Can't run or ride a bike..please help!

[jenni]

It's been 3 month now since I've been unable to run or ride a bike. Nothing specific happened however my knee began to get really sore and achy after I'd run. I laid off a week, felt better and tried to run a couple miles. No pain while running however, about 4 hours later, my leg would get tight and achy. This same reaction happens when riding a bike with NO resistance for longer than 15 minutes.

I went to an orthopedist who said I have one leg a little shorter than the other, gave me a shoe lift and told me to take anti inflammatories. Still no change. I am going crazy! The interesting thing is there are no tender spots on my knee and there is no pain while doing any activity. It feels good and strong until 4 hours later when it gets achy, tired and tight. I water run which also seems to slightly aggravite my knee but not as much as the bike or land running. Please help!!

[Darren_H]

This could be quite a few things. You haven't really provided a location around the knee for your pain. It is likely not a ligament or cartilage issue or muscle tear or you would have had a specific incident that brought on the pain. The pain seems to be chemical/inflammatory in nature rather than mechanical as it comes on after activity although it could be related to muscle imbalances around the hip/knee. Judging from the way it came on gradually it is likely to be something like patellar tendonitis, IT band friction syndrome, or patellar femoral pain syndrome. These being the most common ailments. If could also be bursitis. It is very difficult to give any recommendations without a little more information.

[jenni]

Thanks for your response! There is no specific area on my knee that hurts. The entire knee, front, back, sides, inside, outside just feels very tight and achy. My hamstring tends to get very tight also even though I stretch it constantly. I've been working on my glut medius, VMO, and other hip/knee tracking discrepensies. It just seems like it's taking way longer than it should, especially because I can't even ride a bike, do the eliptical.....or run of course. What other info can I provide?
Thank you!!

[Darren_H]

It sounds like it is generally quite sore and inflammed. I'm curious, have you had an x-ray? Are you over 35-40 yrs old or under? It sounds like this could almost be related to general wear and tear (arthritis) from the way you are describing it. Have you had any previous injuries to the knee? If you are younger, with no history or injury to the knee I'm not sure what it might be. Go see someone and get it checked out.