Knee Pain

It could also be burrowing butt weevils though.

To be safe, you should liberally apply Deep Heat and Tiger Balm.

Hi all,

I've been having some issues with pain at the front of my left knee. Moved cleats forward a little, raised seat post a little, and moved the saddle forward to try and overcome the issue. Did 40km solo today to meet the university team I ride with, and had no real issues - sat down with them at the meeting point and waited half an hour for everyone else to turn up. As soon as we set off it started playing up again, and 5km down the road it was too much to continue...

My question is - (ideally) do I need to see both a physio and bike fitter? As mentioned, I'm a uni student and so if I can avoid it I'd rather not pay to see both right away if only the one is needed. Do the disciplines tend to cross over at all? I.e. will a bike fitter worth his salt tend to be able to help with the actual recovery of the knee?

Quite new to all the roadie business so sorry if these are daft questions

Thanks,
Ollie

Knee pain was what motivated me to see the bike whisperer for a fit. It was totally worth it - one of the best investments I've made in cycling.

He didn't help with rehab as such, I just rested the knee until the pain was gone then steadily built up mileage again with tempo riding...

For my money, if you can only afford one specialist, pay for the one who'll address th cause of the problem rather than the symptoms. Disclaimer: this is just my experience and yours is almost certain to vary.

Are you stretching well after riding?

Could well be a tight ITB that's causing knee pain. Check out this article on Cycling Weekly.

A trip to the physio would be a good bet as they can advise on stretches and which muscles you need to strengthen.

Thanks for the tip! Have heard many things about Scherrit, and not a single bad word has been said. I suppose it's something you only pay for once so it's pretty decent value all things considered.

@hazbun I will give that a read, I don't stretch all that much after riding if I'm being honest. The pain seems to be far more acutely present when I'm actually pedalling.. often I get off the bike and am able to walk perfectly fine

I paid twice, in a way, as my road bike got stolen and I messed up the setup on my replacement.

But when that happened, Scherrit sorted me out with an appointment at short notice, and the cost of a second bike setup is a lot less than the full fit first time around.

If your fit hasn't been causing issues up to now and you've been riding this setup for a while, then I'd say a physio might be the better first port of call. You may find that your pain is a result of an imbalance that's relatively easy to fix with stretching and strengthening exercises.

There's a couple of very good physios with a lot of cycling specific experience (one of whom is on here). Shout if you want a recommendation.

Up until recently I had only been riding it around town and commuting to uni - so it's difficult to tell whether it's the fitment or the lack of stretching causing the problem, as both potential causes would only have begun once I started doing longer rides

Aha. In that case I change my advice to getting a fit done if possible. It's not cheap, but sod riding in pain.

The 5km back to our set-off point (to await picking up by my disgruntled girlfriend) took me nearly 20 minutes, absolute agony.. Would happily pay what Scherrit charges to never feel like that again

Do you stress it with any other impact activities? Running, 5 aside etc?

Your age is on your side. I have just had physio for an old injury 2 right knee. Im prob twice your age. Basically my cartalidge is worn (sandwich between bones) which flares up the whole knee joint and seizes after an hour of football. I have had 8 weeks out strengthening it and much improved. Could well be ITB related tho. (Band at side of knee)

Answer is the same. Rest and strengthen. So 20 lunges / squats / hamstring / quad / calf stretches every morn / eve on each leg.

Boring as hell but will support knee in time and should heal issue. B-)

Ive got a pain on the inside of my right knee, its more of a dull pain generally . It is however a fairly sharp pain if i sit and twist my knee outwards.

I can feel it when cycling, but only as a dull pain.

Ive not changed my cleat position, my saddle had moved back a bit (and down to compensate being further from the pedals) but I think I was getting this pain before that so dont think it is relevant.

Since getting it I have put my saddle down further and started doing stretches, putting it down to a tight hamstring but its not getting any better and my avg speed has dropped a few mph which im putting down to this & having a saddle now too low.

Im going to take a break from cycling for a bit as I assume even low intensity stuff will just prevent it from healing and also its really depressing cycling slow because of it.

Anyone with a similar experience got any advice on stretches etc they might have got from a physio? Going to try and book an apointment with a physio as I dont want to be off the bike for too long! :(

My knees have started giving me serious grief (weirdly they flared up after a couple of days of not cycling). I think I need to go private (not just private physio) to get things properly sorted. Does anyone have experience of this and can you give me recommendations and an idea of cost?

You can have keyhole surgery if cartalidge related. Problem is they need to know what is wrong before hand. Half the time the operation does nothing and you cant get back what they take away. Get an MRI scan done on NHS then decide whether to go private on result. I had no clear tear on MRI. So no clear answer.

Physio is also a good first step as they will be able to tell what it is straight away. I took MRI results...better to try and let it heal naturally first imo.

Thanks for everyone's sound advice.

I've heeded the wisdom of @Cupcakes (and many others), and emailed Scherrit about going to see him in January

Can I check if the following are myths?

Ball of foot should be on top of pedal spindle?
While leading pedal is at 3 o'clock, the middle of the pedal should be vertical to the front/back/middle of your knee?

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Anyone know of any good deals on New Knees at the moment? Specifically right knees. Mine is borked. Think my self assessing bike fit style has reached it's mileage limit.

Apologies for the cross-post, I don't suppose anyone has anything to add to this?

http://www.lfgss.com/comments/11993270/

Up and downstairs?

Yep both painful. Cycling is OK, unclipping from pedal wasn't fantastic.

I'm joining the itb club. Left knee, going down stairs is painful...kind of burning and stabby around 7o'clock on my knee, if facing forward was 12. Thought / hoped it was just bruised from hitting the boards nearly 3 weeks ago but it's just not got better. Can't seem to strap it anyway to make it easier either.

I had a similar injury when I took a fall on my side a few years ago. A foam roller sorted me out. Thankfully they're cheap so not much to lose in trying one out.

I'd rest just in case. Jumpers knee maybe?

Sounds like mine. Lots of foam rolling on the affected ITB, plus glute strengthening and a bike fit sorted me out (kinda).

Nothing much to add other than see a physio. I suspect overuse, so ITB, but for god's sake don't take my internet phsyio advice!