Knee Pain

Hi everyone,

I recently had a knee injury on my right knee that just randomly occurred, no changes to my cycling set up or anything, it was a dull pain that moved around my knee. That seems to have now gone after seeing the physio, they taped it and used (i think) ultrasound as some pain relief and to reduce the swelling. They described that as anterior knee pain.

Now 3 months on its still there. but its just dull ache or feeling, not sore but I know its there. sometimes it can feel warm, the physio now says its to do with my fat pad underneath the knee. I feel like hill walking helps a lot, and normal walking in good trainers. Its not a sharp shooting pain and i can cycle fine, its just really annoying to have it constantly on my mind.

I'll be visiting the physio again soon so hopefully he can do some more stuff to it.

Can anyone suggest any other things that they've tried if they've been in this similar position before?

changing cleats position + some extra float on pedals helped solved mine

same as above but the opposite way. A year ago I had some knee pain apperaing after doing a london to paris and some more. it felt like an inflammation that i had before except it wouldn't disappear after taking some aspirin. the pain seemed to move around, varying in intensity, sometimes picking up after i had been sitting at my desk.
After a month, radically tried to change pedal position, by changing spds to roadpedals and it disappeared -completely - in a day !. I suspect my spds had become loose, and maybe ill-positionned under my feet.

I see.

But how do you know for sure that you've set them up again correctly?

I think a bike fit is in order!

i don't know, but it has been 10 months now without issue

I think this is the right place to post.

So my knees are knackered, as in need replacements knackered.
I've had surgery with bone reshaping and microfracutures done and I do all the gym and cycling they've told me too.

I use spds on pretty much all my bikes but my right knee, the worse one, is suffering now.
I notice nukeproof do 8° cleats. Does anyone use these with Shimano pedals ?
I'd love not having to replace my pedals tbh.
Cheers

after two weeks of pain and swelling, ortho surgeon diagnosed torn meniscus and booked for arthroscopy

seven weeks off the bike, arthroscopy today to repair torn meniscus and remove some floating bits(????), 14 days off work and at least 21 before getting back in the saddle

I sprained my right knee for the first time by saving myself from a skateboarding fall a few weeks ago. I was given an immobilizer and crutches. The nurse put it on too tight and it cut my calf leaving marks. That lasted 3 days. I have yet to ride a bike. I've been working on it, and it's been a struggle. The ortho said I was ok to work again. He didn't issue physical therapy with a specialist but I've been too unmotivated to do my own form of physical therapy. It's still tender and gives out from time to time. No buckling tho. I have all my exercise instructions from when I was recovering from a previous surgery on my left knee (4 in total). I want to get my bike fixed and be in decent shape to ride my bike again. I should get a second opinion.

Enough.
Been having pain in my left knee for a while now. First in a two-day London to Paris, then in a 150km ride, then in a 100km one, 50km... and yesterday I felt the pain after 10.

I’ve been doing the exercises my physio recommends to beef up the muscles I’m apparently lacking on this side. He’s right: my left-hand leg is weaker, more wobbly under stress.

I can only feel the pain when pressure/weight is applied, and in certain positions. It is such that the knee just locks straight, for example when setting off from stationary position.

I’m going to ask for a referral to medical and go down the pathology route... get a scan?

Bike fits were recommended but the problems appear on my fixed commuter, polo bike, hire MTB, and road bike. Can’t be all SPDs or fixed gear, methinks.

Don’t know what to do...

If anyone knows/ can recommend an orthopaedist, please share. I can get the referral through my physio.

There may well be specific exercises that are good for you as recommended by a physio; however, when I initially consulted physios after developing knee pain, I didn't find their advice all that helpful. This was partly because in my case there was a wider diagnosis that they (and a doctor) didn't make, which I eventually only got after a few years of seeing various medical people, and the pain in my knees turned out to be 'referred pain' caused by other parts of me passing it on, i.e. by not being strong enough and having to compensate by locking up and not moving properly. (I don't fully understand how that works but I think it's roughly like that.) With your diagnosis of one leg being weaker, and the pain only being on one side, you may already have such a wider diagnosis, but there may be more to address, e.g. hips (as in my case) or back or shoulders, as it's all connected.

Bike fits were recommended but the problems appear on my fixed commuter, polo bike, hire MTB, and road bike. Can’t be all SPDs or fixed gear, methinks.

Are all your bikes poorly adjusted for you, perhaps?

What really helped me was a combination of yoga and swimming. I found swimming especially good for my back, and yoga generally for everything. My friend Rebecca has been running a really good 'yoga for cyclists' class for some years now that I can warmly recommend. PM me if you want to know details.

Back from the dead of knee pain. Multiple MRI's, different advice from specialist and so far Yoga and SPINNING on a low gear ratio at a cycle park made me regain my hopes to ride again.

Interesting to note NFL & NBA & Track Cycling professionals all spin on light gearing to rehabilitate knees.

So best believe I bought me some Jet black Rollers and am taking this Bike and Cleat setup seriously.

new bike being built soon. I'll be the Caribbean guy on the pre-cursa. Say Hi. One Love.

Back in October 2017 I had a second arthroscopy to hopefully fix the previous one in June 2016 which clearly hadn’t worked. It’s not completely fixed, but it’s much better than it was and at least I can now ride a bike again. Running is out of the equation and leaves me with a lot of pain for a few days afterwards, but I’m not too bothered about that.

So an interesting observation popped up at the weekend. Generally, when I ride any distance I get a little bit of discomfort in the joint and sometimes a bit of pain the following day, which is to be expected because there isn’t much cartilage left. I took out a basic MTB hire bike from my hotel over the weekend. I did a pretty brutal 4 hours of climbing on this bike in my running trainers on flat pedals with no toe clips. I was quite surprised that I got almost no discomfort while riding and no pain at all the next day.

There are only two things that I can think of that are different, which is the fact that I could move my feet around on the pedal and the support angle in my trainers is wedged for my running gait. I’m considering ditching my SPDs for a bit and trying flats again. I want to keep an eye on this.

.

Interesting - did you get this on the NHS.

I skied into a tree in January and badly bruised my knee. I've not been to a doctor as all was healing ok, then it sort of stopped healing and I had knee issues when cycling, particularly if I pushed a big gear.

I think it may be a cartilage issue, but I've not got the ball rolling by going to the GP as I imagine I'll be put to the bottom of a long list "hey doctor, my knee hurts a bit when I cycle really hard". Also it is generally getting better, but then I have a bad day and think I should get this looked at. I recently also did a mega multiday mountain bike trip with loads of loaded climbing....and my knee was fine.

Can you let me know a little more about your experience (what your injury was, how you got treatment...etc.) Much appreciated!

Went to see my GP. Had a referral to the hospital about 3 weeks later. They confirmed what the gp had thought it might be and then some. They knew loads about cycling and cared a lot it seemed. They found me a spot to start a physio course 3 days after that session. The physio sessions can either be spread out or in an intensive block depending on what fits your life best. I got the impression they’d rather have you fit and active and keep you that way. Go see the doc Tim.

Thanks Dan! I should really just go see a doctor. I do have a feeling physio isn't gonna cut it. The cycling didn't cause the problem, it was a massive smash against a tree, and it feels like behind all the swelling and stiffness that has subsided something is a bit broken.

First was with the NHS, second was semi private but both were with the same consultant. First op was actually done by one of his team of surgeons who I don’t think did a very good job, which means I think the consultant has had to make best of what was left in there.

I had an old knee injury that I think I made worse by years of running and cycling on it without dealing with the underlying problem. Eventually it became too much and physio wasn’t working. I went to the GP and got referred through, actually a lot quicker than I expected.

Most important thing with knees is to get referred for an MRI scan to see what’s actually going on in the joint. Mine was full of meniscus tears, so all I was doing with ongoing physio was wearing my joint out.

This is what I think I'm doing. Appointment with doc incoming.

Thanks!

I've had knee troubles to the point of seeing a physio in the past. Did the recommended routines and stretches and then moved on to general compound strength exercise in the gym, and things were improving.
Then I rode manc-bristol on a loaded bike in 2 days, they've been bad since. The typical overuse symptoms have died away and I've been left with tender areas just above my knee caps, which I can only assume are my quadriceps tendons. I haven't been good with rest since that ride, I've been foolish and put fitness over proper recovery. Rest starts today, no rides and no runs. Then a gradual increase.

Next time I do a big ride I'll be sure to ramp up to it.

I've got knee pain tonight. And neck pain and fucking agonising rib pain. Misjudged a gap on a bridleway at about 25mph (thanks tailwind) and went down faster than gravity.
Oh, and the lump on the right wasn't there before... that's what prompted a photo....

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Okay you win. Heal up! That looks nasty!

Thanks man...I can't even get up to upload the ride to strava to see if I got any KOM's before breaking myself!