Knee Tendonitis Injury 6 months on

whodafunk

Hi All,

I ran a 5 mile race back end of January and fairly pushed myself in it, met somebody at the end of the race and didnt stretch after. Didnt feel any bad effects after the run or nothing that happened to me during the run that stood out to me. 2 days later my right knee swelled up quite bad to the point where it was noticable going up/down stairs, getting in/out of the car and I could not bend it completely.
I rested it for a few weeks - elevated, ice, etc and no major relief. When I go into squat position there is a small bulge on the right of my kneecap (not sore at all to press, etc) and it's visible (one of the physios I met said it could be fluid).
Early March I engaged with a physio who did an excellent job in bringing down the overall swelling and I went for a further 6 or 7 sessions (dry needling up the right quad) which did help but I've not been able to completely rid the injury. That physio had described as knee tendonitis and said nothing serious. I sought the advice of a second physio who came recommended to me and they did various checks around the knee and said it wasnt anything major and did not require an MRI. The second physio gave me exercises around knee mobility, single leg press, split squats which I have been doing for over 1 month. I was on holiday recently and was in the pool each day and did a lot of exercises involving moving the leg around in the water each day, did a good bit of cycling also and I noticed when I got home the bulge had gone down a good bit. I'm home over a week and having done nothing strenuous at all the bulge is coming back. So frustrating as it's over 6 months now. I havent tried to run on it as I'm afraid of doing more damage. Other things I have tried single leg step up/step down putting the focus on the bad knee, reverse nordics (really struggling to go very low there is such a tight sensation), joined a gym for a few weeks was doing stength classes, using foam roller on quads, wall sits, etc.
Has anybody else had anything similar to what I have described above and found a cure or what worked for you? It almost appears the less I do the more it flairs up! A bit about me -> 46 year old male who up until January was generally very active - running, Astro, cycling, etc.
Any advice or help much appreciated. Thank you.

Runner2023

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058360815/knee-tendonitis-injury-6-months-on

I'd definitely be pushing for an MRI given the presence of swelling and how long you have been managing it. It's the only way of knowing for sure whether there's any structural damage so either you confirm that and adjust your rehab accordingly or nothing shows up and you can be reasonably sure you're not doing any serious damage trying to get back to running.

I've been dealing with tendonitis / general knee pain for the last year. I've been to 4 physios (very reputable ones at that) and a sports consultant and not to put too fine a point on it, they've all been as good as useless. My MRI was clear so I just set about trying to sort it on my own and while it's still not perfect, it's much, much improved. Rest wasn't improving things for me at all so I built up from 10k/week in January to around 50k/week now, decreasing mileage every 4th week or so to allow me recover a bit. Load management has been the most important thing. You eventually figure out what your body can tolerate / how it reacts to certain exercises etc.

I find the Squat University channel on Youtube brilliant for stretches and strength work.

Good luck with it, I know how much of a pain in the arse / knee it can be.

whodafunk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122410967#Comment_122410967

Thanks very much for your detailed response. I agree with you probably best at this stage to get an mri to see if there are any underlying issues there.

Ceepo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058360815/knee-tendonitis-injury-6-months-on

The 1st thing that I would say to put your mind at ease, is that the lack of stretching after your race had no bearing on your injury.

The 2nd is that imo, icing, stretching or full rest is the best treatment for tendonitis. Tendons are avascular and don't have a blood supply, applying ice will just restrict blood to the areas around it, which isn't helpful. If there's still some swelling, use a compression bandage. Also doing some light movement will help reduce swelling Strengthen a tendon not stretch it!!

You need to manage your loading, keep doing the strength work, even into mild discomfort pain 2/10. If the pain increases after a few hours, back of the number of reps or use a lighter weight. Do this 3 /4 times per week. I'd also suggest doing some small activities such as cycling the aerobic benefits.

whodafunk

Hi All,

Just to update this thread. So 4 months after initially posting this I am starting to make a gradual comeback to running. For now it's just slow km's and I'm steadily building it up and the knees are holding up ok. I also had a couple of setbacks along the way - pushing the legs too much too early on.

The key for me I feel has been I joined up the gym and had been doing a lot of strength classes (2 or 3 45/50mins classes per week) - weighted lunges, weighted step ups, heavy sled on threadmill, incline walks on threadmill, upper body work also (which wasnt the problem), etc. Just to give people some hope on the lunges I couldnt get my knees all the way to the floor but after a few weeks I can see I can now go much lower. I have probably done more work on my legs in the last few months than in my entire life!!! Definitely not there fully yet but I am now incorporating strength and conditioning to my routine permanently going forward to hopefully keep the injuries at bay.

Thanks for the support and replies previously.

Williewell

Hey, just randomly found this thread. I'm 18 months into knee tendonitis and I'm finally going to get an MRI. Can't seem to shake it and afraid now there could be mcl damage too as most the pain now is only when I'm doing twisting exercises/golf. I'm still not running. Tendonitis is a pain in the arse😂