Knees knees knees

[run it, ride it]

w00 still in one piece! Knee started tracking fine once I was on the bike. I have switched over to the dark side and am in love with MTBing.

[surgtech1956]

I have patella chondromalacia, grade III(right knee). Mine is from a fall at work - May 2006, my OS said it is like a 'dashboard injury' and can take up to 2 years for the pain to go away. My real job is standing 99.9% of the time, I've been on 'seated work restrictions' since the injury. I just had a scope done in January now in PT(my 3rd time since 5/06). I'm still not working. I see my OS on 4/30. My OS is talking about a possible Faulkerson's Procedure or Patella Femoral Joint Replacement. Anyone been through either or these procedures????? My pain is anterior - behind the patella and medial pain. The pain is definitely getting old. I just bought a new bike - to try to get in shape. I have the seat up. Biking is suppose to be good - building up the quads too. I'm not suppose to do any kneeling, no squats. I can relate.

[run it, ride it]

Okay, day three and this tracking thing is not letting up. If I brace the patella in tight and go through some pain it will track alright on the bike, but I can't bend it to walk up stairs, and lord knows without the brace I'm no good on a bicycle either (I just pedaled up the big hill to school -on one leg,- and you know I was really hurtin' 'cause I was late for a final and still couldn't push the injury!)

Has anyone had trouble tracking after an impact to the inside of the knee, and will it really go away in a few days like I've been led to believe? Ahh well, at least my 'bad' knee is getting some serious muscle built compensating, but I'm tired of the embarassment of trying to walk up a flight of stairs in public and yelling out in pain, falling against the railing and cursing up a storm when my kneecap CRACKS into place!

[ace]

Yikes, sorry to hear about your accident. I slipped an fell on some water at the gym in November, impact was on the inside edge of my kneecap. I was on crutches for a month, and am still dealing with pain and knee tracking issues. I'd been told that I had chondromalacia before that, but it hadn't ever bothered me much.

What's helped me has been getting adjustments from my chiropracter, plus some good physical therapy that worked on loosening my IT band- when that gets tight, my kneecap almost points sideways. Also taping my knee is really helpful as far as pain goes.

It really sounds like you need to try to stay off it, take anti-inflammatories, and ice it for the next couple of days. You are really pushing yourself, and that's risky.

Also, if you had an impact injury and have swelling under your knee cap, I hope you're not using a compression brace. You shouldn't be putting any pressure on your knee cap while it's swollen.


Good luck!

[run it, ride it]

Ouch, that slipping accident sounds painful and frustrating!

As for staying off my injuries... but, but, the weather JUST started getting road-bike worthy, and the MTB trails JUST dried up, and I gotta move back to a flat ole place with nowhere to ride next week!

No worries, my brace collection is all open-patella and intended to aid tracking. I got the black brace with extra straps, the summery Tensor sleeve (all open patella, ow-ow), and of course, the under-the-knee strap. Oh, I am fully equipped and have the residual tan lines to prove it!

I should probably switch the kneely-stool for the yoga ball (chair? What is chair?)... and I guess (-GUESS-) stay off my feet so a) the good-but-worse-for-now knee can heal and b) the bad-but-better-than-the-usually-good knee doesn't recess into any of its old habits.

Can't afford the chiro anymore--horse's chiro bit into those funds and he's worse off than me. Always wearing the orthotics and running/cycling have helped the correct muscles develop, though. I haven't ever regressed back to the state I was in when I first started seeing the chiro.

Thank you for the advice--I am about to start a hot date with some Ibuprofen and an ice pack

[Wahine]

It is really helpful to stretch all the muscles that join in and around the knee, for this type of problem. You won't be able to stretch your quads for awhile (too much flexion and too much pressure on the patella). But you should start with calves and IT band complex stretches right away. Hams helps too.

Try these:

http://www.dcdoctor.com/pages/rightp...k_st_calf.html

http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/h_TFL_StrSt.htm

And I like this one for the hammies:

[Wahine]

Oh, I forgot to mention that it helps to squeeze something, (a ball about 6 inches in diameter will work), between your knees whiel you're lying on your back with the knees bent comfortably. This starts to strengthen the inner thigh (adductors and part of the quad - VMO), in a nice gentle way. I tell my clients to squeeze for 5 seconds and do 3 sets of 10 to 30 depending on how it feels.