Knee strap & "Runners Knee"

[yellow]

I'll add one more maintenance suggestion: patella mobility. I've had what I call very extremely minor barely noticeable but noticeable patella-femoral garbage due to a kneecap that doesn't track quite right for years. It's never sidelined me. At the suggestion of a physical therapist years ago, I started doing patella mobilization 3 or so nights a week just before I go to bed, only for a couple of minutes. This consists of me relaxing the leg (out straight) and pushing the patella around. For me, pushing the patella side to side keeps it happy. When I do this with regularity, I have zero symptoms. When I slack off, it talks to me a little.

It certainly won't hurt and it only takes a couple of minutes.

[Catrin]

The knee feels much better today, but now the bruising is much more apparent on two sides of the knee. The patella doesn't really feel unstable...but there is still some discomfort. My dr said I didn't have to stop my activities, just not run or ride for a few days and wear the brace. I think the brace I purchased is a bit on the overkill side so am going to return it this morning and get the Futuro knee strap instead.

Thanks everyone for your comments, they are helpful. My doctor gave me a bunch of rehab exercises - and come to find out they are almost all exercises I normally do on an almost daily basis anyway. No wonder my knee has improved so much in recent months!

added: I think taking the afternoon off yesterday and spending much of the remainder of the day with my knee elevated really helped. Walking down the stairs in the parking garage this morning was a far more pleasant experience than yesterday morning...here is for listening to the doctor for a change!

[Catrin]

I did get the recommended knee strap before class tonight and it went fine. I didn't run, and modified a couple of exercises that my knee didn't like but it seemed to go well. Still a bit of swelling, but better than yesterday.

I appreciate the helpful comments like always, thank you.

[Catrin]

Things are much better now The knee cap is still a bit wonky, but I know that this is, a couple of good longer, easy, bike rides will take care of that. It is like riding helps to settle it down and gets things back where they should be. Planning a pre-dawn ride tomorrow morning if I can get up early enough to beat the heat.

[tangentgirl]

Late to the party here, but a knee strap saved me earlier this month. Literally, I was hanging from a bridge, caught only by my knee strap, with stinging crocodiles waiting in the toxic river below.

No, wait, that didn't actually happen. Not even figuratively.

What did happen was that I had been training for this half marathon since January. First one, TNT, BFD for me. Was very very careful, maybe overly careful, with my training, because I have had injuries in the past. Was great. Two weeks before the race, my knee went all to heck.

After a few really bad training runs, I visited Dr. Dan, my favorite sports doc. Everyone should have a Dr. Dan. Dr. Dan is awesome, he's done ironmans, he does 24 hour mtn bike races and ultramarathons. He knows it all and will do what he can to keep you racing. Dr. Dan, he's the Man.

Dr. Dan said, "Tangentgirl, quit running on that! RICE, RICE, baby!" I wasn't sure how to rest with that tune in my head, but I did it anyways. He said to get a knee strap, use it right before and during the race. The one caveat was that the knee strap is like Advil...it will help with the pain, but it won't cure the problem. The rest ice blah blah helped with the long-term problem (patella tendonitis), the knee strap helped with the immediate pain.

So, I wore my knee strap, ran 13.1, didn't die, did finish, had fun, woo to the hoo!

That's my knee strap story. TL;DR: knee strap good for relieving pain while running, won't cure problem. The end.

[Catrin]

Yayyy Tangentgirl!

Thankfully I don't have tendonitis, just a bruised patella from a fall. The pain is mainly gone My kneecap always get a little wonky if I don't ride for a week or so - riding really helps it. I've a ride planned today, but if there are problems I will cut it short. My mtb vacation starts in 9 days and I fully intend on being ready. I really feel the need for cardio today though so I hope it works, it's been a full week...

[Catrin]

I spoke too soon, kind of. The patella pain is 100% gone, all that is left is a bit of a problem with the VMO muscle - this has happened before but that was related to a tight IT band. Apparently when I hit my knee during the fall that bruised the patella - it also aggravated the VMO.

I've checked out the rehab exercises my osteopath provided and they appear to also be good for strengthening the VMO. I am assuming that the use of a brace wouldn't help this muscle - is this a correct assumption? I've a mountain bike ride planned on Thursday so will be doing whatever I need to do in order to be ready for it. My knee feels MUCH better overall, and I can ride, but I want to take care of this as soon as I can so it won't impact my vacation