Runner’s Knee!
March 20, 2019
Hi,
I have some pain on the outside of my knee which surfaced during a 30km run a week ago. It began at about 6km and progressively worsened, with the last 5km particularly painful. I had no pain prior and have been able to do other cardio and some strength based training without issue since then.
I am running the Paris marathon on 14/4 and would like advice on whether to seek treatment, continue running, rest completely etc? I think it may be “runner’s knee” but am not sure. I tried a short outdoor run yesterday but felt pain after 3km and stopped running after 5km when I determined it was getting worse quickly. I am using a run/walk method (2m/30secs) and completed 30km in 2:56.
Thanks,
Nikki
Nikki
March 20, 2019
Perfect timing, unfortunately!
This is the time when we start to see the Paris runners coming in, and in a few weeks we start to see the VLM runners coming in.
You body is starting to creak with the constant repetitive load you’re putting through it – and you sound like you’ve got a classic ITB friction overload issue at your knee.
Every time you bend and straighten your knee, when loading, your ITB flicks across a bump of bone on the outer part of your knee. It gets compressed and irritated and painful.
You need to decrease your load, but still keep your CV fitness up – rowing and biking are great substitutes.
You need a little first aid by controlling the amount/distance you run and importantly increase your cadence (for a while) ie take shorter steps and no over striding.
You also need to improve the control your leg when running, and really amp up your glute control – this is key stuff
Tape, ice and anti inflams can also help – even giving a quick squirt of steroid before the run is an option, too.
Do the simple things well – control your load (go backwards to go forwards) and improve your glutes. It may hurt but it won’t cause harm.
Good luck.
The Guru
Nikki is super impressed with the speedy & detailed response:
Firstly – thank you so much! What an incredible response, both in the depth of information and the speed at which you came back to me. I’m so grateful! I’ve heard wonderful things about Six Physio and now I know why.
All of the advice is fantastic and I will definitely take it on board. I only signed up for the marathon at the end of January so have been doing pretty steep increases in distance (basically 5km a week from 10km upwards) so possibly the short training time has put too much pressure on.
Is it worth coming in to be looked at? I want to thank you by paying for your services! If not for physio treatment, then a sports massage?
Thank you again, really. I can’t tell you how much the response has meant to me!
Nikki
The Guru replies:
Thank you – that’s v kind!
You have, unfortunately, tried to do too much too soon – but never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
The Guru is 100% free, and please don’t feel that you need to pay for any advice – all I want is for you to be given good, concise information so you can make an informed decision as to what to do next, and yes if you see one of us I’m sure we could be even more precise and make your rehab personal to you.
SM will make you feel better and with the rate of training it should be a necessity – but I’m not sure you’ll get the best advice re running form, cadence, glutes, taping etc etc.
Hope this helps, and good luck either way.
The Guru
