Knee Pain

I’ve been noticing my knee clicking and crunching a bit when commuting over the last week.

I went mtbing at the weekend, singlespeed and pushed myself to do more mileage/climbing than I might normally. Was worried it’d destroy the knee but wanted to go out in a blaze of glory haha. Actually, other than some muscular fatigue type pain towards the end of the day it didn’t bother me.

However, I noticed it again on the commute today so I’m wondering if commuting on my Pashley with its really laid back seat tube angle and therefore, tons of set back could be to blame?

Is it as cold in Glasgow as it is in London at the moment? My knees are knackered and I can only put it down to the temperature.

Hmmm yeah it actually and I was more wrapped up on the mtb.

Disclaimer, I am not a doctor and am also quite thick.

IT band?

If I rode a SS MTB and commuted on a Pashley I don't think I would be able to walk up the stairs.

Seriously though, a bit of an increase in training stress/volume is likely to be the cause. If you can commute on something a bit more sensible or take the bus for a couple of days it might settle it.

Actually, other than some muscular fatigue type pain towards the end of the day it didn’t bother me.

Joint pain/niggles are always more prominant the days following a ride when you don't have the distraction of muscular pain/lovely hormones

I should probably have specified - especially given the title of the thread - the click/crunch isn’t actually painful.

I believe anything IT band related would be?

If you can commute on something a bit more sensible or take the bus for a couple of days it might settle it.

I drove today, I’ll ride something a bit more sensible tomorrow. If it’s not pushing down I may even use a bike with gears! (Only 3 though).

Been having some pain/sorenesss in the lateral upper knee area (behind/above) possibly on the IT band, due to pushing myself on a 'lumpy' ride few (erm, 5?) weeks ago. Will probably need exercise to strengthten it and my power is also a joke nowadays due to becoming a chair/sofa potato. In order to not wait for weeks for the GP, I finally decided to use the Bupa thing we've been trying out (but never used) this year. Surprise, it's a joke as they require forms to be filled by the GP, to prove it's not an old injury. Will remember this when it's time to renew few months later.

No..IT band can click without pain and do so very close to the knee.

Not saying it is but it’s easily eliminated by stretching or foam rolling

Came here to post that my knee is clicking having forgotten that I posted about it clicking/crunching back in January!

I guess it cleared up over the summer and maybe it’s the lower temps that have got it started up again. I’d better look out the 3/4 trousers and knee warmers I guess.

My knees get stiffer and noisier when it's cold and damp. Glucosamine and keeping them warm seem to be the best bet.

Three years ago, I injured my knee after landing awkwardly from a header while playing football. Since then, my knee hasn't been the same.

After a long wait for an MRI, it turns out I have patellofemoral arthritis. There's minimal cartilage left between my kneecap and leg bones, and my kneecap has shifted to one side. Despite this, I can still do straight-line activities like cycling and swimming, but running is out of the question.

The consultant recommended a knee replacement but advised me to wait as long as possible while I remain active. I've completed physio, and although it seemed promising, I haven’t noticed any real improvement.

Recently, my knee has been giving way more often, and even small movements can trigger sharp pain. If I trip or slip, the pain is intense but usually fades after a minute or two.

I’m 44 and trying to figure out my next steps. If I go ahead with a knee replacement, will I be able to return to my current level of activity? Or should I keep pushing through and hold off for as long as possible?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

My knees giving way is often a sign there is either a fragment of cartilage or bone floating around. Generally it will dissipate with exercise and remaining active. A few times it has got so bad I have needed an arthroscopy to remove detritus and trim down the cartilage.

Last knee operation (third so far, two rhs and one lhs) the surgeon told me my cartilage is about as structurally sound as a wet sponge and there is bone on bone contact (arthritis). Ideally I need to keep going as long as I can prior to knee replacements. But they are inevitable. The issue is that there is only enough femur to do two replacements per leg. Old knees had a lifespan of approximately 10 years but this I believe has now increased.

Having seen my dad go through knee replacements it is best to be as fit healthy and flexible as possible before surgery. His first knee operation was reactive due to a cartilage tear that was stopping his knee moving, but the knee had to be replaced. Because it had impacted his activity he was out of shape and overweight and this slowed his recovery.

When his other knee needed doing it was planned for, and he had continued with his rehab exercise routine on both legs after the initial operation. This meant he was fitter, stronger and more flexible when the second operation was done and his rehab took about a third of the time.

Any recommendations for a private knee/musculoskeletal consultant in London? I have historic knee problems which have flared massively in the past ~8 months. Finally got my arse into gear, NHS have been OK so far (GP appointment > xray > GP follow up to interpret Xray all within ~2 months, which isn't too bad I guess) but it sounds like up to a year for consultant appointment and with a new baby, massive puppy and a waistline that won't control itself if I can't do any exercise, I need to do whatever I can to sort it sooner than that. I have a crappy 'cash plan' health insurance thing through work, and to max the usefulness of that I need my first appointment within the next few weeks (for some reason the year runs to 25th Oct, and I get £300 annually for consultation, so want to get the first one in before then) - so yeah, any recommendations likely to have reasonable availability massively appreciated. Cheers

I’ve just been trying to get private consultant appointments for orthopaedics re: knee pain and the consultant I settled on while calling around last week had earliest availability on 31st Oct, so your best bet might be to not be too choosy and go with whoever has a cancellation or other availability before 25th….depending on who your insurer is it might be best to get them to do the legwork for you and use their system to look through all the ones local to you and advise on which one has suitable availability at whatever your nearest clinic is, I had BUPA do this for me looking through diaries of all consultants at Syon Clinic in Brentford and they had a few cancellations available within a week or so that I could have booked. I was told to expect that they’ll try and get knee MRI done same day as initial consult if the clinic has those facilities, so might be worth confirming if/how/when your insurance might fund that also

I saw this guy https://www.samoussedik.com/ a few years back. It was just consultation/ MRI/ injection in the end - he gave surgery as an option but advised against it.

He was thorough, explained problems clearly and gave a range of options which we talked through. YMMV but if (when) problems flair up or become unmanageable, I'll go back to him

Saw consultant this week, his opinion was the fact my left knee has continued to be somewhat painful since my 1998 menisectomy, combined with similar pain occurring now in right knee following an attempted restart of my tennis playing a couple of months ago, is likely to be caused by osteoarthritis. Did MRI of both knees to confirm but can’t get follow appointment with him until 21st November to discuss results and treatment options, which he mentioned could involve one or more of physio, injections (either hyaluronic acid, steroids or arthrosan) or surgery. After some googling, arthrosan looks pretty tasty as a fix that could sort it for 3-5 years following injection, had not heard of that before, is it something that others have experience of (good or bad)? Would need to cross fingers that my employers private insurance policy would cover it. Anyway was pretty depressing to go from thinking I had a sports injury to thinking I have arthritis. Maybe a psychosomatic effect but both knees noticeably more painful since he told me that…