I was diagnosed a few weeks ago (after letting my knee and leg pain continue for far too long with my usual “just give it time” approach). Now I’ve never run in my life (except for a bus), so the name is particularly ironic in my case. However, while the condition is mostly common in those who engage in sports that stress the knee, it also hits lots of others, particularly women. The specialist I saw (an orthopedist who specializes in knees–who knew there was such a thing?) has prescribed physical therapy–20 sessions–and then we’ll see where we are. The goal as I understand it is to strengthen my quadriceps so they better support my kneecap. I’m religiously doing the exercises the therapist gave me and icing at least twice a day. No difference so far, but the doc warned this would be a very slow process. (If I make the mistake of reading to much online, I find a lot of skepticism about the diagnosis overall and the value of PT–so I’ve stopped reading.)
My PT points to a number of factors that all contributed to stressing my knee over the years–a bad leg fracture (in college), untreated scoliosis (I don’t think anyone even pointed it out to me until well into adulthood), 30 years of sitting at a desk all day, and a few years of twice-weekly high-impact aerobics back when we thought that was okay. I’m also reconciling myself to the idea that no body part stays in perfect working order for 65 years, and at least my knee worked perfectly well for a lot longer than the typical household appliance!
Meanwhile, standing is the best and driving a car is the worst–something about the angle of the seat and the motion required to move from gas to brake. (My D has helpfully suggested I use Uber to go everywhere and lie down in the back seat.) Climbing stairs is also awful, unless I do the toddler-style climb of ascending with my good leg and bringing the bad one up to the same step, which makes me feel ridiculous even when no one’s watching, but feels much better. On the bright side, I seem to show no signs of arthritis and my PT says I’m very flexible.
If others have had this diagnosis, I’d love to hear of your experiences.
If there is no damage to meniscus, PT will be very helpful. It brought me back into BQ shape when I wrecked my knee by jumping off a rather high retaining wall (I was not running at that time, so the irony was there for me, too). PT is a very, very slow process, so it might take a couple of months to see any difference, but it WILL make a difference. People who commiserate online were either diagnosed incorrectly or did not follow the doctors’ instructions. In runners’ knee, the pain is caused by knee cap not aligning properly and grinding on the other bones. By strengthening the muscles around the knee, you should be able to realign it and get relief from the pain.
Meanwhile… Here are some things that you can do:
Aspecream (sp?) - it is topical aspirin analog cream. Rub it on to relieve the pain.
Good knee brace - I highly recommend CEP brand. Comfy. I even ran a marathon in mine just as a precaution.
I have this, diagnosed by an ortho, both legs. Stairs can be awful. No scan ever showed a specific knee problem (no arthritis or torn anything.) Btw, the knee issue can be related to quad strength, but quad strength is also related to butt muscles. Keep that in mind.
In my case, I think I trace this to a few hard falls one year, smack on my knees, though the docs swear no relation. 4 months last year with a trainer (not PT, but quad, hip and core work) didn’t help. Good shoes help with leg and foot alignment. Mine is worse after sitting in some chairs, not others. (Super, considering winter work I do is all about sitting, up to 20 hours/day.) The doc said this has to do with the support different chairs offer the thighs (where and how much padding.)
Odd thing is I can walk distances, even took up “Couch to 5k” (C25k. Heard of it? An interesting way to pace walking and jogging to build endurance.) I jog crazy slow, but can. And I do it on the treadmill, my adversary of choice, so I can zone out.
Best wishes. I’m going back to PT next month.
And I swear by the Aspercreme with Lidocaine. For me, makes a big difference, and quickly. Just follow the directions not to wrap or cover the area.
“4 months last year with a trainer (not PT, but quad, hip and core work) didn’t help.”
You really need to work with a licensed PT, especially the one who specializes in knee issues (yes, there is specialization). Not all “trainers” know enough to treat medical problems which is what this issue is.
Want to add that some runners sites are funny, when discussing this. Those guys will talk about the pain, how they had to stop in the middle of a run. Yeah, at 12 miles. Or how they stepped back their training: “I wanted to run 120 this week but will pare back to 60.” Sure.
BB, I did have a PT in the past, not long enough (insurance issue, at the time.) Continued the exercises, but not the icing. This is my fault. Going back next month.
Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. It’s always good to know you aren’t alone. I had never even heard of this problem before–probably because I don’t hang out with runners!
I forgot to mention that because I’m on an anticoagulant (and will be for life), I can’t take any NSAID (ibuprofen and the like) that might actually help the pain. (Tylenol is useless). I’ll have to clear the use of Aspercreme with my cardiologist, since it does contain aspirin, though it seems unlikely enough could get into the bloodstream to cause a problem.
I was given a knee brace by the doc, one specifically designed for this ailment. He said it wasn’t going to fix anything, but might help with the pain. I wore it one day for a few hours and felt much worse than without it, so that was that. My PT rolled her eyes at the notion of a brace, said that in her experience, the body’s dynamics are so powerful that a brace is of little value in fighting them. I also invested in stabilizing athletic shoes to counteract my foot pronation, which my PT said was making things worse. I HATE wearing athletic shoes–feel like such a clod in them with my size 8-1/2 feet, plus the stabilizing types don’t even come in cute colors–so that has just added to my general crankiness.
My PT has had to experiment a lot with finding exercises that strengthen the right muscles without worsening my knee pain. She suggested moving the whole process to the pool, but emphasized that I’d have to join a health club and work out in the pool on my own 3 times a week to go that route. I dislike pools, haven’t even owned a swimsuit in years, and dread the whole inconvenient and time-consuming notion. So I’m going to stick with doing the work on dry land for the rest of my prescribed therapy and see where I end up after my 20 sessions.
Standing and walking put the least stress on my knee, but life requires driving, sitting and stair climbing, unfortunately. The idea that more thigh support from the right chair might help is interesting.
@ohiopublic, KT tape was new to me, and now that I’ve looked at the website and realize it’s meant to be left in place for days, I’m wondering if it can be worn while undergoing PT, or whether its mechanism would interfere with the exercises. In any case, I’ll raise the idea with my therapist.
I don’t have runner’s knee but a ganglion cyst on the medial side of my knee cap that gives me pain similar to that described as runner’s knee. I find ice massage far better than passive icing. Take some styrofoam or paper cups, fill with water and freeze. Then peel the cup back around halfway down the cup leaving a big chunk of ice exposed and a handle to prevent your hand from freezing. Massage your entire knees with it, expecially where it is sore. Rub for about three minutes using the rule “when it’s numb you’re done.” Let your knee thaw out and repeat as needed.
MommaJ - KT shouldn’t interfere with exercises. It might come off if you are really aggressive with the foam roller and icing can cause it to lose its adhesiveness. Mine only lasts two days at the most before I have to reapply because I’m getting pretty sweaty, doing whirlpool, steam and sauna. I would tape at least a half hour before walking so it adheres better. You probably want to take it off before therapy. You can purchase it at any drug store. When you shave your legs it adheres better, which I’m not in a habit of doing! This is how I tape https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4gkz4koZVE0
^^I prefer Rocktape because it adheres better than KT. Tape is meant to work as a flexible brace - you probably have seen Olympic athletes with some brightly colored stripes on their shoulders playing beach volleyball. While a brace will not fix anything permanently and is not a replacement of PT, the better ones can keep the knee cap aligned for a period of time to minimize the grinding and the pain it causes. The PT is probably against bracing because some folks see some improvement with bracing and and drop out of PT, because PT is hard work.
The Apercreme I use has Lidocaine, so you aren’t supposed to wrap the knee after putting it on, could lead to over-absorption. Standing is one thing that aggravates, for me. But I’m wondering if this is possibly tied to some structural issue in the legs or feet, something that throw off the ligaments. Or something about the way we actually walk.
Obnoxious question: is your weight optimal? I had pretty bad knee pain, was told by my knee specialist I was looking at double knee replacements in four years… five years ago. Now I have NO knee pain–and I didn’t have surgery. The difference? I lost 60 pounds.
@lookingforward, yes, I assume I’ll have to keep those key muscles strong to prevent a recurrence (or, as my doc predicts, the same thing happening in my other knee), but I’d be happy to trade a lifetime commitment to regular exercises for the constant discomfort I’m feeling.
@dmd77, fair question, but I’m not overweight. I have a goal of losing about 7 pounds to look my best, but I’m in the middle of the normal BMI for my height (though I know that’s a questionable way to measure).
I’m normally a very upbeat person, but this condition, even though not what I’d call intense pain (I save that description for my kidney stones), is dragging me down mentally. I know so many people have such worse things going on with their health (which is why I put the term “whining” in my thread title), but at some point never feeling very well starts to wear you out. I just wish I’d sought medical help earlier, but it seems that so many of the aches and pains that accompany aging resolve on their own, I was convinced I just needed time for this to disappear. Not the case. And I can’t deny that my feelings are all tied up with my attitude towards aging. I remember how H and I used to joke that his parents’ lives in retirement seemed to consist of one doctor’s appointment after another–and now I feel like I’m in the same boat, having become the patient of four medical specialists in the past two years.
“I’m normally a very upbeat person, but this condition, even though not what I’d call intense pain (I save that description for my kidney stones), is dragging me down mentally.”
Hang in there.The good news is that you don’t have any structural issues. It stinks that you cannot have any NSAIDS, because they are very helpful to diminish the mental pain impact. Can you ask your doctor what is OK for you to take for pain? Arnica did zip for me, but Mr. found some relief for his sore muscles. Also, can you take glucosamine (because there is some anecdotal evidence that it helps strengthen the joints)?
Btw, this shouldn’t be confused with arthritic conditions that respond to surgery. My ortho said, sure, he could operate, but ‘guaranteed’ I’d be back in a year with the same complaint all over again.
Though I haven’t been conscientious about treating this, (thank you for this thread,) it’s important to at least consider that pain killers really only mask the pain (as BB says, help with the emotional reaction.) Yeah, it’s tough. One of my docs did suggest trying Glucosamine, but that was before the PF diagnosis.
I feel ya. I had runner’s knee about a year ago. It hurt to do simple things like tying my shoes or going down stairs. I also developed shoulder pain bc I attempted to compensate for my knee by altering my posture. The most annoying thing about all of this was the pain level. Not minor enough to just ignore and icy hot, but not major enough that you feel the need to immediately go to the doctor demanding relief. I waited a couple months before telling my mom thinking it would go away on its own (dumb on my part bc it got worse).
PT said it was unusual that I had it so young w/out being involved in athletics. Apparently, the muscle keeping my knee cap in place was very weak and inflamed causing inflammation of the surrounding tissue itoo. I finished physical therapy after three months bc insurance wasn’t paying for anymore.
After completing physical therapy, the pain was easier to manage. Only issue I have is that my right knee still buckles if I put most of my weight on it. It’s a little worrying to have knee problems so early. I want to stay mobile as long as I possibly can.