Runner's Knee experiences

Brussels Sprout

First off let me state that I'm not looking for any medical advice so mods please don't lock.

I'm looking to hear from anyone who may have suffered from runner's knee. I'm currently seeing a physio about this condition and she told me that it'll take about 12 weeks for me to fully strengthen the affected knee. I'm about 6 weeks in now and I'm definitely noticing a lot of improvements.

The thing is though that she has also told me that after this I'll have to continue to do strengthening exercises a couple of times a week for the rest of my life if I don't want to cause a recurrence of the injury.

I don't mind doing all the exercises as I try to overcome the injury but the idea that I'll have to do them for the rest of my running days really got me down.

So do you suffer from a form of runner's knee and have you managed to stave off any recurrences by continuously strengthening it? How often would you need to do them? (I've asked the physio this but she said it varied from person to person)

RayCun

I do leg lifts against a resistance band, usually once or twice every working day.
Impossible to know how much they help, if at all.

TimeToShine

I have it in my right knee, I remember two years ago in my first physio appointment I asked her "will I be able to get rid of this?" And her reply was "You'll be able to manage it". It was pretty devastating to hear that I'd never be able to get rid of it but as time goes on it really, really doesn't make a difference. Those exercises you're doing become pretty much routine and I don't even think twice about them now.

All in all it's nothing to worry about in my view!

pconn062

If you have a weakness or an imbalance somewhere in your kinetic chain (which you obviously do, hence the sore knee) then the only thing to do is try and correct it through the use of strengthening exercises. I had tendinitis in my knee a few years ago and still do the exercises I was given to this day. In fact I spend about 30 minutes every day doing strengthening work, trying to correct imbalances. Is it fun? No, it's boring and tedious but if it helps me train and race then I will keep doing it.

(The tendinitis in my knee never came back so something worked!).

HelenAnne

I got it too when I started running (there may be a hereditary aspect to mine). Like you, I was told I'd have to do my exercises forever. I actually don't mind doing them -- I'm meant to do them three times a week, and I pretty much do. I do Pilates classes too, which incorporate some of the same exercises, so I do quite a lot of strength work every week. I love Pilates, and I don't mind doing the squats / lunges etc for my knee etc. I just turn on the radio and do them for 20 minutes of so in the evening. It's well worth it.

Until this month I'd have said they'd made me injury-proof since 2010, but since I fell on Ticknock a few weeks ago I've had one thing after another -- swollen ankle, swollen knee, runner's knee (SO FRUSTRATING!), torn calf. It's been pretty depressing. But I'm confident that if I keep up the strength work I'll get back on an even keel again.

Good luck & don't despair!