knee pain - anyone a sports med person? or have knowledge of knee injuries??? - Triathlon Week

09-03-2007, 12:57 AM

Did a dry run of a relay marathon on Sunday. Ran hard for 2 miles, rested 50
minutes (as in how long it would take for the 3 other runners to run their 2
miles), ran two more, rested 50, and on the third, started having pain in my
left knee, mostly lateral pain, and was unable to do the remaining 2 miles.
I've rested 2 days now and although better, is not completely gone. Has
anyone out there had similar issues or have sports medicine knowledge?

I've had periodic knee pain, but it hasn't ever been like this. I ran maybe
a little harder than usual. I don't have any loss of range of motion. I can
still do stairs every day like normal. Doesn't seem like a torn meniscus,
acl injury, etc. not sure what it is and i have the relay marathon in 5
days....

any thoughts or advice????

09-03-2007, 12:57 AM

When you say lateral knee pain, I'm assuming you mean outside knee pain.

It might be an ITB issue:

This is from this site:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Description:
Pain on the outside of your knee (not usually accompanied by swelling or
locking). The pain may be sporadic and disappear with rest, only to
reoccur suddenly, often at the same point in a run. Depending on the
individual, this could happen at four miles, two miles or just 200
yards. The pain often goes away almost immediately after you stop running.

Likely causes:
This is an overuse injury. The iliotibial band is a band of tissue that
begins at the outside of the pelvis and extends to the outside part of
the knee. The band helps stabilize the knee. If it becomes too short,
the band rubs too tightly on the bone of your leg and becomes irritated.
The tightness is usually the result of too much strain from overtraining.

Remedy:
Patience. This one takes a while. Give yourself plenty of rest, reduce
your miles and ice frequently. You can keep running, but cut your run
short as soon as you begin to feel any pain. Cut way back on hill work,
and be sure to run on even surfaces. Look into some deep friction
massage with a physical therapist.

Try some leg-raise exercises to strengthen your hips and be
conscientious about the iliotibial band stretch. You might supplement
that stretch with this one, doing it gently but often:

To stretch the IT band of your right leg, stand with your left side
facing the wall. Cross your right leg behind your left, while putting
your left hand against the wall. Put your weight on the right leg and
lean against the wall by pushing your right hip away from the wall. Be
sure that your right foot is parallel to the wall during the stretch.
You should be able to feel the stretch in your hip and down the IT band
(in this case, along the right side of your right leg). Hold for five
seconds and do this ten times. For the left leg, do as above, but stand
with your right side facing the wall, and put your left leg behind your
right.

Capt. America wrote:
> Did a dry run of a relay marathon on Sunday. Ran hard for 2 miles, rested 50
> minutes (as in how long it would take for the 3 other runners to run their 2
> miles), ran two more, rested 50, and on the third, started having pain in my
> left knee, mostly lateral pain, and was unable to do the remaining 2 miles.
> I've rested 2 days now and although better, is not completely gone. Has
> anyone out there had similar issues or have sports medicine knowledge?
>
> I've had periodic knee pain, but it hasn't ever been like this. I ran maybe
> a little harder than usual. I don't have any loss of range of motion. I can
> still do stairs every day like normal. Doesn't seem like a torn meniscus,
> acl injury, etc. not sure what it is and i have the relay marathon in 5
> days....
>
> any thoughts or advice????
>
>

09-03-2007, 12:57 AM

I've fought a similar issue for years. Tried ice, streching and
everything else I could find to try. About 6 months ago, I had a
massage therapist who found the issue was my hip and hamstring. The
ham injury was causing my run form to degrade. I would not have
thought them related but after extensive massage and ice of the hip
where the IT band joins and getting deep tissue massage on the ham to
fix the form problem, I've been pain free. Just one more thing to look
at in your quest. Good luck.