Need some knee pain advice!

[cheapie]

i recently developed knee pain. i had a tri-century charity ride for the make-a-wish foundation several weeks ago (and had never ridden more than 70 miles at one time.)

i did read through many of the knee threads and didn't really see anything that matched my situation so i'm hoping someone here might be able to help.

my knee started hurting at about mile 80 the first day. it was hard to walk the second morning and i rode with pain. the third day was torture and i had to SAG it for 30 miles. i couldn't fight through the pain. the knee hurt regardless of the effort. low gears, high gears...they both hurt. very sharp pain through the 4:00-8:00 positions. it wasn't really sore when i wasn't moving, just when i pedaled or walked. i tried pedaling w/just one leg and propping the right leg up in my water bottle holder for 1-2 miles but realized that there was no way i could ride another 30 miles like that.

my knee hurts right here. on the bottom ride side of my right knee. any opinions as to what's causing it? my achilles was also killing me on this leg but i moved the cleats back and that seems to be better.

this is where is hurts

i'm about 20 pounds overweight. i ride ultegra pedals. and have the specialized pro carbon road shoe.

i had an appointment with the doctor today to have him look at it. any suggestions as to what could cause it and what it is? the other leg didn't hurt at all. i don't know if it's seat adjustment issues, lack of or improper stretching, etc. any advice would be nice! i really don't want to stop riding this season but i jumped on the bike a few days ago and the pain was intense. it still hurts occasionally when i walk for more than 100 feet or sit in an ackward position.

 

[WINGNUTT]

When I first got my road bike I started getting really bad knee pain in both knees. After a few weeks of trying different things, I finally lowered my seat about a quarter of an inch. Since then I have never had the knee pain again. Perhaps your saddle is too high and you are stretching your muscles, tendons, and and other joint parts too much each revolution.

 

[tanggoman]

First, lose some weight. Get to your ideal weight if you can. Second, check that your cleats are properly positioned on your shoes. Sometimes just a slight adjustments can make all the difference. Lastly, but certainly not the least, make sure you're properly fitted on your bike. Good luck!

 

[cheapie]

First, lose some weight. Get to your ideal weight if you can. Second, check that your cleats are properly positioned on your shoes. Sometimes just a slight adjustments can make all the difference. Lastly, but certainly not the least, make sure you're properly fitted on your bike. Good luck!

how do i know if the cleats are properly positioned? and do you think getting speedplays would help?

 

[DeanC]

how do i know if the cleats are properly positioned? and do you think getting speedplays would help?

I recently got back on my bike after 10 years away from it. My first hour long ride with my old pedals (Ultegra Look compats) left me with a sore right knee for a couple of days so I went out and bought the cheap speedplay's (X3s). Since switching I've had 0 knee pain, even on rides twice as long as that first hour. Dunno if they'll help you or not, but I love 'em.

FWIW, I'm 250lbs with about 40lbs of excess body fat...

Dean

 

[kf5nd]

do a Google search on "IT band knee pain cycling" or "illio-tibial band pain cycling" and see what you get.

I had to lower my saddle. Pain was gone.

 

[mah3]

Your description is a bit vague, but it almost sounds like iliotibial band syndrome,(ITB). Check out this http://www.csuchico.edu/phed/atc/Projects/ITband/ITBFS.html. You can also search this site for more information. Again, it's really difficult to say without someone actually examining your knee. Best of luck.

 

[Mot]

Hi,

I am not a doctor and I am only writing from my own personal experiences with knee problems, having suffered through patellar tendonitis (sp?), ITBS (won't even try to spell it) and an inflamed medial plica.

The following was a smart thing to do, wish I had done it straight away with my tendonitis:

i had an appointment with the doctor today to have him look at it. any suggestions as to what could cause it and what it is? the other leg didn't hurt at all. i don't know if it's seat adjustment issues, lack of or improper stretching, etc. any advice would be nice! i really don't want to stop riding this season but i jumped on the bike a few days ago and the pain was intense. it still hurts occasionally when i walk for more than 100 feet or sit in an ackward position.

What did the doctor say? Did you consider seeing a more sports oriented doctor?

my knee hurts right here. on the bottom ride side of my right knee. any opinions as to what's causing it? my achilles was also killing me on this leg but i moved the cleats back and that seems to be better.

this is where is hurts

i'm about 20 pounds overweight. i ride ultegra pedals. and have the specialized pro carbon road shoe.

From the pic it looks like your pointing at the outside of the right knee? It could be ITBS, there is a band that runs along the outside of the leg and if it or your butt muscle (?whats it really called?) is tight it can cause this band to rub on your knee. Does it hurt especially when you walk up stairs? Do you run? Anyway if this is the case, and if you don't run I believe you can recover from this. You will need to begin a streching regime. Check out:
www.itbs.info
What worked for me: streching + 1 cortisone injection + switching to speedplay X pedals.

BTW, there is a book, "bicycling medicine" by Arnie Baker MD that has a whole section on knee problems. It is worth looking at, however he recommends at various points limiting pedal float which for me proved to make some problems worse. But then again he is a doctor.

Good luck.

 

[cheapie]

the doc tested my i-band, acl, and miniscus. he thinks those are fine but that the cartilage is damaged between my femur and the lower leg. it might have already been hurt and the fact that i didn't train much (read: at all) for the ride made it a lot worse that it would have otherwise been.

i have a physical in about a month or so and we'll look at it again. i'll have to find something other than running or biking to do in the meantime.

he gave me an anti-inflamatory and tylenol with codiene. i feel like puking. i took both of and it's made me pretty nauseous. gag.