Running - effect on knees?

Duffman'05

Hi,

Perhaps there is someone out there with a bit of knowledge to share about this? I have been doing tri for a little over a year now and have recently noticed my knees giving me significantly more pain; both when I'm training and when I'm not.

I have run the same routes for all this time on concrete and am pretty sure I have the ideal shoes. Is this the snowball effect result from all this running and have I destroyed my knees? They have only started bothering me within the last month but I'm slightly cncerned at how bad it can be at times and if it could (if it's not already!) become permanent

The furthest I would ever be running would be about 23k, 15k on average.

Does anyone else suffer from bad knees but manage to train without basically chipping away at their joints?

Cheers

Peckham

It could be any one of a myriad of problems that could be causing problems in your knees. The automatic assumption can be that it must be the impact of running that is putting undue pressure on your joints, destroying your cartlidge etc. However, this isn't always the case - it could be down to muscle strain, it could be casued by a gait imbalance or many other things. The only way to truly know is to get it assessed by a professional (i.e. physio).

I have had knee problems recently after four years running (average probably 30 miles per week over that time) and three marathons. As part of the diagnosis I got a MRI scan on the knee, and the results showed that my knee showed no signs of wear and tear, and given that 95% of my running is on road this goes to show that lots of road running doesn't automatically mean knackered knees for everyone.

hunnymonster

duffman we really can't offer you advice other than to say you should see a medical professional to get at the cause of the pain. I hope it goes well for you.

Canis Lupus

I got runners knee in both knees a couple of months back. I put it down to running to work with a bag on my back which changed my gait. Doc ordered month of rest, I took two so I could spend some more time on weights. Started taking cod liver oil capsules along with glucosamine&chondroitin tablets and I'm currently pain free. Heading properly back into training mode shortly for 09 so don't know if the problem will come back.

The biggest thing to note is that you will probably be looking at some time away from running so if you plan on doing stuff this year I would think you should talk to a doc soon and get resting so it hopefully sorts it. You keep running and leaving it you'll have ****ed knees at a time you can't really afford to rest them.

Einstein

i'm no doc but I am a Neuromuscular Therapist.
Runners knees is commonly mistaken to be a problem with the actual knee, where as its actually a problem with the IT Band tightening, which in turn causes strain at its point of attachment in the knee joint. So to be honest, you can rest it for a year, and do as many weights as possible, but as soon as you start running again, it will come back in no time. You'll need some form of treatment on your IT Band to make any progress on this particular issue.

Racing Flat

Einstein wrote: »

a problem with the IT Band tightening

This might be off topic as we don't know what is wrong with the OP's knee, but if there was a case of IT band tightening (would be fairly impossible to know if this was the case or not anyhow, there are no testing or scanning facilities able to definitvely diagnose this), rather than simply working on the ITB, you'd have to question, why did the ITB tighten? Possibly due to an overactive tensor fascia lata muscle, which may be posturally related or compensating for weak gluteal muscles, so the issues that predisposed to the 'tight ITB' would need to be addressed. I'm sure you agree with this, just pointing it out.

Truffle

Hi im new here but just picking up on the discussion about IT bands.. I had similar problem while i was traing for Dublin marathon in 07.. I was forkin out a fortune on physio's until i bought a foam roller!!
My suggestion is that anyone with this problem get one of these( €40) and roll, roll , roll and roll some more.. It will save you time, money and will get you back training quicker.. go on youtube type in foam roller and bingo your sorted!!
If you do one legged squats in front of a mirror with your rest leg out in front and your knee goes inwards that is a sign that your IT band is tight..

Obviously im no doc or physio but i know my own body.. It worked for me and might for the next person but at the end of the day we're all different animals..

Einstein

Racing Flat wrote: »

This might be off topic as we don't know what is wrong with the OP's knee, but if there was a case of IT band tightening (would be fairly impossible to know if this was the case or not anyhow, there are no testing or scanning facilities able to definitvely diagnose this), rather than simply working on the ITB, you'd have to question, why did the ITB tighten? Possibly due to an overactive tensor fascia lata muscle, which may be posturally related or compensating for weak gluteal muscles, so the issues that predisposed to the 'tight ITB' would need to be addressed. I'm sure you agree with this, just pointing it out.

Only noticed this now,

All i was pointing out was that "Runners Knee" is not a problem with the knee like a lot of people assume, and most physios/therapists etc will obviously do a full assessment before diagnosing...and when it comes to actual treatment, massage etc, will nearly always start with the IT band.

nothing more