Prepatellar Bursitis

[RonHeal]

I'm bummed . . . I have been training religiously for about the past year, and in my mind not to too aggressively (currently 4 days per week totalling about 6-7 hours). I have slowly been increasing the intensity of my training by increasing distances and adding more strength training by doing hill climbs. All was going well for my goal of entering a race which is the last weekend in May. My goal wasn't to be competitive in the race, but just finish and see how it goes . . . and maybe have that lead into some more racing.

Last weekend my right knee suddenly became swollen and quite sore. I ended up going to the doctor a few days later as the swelling was not subsiding, depsite applying ice packs, and the irritation around the knew was moving down my leg. The doctor diagnosed Prepatellar Septic Bursitis, and said the infection is fairly serious. Fortunately, he tried draining some fluids from my knee to see if the infection had moved inside the knee, which it hadn't. However, despite being on antibiotics, the infection seems to have moved down to my ankle now.

I am assuming it is the training that I have been doing that caused this, but the doctor is uncertain. And, I can't think of anything else out of the ordinary that would have caused it. The doctors advice is to rest the knee, which I have been doing.

Does anyone have any experience in how long this may take to recover? Is my goal to enter the race in late May likely not going to happen due to this recovery period?

Any sharing of experiences here would be greatly appreciated, as I am in the dark on this one. Most of the research I have done on the net refers to this as commonly caused by excessive blunt forces to the knee (which didn't happen in my case) - I can't find much on recovery due to cycling.

 

[frenchyge]

Last weekend my right knee suddenly became swollen and quite sore. I ended up going to the doctor a few days later as the swelling was not subsiding, depsite applying ice packs, and the irritation around the knew was moving down my leg. The doctor diagnosed Prepatellar Septic Bursitis, and said the infection is fairly serious. Fortunately, he tried draining some fluids from my knee to see if the infection had moved inside the knee, which it hadn't. However, despite being on antibiotics, the infection seems to have moved down to my ankle now.

I'm confused. This is an infection (ie, bacterial or viral) or some type of overuse injury/inflammation? I wouldn't think he'd prescribe antibiotics for the latter...

 

[Eden]

I'm confused. This is an infection (ie, bacterial or viral) or some type of overuse injury/inflammation? I wouldn't think he'd prescribe antibiotics for the latter...

I believe septic indicates bacterial infection, which would definitely need antibiotics. I don't know how/why exactly it can happen but a joint can become infected without being open to the air. It may require some type of inflammation to get started, people with bad arthritis can have this happen.

 

[RonHeal]

I'm confused. This is an infection (ie, bacterial or viral) or some type of overuse injury/inflammation? I wouldn't think he'd prescribe antibiotics for the latter...

That makes two of us . . .

I'm not sure what exactly has caused the injury and inflammation, but if I look at the only things that I am doing differently as of late, it is the increased intensity in hill climbs. And yes, apparently it has become infected, which puzzles the hell out of me how since the skin was never been cut or breached. I did some searching on the net, and the infection apparently can happen with Buritis (in all joints).

 

[cyclistmb]

You're not alone. I'm in the same boat. I've been training for 1 year for the California AIDS ride from San Francisco to L.A. and was diagnosed with prepatellar bursitis 3 weeks ago. I tried cycling again last week and it flared up again. My ride is in 4 weeks, in early June. I've been going to physical therapy and taking Alleve to help reduce inflammation. I'm stretching the knee now and continuing with Alleve and therapy. Any tips you get to speed up healing would be appreciated. I'm doing quad stretches throughout the day to loosen the tendon around the knee cap, which I was told will be very helpful. Of course, everyone's situation is different. My knee cap isn't infected, just painful. Just wanted to let you know, you're not alone. Stay positive!