Knee Pain

best of luck then and let us know how you get on!

....well, my arse is closer than my knee to the actual problem.

Persistant knee pain? Turn the computer off and go to the doctor, then probably to the physio

There's a good few knee pain threads on here with a good mix of advice, some good and bad. Many better qualified people than me have said what I state above but I didn't listen and neither might some others.

My knee went bang about 6 months ago after grinding up too many hillocks on my super-fly fixie whip. It was so bad on that first run that I had to walk up every hill 20 miles home. Since then any 20-30 mile ride leaves me sore; I had to bail out the DD with it and ride 40 miles back to London on my todd, not fun.
I spent alot of time on here and the 'net working out what was wrong with my knee. I have had bike fitting, changed ratios and pedals repeatedly. I have replaced my training runs with coffee shop jaunts (quite nice actually). I had also decided that i had fucked the cartilage up, just like my dear mummy.

Last week I crumbled and went to the doctors. Straight to a physio and I have been diagnosed with weak lower back muscles and poor posture which has resulted in aggravation of my femoral nerve. This manifests itself in knee pain would you believe. My knees are actually pretty good.

So, to reiterate:

Persistant knee pain? Turn the computer off and go to the doctor, then probably to the physio

Apologies for the length of the post!

Did you consider a Cyclefit? They often suggest strengthening or flexibilty exercises depending on what comes out of the fit.

Yep, had a local one, not too hot. Will get another one done soon to iron out any positional 'aggravation'.

Will probably use bike whisperer though!

runs away

runs away

Limps away?

Limps away?

he he, but i hope you get to the bottom of the problem-good job doc did'nt say y'need two knee replacements

he he, but i hope you get to the bottom of the problem-good job doc did'nt say y'need two knee replacements

Werd. I was convinced that I'd be undergoing some sort of surgery. Physio assures me it will be a fairly easy fix, which is nice.

bobby

i was having knee problems

so revisited cyclefit, they spent a couple of hours with me but could not get any further to the source of the issue. they then suggested i visit their associated physio

what i had to do was activate the muscles in my lower spine and stomach in order to regain control over the knee cap

this is why core strength and the fine motor control from pilates and yoga can be so useful

If you think the knee pain your having is muscle related and not joint related (meniscus) or ligament related (ACL) Drop me a PM, I have worked on lots of knee issues as a massage therapist. I don't know if your physio is including massage in your treatment (any good physio would), but good massage therapy alongside your physio increases the speed of recovery and ultimately reduces your chances of repeating the problem in the future.

bobby

what i had to do was activate the muscles in my lower spine and stomach in order to regain control over the knee cap

this is why core strength and the fine motor control from pilates and yoga can be so useful

Yep, that's the crux of what he's got me doing. Real basic stuff such as pelvic floor excercises to begin with. I've done some yoga in the past (YGR) so I'll dig the DVDs out again....

If you think the knee pain your having is muscle related and not joint related (meniscus) or ligament related (ACL) Drop me a PM, I have worked on lots of knee issues as a massage therapist. I don't know if your physio is including massage in your treatment (any good physio would), but good massage therapy alongside your physio increases the speed of recovery and ultimately reduces your chances of repeating the problem in the future.

He seems to be, spent the first session mostly diagnosing and looking at my back; the last session spent alot of time on the knee, appeared to be the ligaments (hurt quite a bit!?). I'm not in London so I can't take up your offer, but cheers for giving me something to consider.

Thanks guys!

Sorry if a repost, but been having pain for a while now in left knee only - I had problems with my knee joint 'locking' when younger, had it clamped and x rayed (Arthogram - painful) but nothing conclusive - anyway, found this thread, and whilst Googling, this link

http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/why-fixies-are-bad-for-your-knees/

Discuss? I have an appt with Osteopath next week

Has anyone else ever had knee pain riding DOWNHILL? Up's fine, 's just spinning out on the down that's a bitch. Worse on polo gear, feels a bit like someone's tightening wires in my knee as it spins. oh, n only one knee too :s And yes, i will go see a physio before anyone tells me that, i'm just wondering if this a common problem.

Please see my thread and PM any specific queries.

I'm a Physio with a special interest in Cycle related conditions.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread29902.html

I've suspectedly ruptured my acl skiing at the weekend, doc in switerland said it may heal conservatively, anyone know if is this true and if so, will it repair itself fully? I would like to avoid surgery if possible to get back to work soon as poss(no cycle, no work) surgery looks like a long process. Seeing the doc tomorrow afternoon to hopefully book an MRI, any advice apart from sticking to two wheels in future??

Sounds very much like a problem I had, I kept pushing through until the knee became very inflamed at the front and medial sides. My weekness took six weeks to leave and I'm still taking it easy another 6 weeks on.
Patella Femoral Syndrome

@ EcoLoco - I had a complete tear of my ACL last June (BMX crash), had surgery in November & wont be fully recovered till August. Wait till you get your MRI back, a partial tear they tend to push physio rather than surgery but skiing on a partially torn ACL would be interesting! A full tear then definately surgery. Just be careful & folllow your physios advice, i managed to dislocate my knee twice while waiting for surgery. Good news is that cycling is fine, I find fixed has been particularly useful in safely building strength back up. Good luck!!

This made a massive difference to the pain I was having:

YouTube- How to fix knee pain

For Patella Tracking Syndrome taping techniques can also be applied, that help to reduce the aggravation by pulling the Patella into place when bending the knee.

http://acafitness.pbworks.com/Patella-Tracking-Syndrome

I had quite a bad episode of that in Australia due to an ill fitting bike. Took about 6 weeks to calm down. Taping helped me quite a bit.

ACL pain, how I loathe thee.

Last week I've started to get a slight pain / ache in my left knee. It's just under the knee cap and on the left front side of the knee.

I've started to do more and longer rides before DD to prepare myself, so I have a feeling it can be just over trained? The pain isn't too bad, it's fine to ride and walk, but it aches and I don't want to get it worse and ruin my DD.

I've been riding fixed for 3-4 years, never had any issues at all. Gearing is 48/19 so shouldn't be too high at all. Also had a bike fit at Bike Whisperer so that should be allright too. Will ask them about it too when they're back from holidays.

My plan was to ride 60 miles on saturday, on a geared bike i just got with time atacs that i just got too, been riding with double straps so far. Then another 60 miles in two weeks time, with a rest weekend in between, perhaps do a 30 miler though.

Would you suggest? Skip the long ride this weekend, or give it a go on gears and with time atacs, perhaps that helps? Or get off the bike for a week and then do two 60 milers two weekends in a row before DD?

Everybody's body will be different, but I've found that clips and straps are better for my knee than SPDs were. Atacs may well be better for your knees than SPDs, I'm not sure. I've heard that a lot of people find Speedplay Frogs have the most "float" of all the "clip in" style pedals.

I'd be tempted to give it a rest for a bit and do the DD anyway. If you take a couple of weeks off riding you often come back stronger than you might expect as you've got a lot energy stored up, raring to go.

If using clipless, make sure the angles of the cleats are set absolutely perfectly. If its slightly off, it can cause problems with pretty much everything in your knee. Knees do not like twisting!

Do you pull up on the left leg for skids? That can pull/jolt the patellar tendon pretty bad.

Have a good stretch of your quads & see if that helps.

I suggested asking the Bike Whisperer when they got back from the holiday, they're definitely the best people to talk to about this issue.

Sounds like a mild tendonitis.

I have had episodes of Patella Tracking Syndrome, where the kneecap is not kept in place by the tendons properly, then rubs along the tendons every move and causes inflammation.
Happened to me by riding on an ill fitting mountain bike in Australia (without cleats or straps or cages).

Physiotherapist gave me strapping techniques that improved the tracking so the inflammation could go down, then strengthening exercises for the muscles around the kneecap. Also told me to use ibuprofen bases cremes or something similar to calm down the inflammation a bit.

After two weeks or so I was fine. Hasn't come back since Australia, and I have increased my mileage quite a bit with the Surrey Sunday Rides etc, but done so on a fitting bike.

I am also avoiding using my legs for braking and ride an easy gear on my fixed or switch into something more spinny on the road bike to save my knees from trouble.

The worst thing, and this is what I did in Australia, was riding through it, which made it really bad and prompted me to go to the physio. If nowadays I feel my knees becoming slightly sore, I strap the kneecap, do some stretches and maybe take a rest day or two. It's usually OK.

Of course your problem could be something completely different, but I thought I share this just to show you that it ain't all doom and gloom. Maybe go see someone about it, and if you cannot be arsed, at least take a rest for a couple of days and then see what you can do to improve the ways your knees feel.

Rest it, or it'll get worse...