leg and used some sort of ultrasound gizmo on my knee that made me roll my eyes.  But she advised me to come back on Tuesday and see another therapist to have my knee taped.

On Tuesday I was prepared for another “you’re not very flexible” lecture, but I could tell right away that this lady was going to get me on the right track.  I told her that I have pain with stairs and we tested that out.  Just stepping down a single step slowly was very painful.  I was ordered up onto the bench and the tape came out.  Of course, I was skeptical (I’m the biggest pessimist in the world), but she wrapped the knee up and explained the whole process to me.  After taping we tried the step-down test again and there was no discomfort.  IT WAS GONE!  I was surprised, but also kind of excited.  Although we were out of time for our session, she wanted me to go for a run and see how it felt.  That was all I needed to hear.

I drove from their office straight to the nature preserve and hit the trail.  I ran a hilly 3-miler at a pushed effort, and although the taping felt a little weird, there wasn’t any knee pain.  The muscles around the knee felt a little sore, but I haven’t run in several weeks, so that was expected.

The next day the air quality was so bad thanks to the Canadian wildfire smoke drifting down into the Chicago area, so I opted for a walk instead.  But two days after getting my knee taped, I went for another run/walk (2min run/2min walk) at an easy pace and it felt great.  I only planned for five miles, but when I got to four miles, I detoured my route to extend it and had no discomfort at all.  The taped knee was doing great!  I ended up doing 7.75 miles and have no lingering knee pain.

So, I will need to continue improving my flexibility through stretching, and foam rolling, and hopefully strengthen the appropriate quad muscles so that my knee actually moves in the spot it is supposed to move and then maybe I won’t need the taped knee.

My ultrarunning goals for the year may have been saved thanks to a knowledgeable physical therapist and some athletic tape!

My Dumb Running Injury

Doctor, it hurts when I do this! Then don’t do that. – Henny Youngman

I’ve been running a long time, consistently since the late 1980s. Over the course of those 30+ years I have had mostly pain-free miles, but I think I have had just about every type of common running injury there is – iliotibial band issues, plantar fasciitis, piriformis, bruised toenails, and Achilles tendonitis just to name a few. Sometimes they seem serious and take a while to heal, while others I just train through them. Now I think I might be experiencing the dreaded Runner’s Knee. I say “I think” because I tend to self-diagnose, and I don’t really know for sure. Plus, the term “Runner’s Knee” doesn’t seem to be specific to one condition. So here’s what I found out about the condition.

Runner’s Knee is probably something that I have had in the past, but it wasn’t enough of an issue that I remember it specifically. There are a handful of causes but I think my issue is due to overdoing it for the past three years as I have stepped up my mileage training for ultras, being an older runner, and lack of flexibility in my leg muscles. Basically, I’m wearing out my already worn-out legs and I don’t stretch. Running injuries really all stem from overtraining or overexertion.

There are two types of injuries that are sometimes called Runner’s Knee, Chondromalacia Patella (CMP), and Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). Both deal with knee pain, with Chondromalacia Patella dealing more with pain in the knee cap and degradation of the knee cap cartilage. Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is more generalized to the muscles and area around the knee. Symptoms of Runner’s Knee that I am experiencing include pain while sitting with my leg bent, especially in the evening, knee pain while using the stairs, and pain while bending the knee. I do not have any grinding or unusual sensations while bending my knee, so therefore, I think my type of Runner’s Knee is more in line with the broader PFPS condition.

Either way, both conditions tend to respond to rest, OTC pain meds, stretching, and physical therapy if needed. There are plentiful videos online in which physical therapists describe stretches and exercises for the condition, so I think I’ll skip the hassle of seeing my doctor for a referral for PT. So far, I have found some relief just from the quadriceps, hamstrings, iliotibial band, and Achilles tendon stretches that I have done. This may be one of those short layoffs from running and I can get back to the long and slow training that is needed to prepare for the three ultras I have in the fall.

‘Tis but a scratch. Just a flesh wound. – The Black Knight

Have you ever dealt with Runner’s Knee? How did you handle it? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.