Quote Originally Posted by trinena View Post
I was diagnosed with Pes Anserine Bursitis & PFPS (i'm embarassed to admit I forgot what that stands for but I think it's about wear and tear of the knee) a month ago. I am returning this Thurs. for a re-check. When I first saw the sports dr. it was mainly the bursitis pain (she attributed it to overpronation - I have superfeet but now I'll be getting ortho inserts) but soon I began having very sharp kneecap pain (miniscus tear?). Can you believe I did not remember that our big dog had run into my right knee cap when we went snowshoeing in mid Jan.?! A couple weeks before that I had strained my back from carrying something heavy (I already have lower back disc L4 L5 S1 protrusion so that's a no-no ) and I had a mild calf strain in the right leg. So it's probably an accumulation/cascade of issues. I think its time for an mri but I can't blame the doc for not ordering one yet since I had not told her about the 90 lb dog running through me! I would think that if the main injury was in mid-Jan I'd be better by now.
PFPS = Patellofemoral pain syndrome, it's a nice catch all phrase for pain around the knee cap that sounds impressive but doesn't really tell you what the root cause of the problem is.

Based a lot on what I learned in my running biomechanics course this weekend, I would suggest a few things. First off are you using a motion control shoe with your orthotics? If so you could have an over correction and may need a more neutral shoe now that you have the orthotic correction. Second, your orthotics are not going to do your knee a lot of good if part of the problem is coming from poor movement control at the hip. A good screening test is to see if you can do a side plank. Go up and down into the position repeatedly for 1 min with smooth control. If you can't do this, you likely have some hip weakness and you may need help from a PT to sort it all out and give you the right exercises.

Now more from my background with a lot of extra training in spinal mechanics, pathology etc... L4, 5 and S1 problems lead to muscle balance issues in the hip and lower leg that go with your pattern of problems and probable (because I haven't actually assessed you) movement dysfunctions. I would strongly recommend that you should also be doing rehab that involves your low back and hip if you want this to be corrected to the best of your ability.

Hope that helps.