[prettygurrly]

your pain sounds very like mine. very periodical during running. do you have any history of arthritis in your family? both my parents need to get their knees replaced, mum's 59 and dad's 76. thinking i need an xray to see if there's been any degradation in the cartilage in my right knee.

i also had my gait checked by elverys and i'm a neutral and happened to have the correct shoes so it's not that. i would be a little overweight as well for a girl but i know i was this weight years ago but didn't have such problems. i also used to play cricket but my left knee took the battering during batting so dont think it's wear and tear from that either...

[Dilbert75]

I've been struggling with patellar tendonitis for the last 6 weeks or so. Went to physio, had deep massage & dry needling, got a load of stretches to do, got exercises to do to strengthen my inner quads (to pull my patella upwards before my outer quads get to pull it sideways). Also went to doctor and got prescribed anti-inflammatories.

From all the reading I've done on the subject, it seems that a combination of those weak inner quads, weak muscles around my pelvis, tight hamstrings, inflexible ITB and excessively quick ramp up of mileage has led to my problem. I've restarted running, mixed with walking, and (touch wood) it seems to be working. I also bought a foam roller in Argos (E25) and have been using that to roll out tight spots along the outside of my legs and along my calves. Seems to work well too.

Would recommend going to a good physio before a doctor - generally they seem to have much better handle on sports-related injuries and ways to rehabilitate them. Only thing they can't do is prescribe.

[MrCreosote]

This thread is a good example of why medical threads should be locked. You've a load of people giving their own personal experience of their own knee problems which might or might not have anything in common with the OPs.

Go see a decent physio, get it diagnosed properly and then come back for advice if you still need it.

[prettygurrly]

Originally Posted by MrCreosote

Go see a decent physio, get it diagnosed properly and then come back for advice if you still need it.

you either advocate people getting advice or you dont. Bit hypocritical there.
Everyone has been very careful to say that OP should go see a doc. How is this any different to having a chat down the pub about your sore knee and your mates putting their two cents in. You're hardly going go to well X said it's nothing to worry about so I'm not going to bother persuing it. Take your problem to a mod.

[MrCreosote]

Because looking for advice when you know what problem you have is completely different to looking for advice when you don't. Because what you say down the pub is not up on the internet for the whole world to see.

So far the OP has been told he has arthritis, patellar tendonitis, patello femoral syndrome and a gait problem. He's been told to see a doctor, a physio, a gait specialist, a podiatrist and an osteopath. He's been told to run on grass, run barefoot, that he's overweight, that he's not overweight, that he should take apple cider vinegar and glucosamine, that he should stretch and not to stretch.....and yet nobody knows what the exact problem actually is.

Get the problem properly diagnosed by a decent physio first. Otherwise you're just guessing.

[prettygurrly]

if someone knows what their problem is then why would they need to come back to the internet? the health system as plenty of physios that will give better advice on how to treat a known ailment.

i never said he has arthritis i just mentioned that it could be something to do with that. when did i say...here OP you have arthritis! dont put words in my post that are blatantly not there.

[MrCreosote]

Originally Posted by prettygurrly

if someone knows what their problem is then why would they need to come back to the internet? the health system as plenty of physios that will give better advice on how to treat a known ailment.

Indeed

[Slydice]

Thanks for the concern MrCreosote. I really am not looking for medical advice but I totally get where you are coming from. Normally, I'd be thinking that a doctor visit is priority number 1.

I really wanted to check this wasn't something obvious. If not, I'd planned on increasing the speciality of the professional I was going to seek and have been doing so the whole time. My biggest curiousity aside from whether this was something common and obvious was which professional(s) to seek.

So far, I'm going with (brackets means done):
[gait analysis recommendations from sports shop], try new shoes with ideas based on sports shop discussion, physio (maybe an osteopath physio if I find out what that is and is appropriate), doctor

So, not to worry, I get it. See a professional for advice.

Thanks though.

[cwgatling]

I know it's not allowed on Boards, and I understand and am ok with the reasons, but I think the internet is definitely a valuable tool for someone who's injured.

You can go to certain doctors and physios and be told you need anti-inflam medication, MRI scans, orthotics, weekly massage, dry-needling, support shoes, knee straps etc... when none of those things will actually fix your particular issue. Is that any worse than people guessing what your problem might be on a website? It certainly costs more.

I was told by a physio 3 years ago to take up cycling instead of running and any GP I've been to for a running injury has been rubbish.

Letsrun.com might be worth a shot OP.

[MrCreosote]

Originally Posted by cwgatling

You can go to certain doctors and physios and be told you need anti-inflam medication, MRI scans, orthotics, weekly massage, dry-needling, support shoes, knee straps etc... when none of those things will actually fix your particular issue. Is that any worse than people guessing what your problem might be on a website? It certainly costs more.

I was told by a physio 3 years ago to take up cycling instead of running and any GP I've been to for a running injury has been rubbish.

Letsrun.com might be worth a shot OP.

People guessing on a website is worse- at least if a doc or physio gets it wrong you can complain. The websites always just degenerate into "Here's what I had most recently in the same general area of the body so you must have it too". All it does is delays somebody getting the correct treatment. Letsrun is atrocious for this.

Here's what I would do (General advice here, not specific to the OP)- go to a physio who knows his or her stuff, relevant to your sport. Be suspicious of anyone pushing one single thing as a cure-all- like expensive orthotics or fancy shoes or a new running fad like barefoot running. Most running injuries require some hard graft on the runner's part to get better. And if it isn't improving, move up the food chain- a more experienced physio or a specialist sports doctor.

Or by all means spend your time faffing around on letsrun.com, but if you can separate the good advice from the bullsh*t then you're better than me.

[William72]

its simple - you need to go to see a physio

i had knee pain couple of years ago, read some comments on here along the lines of "don't come here looking for medical advice" so I went to the physio and he had it sorted in a couple of weeks

you're probably just wasting time and effort here until you do....

[Dilbert75]

To an extent I can concede that you may be correct Mr. Creosote. My intention in posting was to put across that my experience was that it took a visit to a physio to let them see my injury, treat it, see what worked and supervise my recovery. In an effort to express that clearly, I actually missed out on the important detail that the OP would need to similarly take advice specific to their individual injury & condition, like I did. My experience, and that of my wife, is similar to that of another poster - GPs tend to look first for a pharmaceutical solution and refer you to a physio for anything else. I chose to save the €50 until I knew the physio alone wasn't having the desired effect.

[Slydice]

Ok, I'm moving on to the next step. Physio (maybe an osteopath physio if I find out what that is and is appropriate).

I'd appreciate any recommendations on a physio, preferably one that knows about running and especially pains in the knee .

Here's why:
I did this warm up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq9rYiFUrsY
Along with 30 second per leg calf and thigh stretches. I went on the exact same run. The pain didn't come back as bad as soon. I was at the quays and then it came. It felt pretty bad.

So I mean like... I did about 8 months of pretty intensive running before I got it the first time so it's not exactly down to "I just started running and I'm an idiot". It seems to give me a certain "allowance" of time/distance before it kicks in depending on how long it's been since my last run. This can't be good. I gotta see someone who can figure it out. I'll try a physio and if that doesn't work I'll try a doctor even though that feels like I'd be wasting a doctors time which could be better spent treating serious injuries.

[RayCun]

Originally Posted by Slydice

I'd appreciate any recommendations on a physio, preferably one that knows about running and especially pains in the knee .

You'll need to tell people where you are...

[Slydice]

Originally Posted by RayCun

You'll need to tell people where you are...

Woops, Sorry. In Dublin, North City Centre. Can probably get to most of Dublin though with the various transport links or by car.