Sore Knees

aoa321

Are there any knee injury experts out there?

I have been running a lot in the last few weeks after a break of several years and my knees can be quite sore, the soreness is at the front of the knee, right at the bottom where my knee joins my shin (if you know what I mean)

It is most noticable when walking DOWN stairs, although I can run with only a little discomfort, after a run my knees are often entremely sore to the touch if I press in on them it the area described above.

Are there any exercises that I can do to improve this or should I just cop on and give up running?

Mr E

3 suggestions:

1. Give it a rest for a while and try some low impact cardio (rowing, bike, cross trainer). This will give your knee a chance to recover.

2. Try and add some fish oils and glucosamine sulphate to your diet. Fish oils lubricate the joints, and glucosamine helps repair damaged cartilage.

3. Get some physio. I had knee trouble last year - I found out through the physio that that my quads (muscles in my thigh) were firing the wrong order and caused a pulling on my knee (which was causing my trouble). After 4 sessions of physio (exercises, sports massage, electrical therapy), it was back to normal.

Hope this helps!

windowgazer

I am NOT an expert. But the same happened to me. I got a new pair of trainers specially for running. In my gym I was told to build up the muscles around the knees before doing heavy running. In the meantime; I got a cardio workout from the bike. After a few months I am well able to run for 35 minutes and (with streching before and after) my knees are fine. I never thought I'd be able to run. I'm sure some experts here have reccomendations on knee excercises, or if you're a member of a gym, which machines build up the knees. Another tip is to of course run on grass/sand and try to avoid tarmac as it puts immense stress on the knee.

dudara

All good advice above!! Be careful with your knees, and make sure to heed them when they're sore. I had a serious knee injury November of last year, and I was terrified for a while that I wouldn't be able to use it as before. Thankfully, that passed with the help of good physio and exercises.

Pay respect to your knees. Take it easy on them if thy're giving you bother and find ways to strengthen them

voxpop

info on knee injuries

Einstein

i'm a part time sports therapist, so for what its worth, here's my take.

Quad issues is a valid point. Plus you one of the quad muscles attaches right in the middle of your knee. Physio, deep massage on both quads and hamstrings. You should always get work done on the opposing muscles as they will be somewhat inhibited. Try running on grass instead of concrete, if you get a chance to visit a physio or another type of therapist they may check the soles of your feet and the condition of your arches, and possibly work on those aswell.

hope this helps a little

Dave

dudara

What divers said is true. I injured the back of my knee, at the point of insertion of the hamstring. My knee would actually spasm, bend back and I couldn't conciously straighten it. I would be screaming in pain, and my bf often had to straighten it for me. Through deep massage, the physio loosened a lot of that, but a big problem in recovery was strengthening back up my quads, the opposing muscles on the front of the leg.

Get it checked out professionally, it will be worth it.