What about behind the knee pain?

[Julibird]

I tried to find this discussion already, but it seems y'all are talking about regular front knee or side knee pain.

I sometimes have horrible pain behind my knee, on the backside of my leg. It showed up on one of my 5k's and then I was fine for a 10k and 12k. It showed back up a month later on a 1/2 marathon and I could barely bend my leg to move forward. My quads don't hurt.

Any ideas?? I've been off for a few months and started running low (1-2 miles) and it's fine so far. What is it?

don't mess with guesses - get to a doctor so that you can really get this figured out and get on with healing. It could be simple tendonitus, or something more serious - why leave it to guesses when you can get it fixed?
Good luck!

My .02 - from a person with a roadmap of injuries from sports

[Zen]

don't mess with guesses - get to a doctor so that you can really get this figured out and get on with healing.

Heh.
You think we're guessing? Yes we are. But she gave a lot of good information to go on.
If you go to a GP, they're guessing.
If you go to an Ortho, they only know hammers and saws.
If you go to a PT, they're somewhat guessing but from a much more experienced POV.
Wahine knows her stuff and I can often fool people into thinking I do



.

[Julibird]

Heh.
You think we're guessing? Yes we are. But she gave a lot of good information to go on.
If you go to a GP, they're guessing.
If you go to an Ortho, they only know hammers and saws.
If you go to a PT, they're somewhat guessing but from a much more experienced POV.
Wahine knows her stuff and I can often fool people into thinking I do



.

Zen, I meant NO disrespect for you or anyone else who tried to help - indeed, your comments were sharp.

If our fellow forumite has something more serious (bloodclot, bone infection, etc, etc) I would hope that she finds an excellent and artful doc to give her the right diagnosis - yes, she might (or likely) have to go to a few before she gets one who gets it right. Sometimes things aren't what they seem. That's why a good scan can show what's what.

And yes - PTs seem to have more on-the-ground knowledge about what's up with their patients! Thank goodness for that! If Wahine is a PT, then props to her for knowing her stuff. I'm new here, so I don't know the backgrounds of the forumites.

[Zen]

No, I didn't think you dissed me at all.
But for something that's intermittent(clue#1) it's more likely an inflammation that subsides with rest.
But that still leaves us with finding the cause which is where a good PT comes in mighty handy.

I'm a big fan of PT before spending unnecessary time and money for scans and x-rays.

[Wahine]

Thanks Zen. I appreciate your vote of confidence.

Julibird makes a good point that it's always better to consult with someone in person than on the net. This is an unusual forum in that we have a lot of professionals here, but even then, nothing takes the place of one on one.

There are a couple of things in this case that in all probability indicate a mechanical cause for the problem leading to inflammation. All painful expisodes were associated with mechanical stress - running. The pain is not consistent, that is, it's not present all the time and can be absent for long periods of time. This is a good indicator that what is happening here is not something more serious, such as a blood clot (which usually happens in the calf) or a bone infection.

Seeing someone is a great idea and that someone should be a person well versed in musculoskeletal problems. A PT would be a good start and they could definitely point you in the right direction for further testing if it's warranted.

[activediva]

Wahine, I am in Moses Lake, know a good referral? I see you are just down the way from me.

I was just so mis-grossly diagnosed here in town...not sure where to go.

[Wahine]

I would check out this list and see if there is someone close to you. The more qualified PTs on the list have a COMT and/or FAAOMPT after their name. But anyone on this list will be better than average (hopefully) as they have actively sought out very post graduate training.

Hope that helps.