Knee/tendon? injury advice

Sounds like "patellofemoral syndrome" according to a Runner's World
Diagnosis of four common knee injuries.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-78-0-0-6899,00.html

Their recommendation is

"[A] Patellofemoral pain can be caused by alignment problems, damage to
kneecap cartilage, overpronation, or muscle/tendon weakness or
tightness. You can run through most patellofemoral pain, says Robert
Wilder, M.D., of the University of Virginia, but you may need to cut
back on distance, hills, or intensity. (But be extra careful if you
have chondromalacia, a form of arthritis that causes patellofemoral
pain.) Strength training, wearing a knee brace, taping your arches or
wearing an orthotic, and replacing worn shoes or wearing motion-control
shoes can help."

I found motion-control shoes to be helpful.

"stoner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello- my first post to this group. I was a long distance runner for
all of last year, doing 10-14 miles a day, 5 days a week on average.
I've had shin splints before when I upped my mileage from 4-8 per run.
I took about a month off due to moving, etc. then went right back out
doing 6-7 miles with a lot of steep hills both up and down. I didn't
feel it actually happen, but now the inner side of my left knee hurts
when a have my leg perfectly straight or when I kick or jerk it(I also
do karate). Any ideas or pointers as to what I could've done?

A month off and then jumped back in with lots of hills? Sounds like a
little too much too soon unless you wearing worn-out shoes or just
twisted it wrong from running or karate.

Quoted message said:

Occasionally if I do do exercise on it, after a couple hours it almost
feels as if something is tearing down there when I walk. I've been
off
it now for a few days, not even stretching it. Again, it feels like
it
is on the interior of the knee running pretty much the length of it, I
think, but it's hard to pin point. Any advice would be greatly
appreciated as I am going to be forced to use the leg in 2 weeks.

Do what you gotta do but it sounds like you need to rest it and then
come back a little slower.

-DougF

Doug Freese said:

"stoner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello- my first post to this group. I was a long distance runner for
all of last year, doing 10-14 miles a day, 5 days a week on average.
I've had shin splints before when I upped my mileage from 4-8 per run.
I took about a month off due to moving, etc. then went right back out
doing 6-7 miles with a lot of steep hills both up and down. I didn't
feel it actually happen, but now the inner side of my left knee hurts
when a have my leg perfectly straight or when I kick or jerk it(I also
do karate). Any ideas or pointers as to what I could've done?

A month off and then jumped back in with lots of hills? Sounds like a
little too much too soon unless you wearing worn-out shoes or just
twisted it wrong from running or karate.

Quoted message said:

Occasionally if I do do exercise on it, after a couple hours it almost
feels as if something is tearing down there when I walk. I've been
off
it now for a few days, not even stretching it. Again, it feels like
it
is on the interior of the knee running pretty much the length of it, I
think, but it's hard to pin point. Any advice would be greatly
appreciated as I am going to be forced to use the leg in 2 weeks.

I've had my share of knee injuries due to running as well, some of
which I ran on for years. Take it really easy and let your knees and
muscles recoup. Also, get shoes from a shoe store that actually knows
about running...not just a Foot Locker. Go somewhere that will measure
your feet and have you run on a treadmill or outside so they can watch
your stride. They'll be able to tell if your stride is causing the
problems, and can then get you shoes that fit your body's needs. And,
most importantly, if the pain persists, suck it up and see a doctor.
You don't want to run for long a serious injury. Trust me, it's not
worth it. ~Dayo

I read the article you referenced- thanks. But it doesn't really feel
like it has anything to do with the cap- it's more on the inside of the
joint itself. Maybe I'm sounding confusing, I'm sorry, but if you were
standing straight up, feet straight ahead, legs together, it would be
wear your knees are touching. I've been off it now for a couple days,
but I still know it's there. I'm hiking the A.T. on Friday the 7th, so
better or not, it's just gonna have to do.

George Sheehan talked about chondromalacia as a catch all term that
basically says no one really knows what the probalem is.

If it's not a miniscus tear, or some issue inside your knee joint; it
might be the muscle above the point of pain.

Follow the tendon to the muscle above the pain point. Take your
oppositae hand and place the fingers under the thigh if you are sitting
and the point of the thumb into the muscle. Push the leg into the thumb
until you feel the pain where the muscle is holding and won't let go.

Hold for about 4 or 5 seconds and relax allowing the thumb to sink
deeper into the inner quad muscle. Push leg into thumb again for about
5 seconds and relax allowing thumb to go in deeper as the muscle
relaxes. Do two more times.

Or push inner quad muscle into thumb and hold for a minute, kind of an
accupressure until pain diminishes or the muscle relaxes and lets go.

Ozzie Gontang