14 months of knee pain!

[Myknee]

46 yr old recreational runner. Severe knee pain when running in Feb 08. no swelling. Stopped running. "Twinges" of pain occurred whilst standing, sitting, laying down. Not constant and in different areas of knee. Physio, X-ray, MRI showed no damage, no arthritus, very slight fluid. but not enough to cause a problem. By then it was September and "twinges" of pain were much less frequent. Decided as nothing could be found wrong I would start running - occasionally mild discomfort but no return to severe pain. Thought I was on road to success but last two weeks slight pain is there in some part of knee or other on and off all day. Sometimes pain very top of shin(inside knee area), somtimes seems under kneecap, sometimes behind knee or round side of kneecap (inside edge). Would love another opinion - surely this should not have lasted this long!

[Heidi]

Hi
Do you get pain walking up or down stairs or hills? Or does the knee ever feel unstable.

My initial thought from what you said was patellofemoral pain syndrome. This often results in non-specific pain, no incident and pain which isn't always in the same place. Its worth looking into.

Its usually caused by muscle imbalances, so some are tight and over worked and others are weak. This puts abnormal forces on the knee cap making it move too far to the outside. This can cause damage to surrounding structures, especially the cartilage lining the underside of the knee cap.

Have a look at our page for more info:

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/patellofemoral_pain_syndrome.php

[Myknee]

No pain walking, climbing - in face was hill walking for a week recently and no problems at all. I oversupinate but was told by physio this was not likely to be cause - that may be relevant. I wear good running shoes that have been renewed. No instability and told by knee specialist and physio it is stable. I have read PHP link- I guess it could be this. Sitting for long periods makes my knees stiff when standing and standing after kneeling has been painful for years. Knee specialist was going to refer me back to specialist Physio but that was September and I have heard nothing....started running again then, no major problems when running - so have carried on but still non specific intermittent pain when not running that makes me realise problem has not gone away.

[Dave O]

After recently recovering from running-related knee pain, I can only offer my experience as advice, but it might help - I got most pain when going up & down stairs, but also got the stiffness/pain you talk about after sitting. My physio immediately related this to tight calf muscles and got dug in & did a bit of ultrsound on my knee. Basically, tight calf muscles mean that your patella tendon is always under pressure and so doesn't relax and you get patella tendonitis - pain in the lower knee. The remedy - intensive local massage to the calf and LOTS of calf stretching (particularly the lower muscles around the achilles as well as the main calf-belly muscle). 2 weeks later & I was back on the road, pain free.