Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pain in the knee

Last night I headed over to the park after work to meet up with the running group. My friend Rebecca was there so we chatted about weddings (as she is getting married in April) and running during our 2 miles trail warm up.

As we finished the warm up I could feel the pain in my knee starting but I decided to try the workout and see how I felt. Rebecca and I went off with a few others to do 2x15 minutes at tempo pace. I had forgotten my watch at home but it was one of those workouts where it really didn't matter.

The first set was pretty good. The knee pain actually went away as I ran faster! We were running on the same looped path that we had done mile repeats on a few weeks ago. I tried calculated how many laps we would be do for the 15 minutes and that helped me figure how much more time I had since I didn't have a watch.

After a quick rest, we started the second set. I tried to keep up with the girls but I couldn't. As we rounded one curve and started running up the hill my knee pain intensified. I conquered the hill, made it a few more feet and then decided I needed to stop.

The pain is centralized on the inside of my leg/knee - the exact opposite side of the knee where you would normally feel IT band pain. When I run it feels like someone is stabbing me in the knee cap - when you look down at your left knee, it hurts along the right side of the kneecap. I have this feeling that it may be the same thing that I dealt with last summer when I had weak hips and had to stop running. The weird thing is that the pain is in my left knee and last year I dealt with it in my right.

This morning it hurt to walk up and down the stairs. I am going to try my old PT exercises tonight and see how it feels. The pain is so severe and lingers even after I stop running but my knee isn't swollen! How come I always get these random pains?!

Anyone else ever dealt with this? I am hoping it will be a quick fix and I will be back to running soon but who knows.

23 comments:

Nicole said...

Sounds like your iliotibial band? I probably spelled that wrong? Do you find relief from pushing on it?? Email me! Chambernic@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Yes that happened to me a few weeks ago and I was so scared I would have to stop running but it only lasted about 5 days. It was really painful and I could not walk up the stairs either. It was just like my knee could not take it. I iced it a few nights wile watching TV bc I didn't really know what else to do. For some reason it's all better now. Keep us updated. I'll be interested to hear about it.

Anonymous said...

I can't remember exactly what it is but this happened to me too. For me it was weak hip and quad muscles so maybe incorporate some exercises? I can't remember specifics off the top of my head but I know I have some at my apt (I'm at work now) let me know if you're interested! Regardless I hope it starts to feel better!

Anonymous said...

I had something like this happen to me.. but I don't think it was quite intense. My physical therapist said it was tendonitis (I had pain when running, sitting down for long periods of time, and walking down stairs) and gave me some strengthening exercises which you can find on my blog under the "workouts" tab.

teacherwoman said...

Maybe it's just your body telling you to slow down and rest a little bit?! I don't know.

Marlene said...

I have had all kinds of twinges in my knees lately but nothing that seems serious or affects my walking/running. I hope the exercises help and that this doesn't keep you off the roads!

Rebecca said...

This is what happened to me several weeks ago, before the Rochester HM. Everyone kept saying "its your IT band," but it was not because it was inside and around my kneecap. My knee wasn't swollen either... I still iced it and did lots of stretching/strengthening. After a week off it felt better. And now (of course) my other knee is experiencing IT band issues... I hope it eases up for you soon!

Chelsea said...

Never had that particular pain (just when I thought I'd had them all!). I Hope your knee feels better soon!

No Longer Using said...

hmm! i don't think i have ever had it, but it is possible i'm just not remembering, b/c i've had all sorts of knee things. i would suggest biking, doing some non impact stuff for a week, see if it clears up. that would be your best bet to head it off before it gets worse. also ICE.

chris mcpeake said...

HOpe it feels better soon.good luck .

Audrey said...

hmm..well if it's on the inside of your knee i would say you can pretty much rule out an it band problem (which in a way is a good thing, since those can get pretty nasty fast!)

the amount of pain your in doesn't sound good though! i wonder if maybe like you said you have some kind of strength imbalance and it's throwing your knee out of whack...hopefully if that's the case those exercises will help. i wish i were further along in my PT program so i could help you more - we haven't gotten to the leg yet haha. but definitely get some ice on it and rest up - hope you are feeling better soon!

Aron said...

booo not fun. i have no idea about knee pain, but i hope you can get it figured out and feeling better asap!

Jeri said...

I'm dealing with the same thing right now. Based on what I've read online, I think it's runner's knee, which is actually caused by tight IT bands and tight hips. I've taken 5 days off from running, did some biking last night, and I think I'll try to run again tomorrow. What I've read says not to rest completely, and that it's actually ok to run on as long as it doesn't change your form/gait. If it does, do some XT. Hope that helps!

Unknown said...

I don't really know anything about that sort of pain. I hope it heals up fast for you.

Lisa's Yarns said...

Sounds like your IT band might be pulling on your knee caps perhaps? Do you use a foam roller to roll out your it band? I had a similar problem this spring and once I started to religiously use my foam roller, that really helped... I hope it goes away!!

RunToTheFinish said...

yup it's runners knee. the way I was able to get over it was to start doing exercises to strengthen the knee and walk instead of run for about a week. checkout bigkneepain.com for exercises, they totally work and you'll be back at it

Black Knight said...

Unfortunately I had knee pain and the only solution was a period with no runs. But you can freely swim.

Glenn Jones said...

If it's originating in the kneecap (patella) region, it is most likely runner's knee. Check out this website...

Kim said...

Oh man, I haven't had the pain on the inside of my knee. I hope the foam roller helps!

Molly said...

hmmmm. Not really sure what that can be, and it's weird that it went away as you ran faster. Maybe a bit of rest, and even though it's not swollen, ice will help.

I Run for Fun said...

Oh no! Sorry about the pain. I can't say I've felt pain in the same place, but maybe stretching that area and the foam roller will do?

Lauren @ mostly i run said...

Oh no! Way too much can go wrong with knees!

I had soreness in both knees for MONTHS. At first not so bad, but it was getting worse. I started to worry.

And then I got a massage.

Two hours later I went for a run, and had no pain at all. It was just really tight muscles!

The relief only lasted about four days ... but I can't afford massages all the time. I stretch, do yoga and foam roll. It's better, but still comes and goes.

Mine's more knee cap soreness than side-knee pain, but never any swelling.

I hope yours has an easy fix, too!

Darlene said...

I had pain inside the knee..an mri reveal slight meniscus tear. I was told to do exercises to build the muscules around the knee, take iprophen, wear a knee brace & ice after running. He said running was ok but no bending activities such as biking, hiking, stairs. I did what he said the pain went away...I still wear the knee band but I haven't had any pain in a few years.