My crappy knee

[zapmamak]

So I was diagnosed with chondromalatia patella (sp?) years ago and was told that I had worn away the cartilage under my knee cap. This used to cause some discomfort and swelling when I ran shod, but seemed to disappear once I learned not to heel-strike. I would have issues crop up with it still from time to time which is what got me to go completely barefoot.

Here I am. Almost 4 months into barefoot transition.

And I'm having the same crappy knee issues again with my left knee. I run for about 1.5 miles (this usually starts when I'm wearing my VFFs) and it starts out being a little achy and hard to bend (the discomfort is mostly around the left side and bottom of my kneecap) then continues to get worse as long as I'm running. If I stop and walk the pain is masked somewhat but I know its there. On occasion, but rarely, I might get a random, sharper jab of pain that almost buckles me. Then its back to the achy feeling.

This has only started happening on my last three runs. And now that I think about it, it started after I did a 5 mile trail run on VERY uneven terrain completely barefoot. My ankle was a little sore after that run which told me I was twisting my legs and feet more than usual. But I also seem to notice that I've had these issues more when its cold which is weird.

Has anyone had similar issues? What did you do for it? I just bought KT tape and was going to try it out on my next run. So far, I think completely barefoot is my only option at this point, but its been too damn cold to run bare lately.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Questions:  Do you have two

Questions: Do you have two crappy knees or one? Was your crappy knee the right knee first, but is now the left knee?

Have you thought about strengthening your quads, since those are the muscles that support the knee. In fact, strengthening all the muscles in your legs will help to take the load off of your weaker areas, your knees in this case. This will require focused training on your quads and leg muscles though, meaning do extra work there.

 

[zapmamak]

Always been my left. My left

Always been my left. My left leg is cursed. I've been reading about strengthening the muscles in my legs I'm just not sure how to do this. Are there easy exercises? I don't have a gym membership or access to weights.

 

[zapmamak]

Actually I take that back, my

Actually I take that back, my gym membership is free and the weights are the size of a 30 lb child right now. I do leg lifts with him. I push him up into the air and he sits on the bottom of my feet. Then I add "turbulance" and drop him a little, catch him and do it again. He loves that.

 

[txtenderfoot]

There are lots of great sites

There are lots of great sites and resources out there for leg strengthening. One exercise that I like, because it requires very little weight and is great for core strengthening also, is the candle squat. You might try a 5 pound weight (sack of flour, etc) to start. Put your feet together and hold the 5 pounder directly overhead at arms length. Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground, keeping your heels on the ground at all times. Then stand back up. Keep your back straight and your bottom slightly out. 3 sets of 10 reps will fix you up. You can see a photo of the bottom position (beyond parallel) by scrolling down to figure 2.5 here thehappybody.com/index.cfm

Chondromalacia is tough though, be careful with any leg exercises you do. I sound like rice crispies when I walk up stairs, but I manage these squats just fine.

 

[Neil_D]

Hi there,I don't know if you

Hi there,

I don't know if you have sorted your knee problems out by now as this looks like a fairly old thread but when I had knee problems the exercise that I was show to strengthen the quads was as follows:

Find a weight that you can wrap in a towel then tie this around your ankle. Lie flat on the floor with legs straight out and tense the leg muscles as hard as you can, gradually raise the leg with the weight on so the foot is about 18" off the ground then bring it back so it is about 2" off the ground. Keep repeating this about 10-15 reps.

For it to work you have to keep really tensed all the way through.

It is meant to strengthen the inner quads which helps pull the kneecap up staight rather than to one side which causes rubbing on the tendons that pass over the knee.

This really worked for me when I did the exercises 3 times a day for a couple of weeks.



Neil

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I would search the Internet

I would search the Internet or do as the others suggested. I'm no expert on this kind of stuff. I just know that strengthening the guad muscles (muscles around the knee) are what will help you get rid of the knee pain. Good luck with this, Zap. Let us know if you start to see a difference once finding some good exercises to work on.

 

[jschwab]

Watch what you do with your

Watch what you do with your little guy, too. I developed a bad case of peroneal tendonitis which was gravely exacerbated by using my flexed foot to boost my little ones up to reach water fountains. You might be doing something inadvertently. Sitting with babies in my lap killed my knees before I started running and strengthened my quads.

 

[EricsLearning]

I had some knee issues and

I had some knee issues and found that rollerblading really helped strengthen them. My issue is that the muscles holding my knee together were week and I was occasionally dislocating the right fibula. After working up from about 2 miles to 18 over a period of a year my knee is stronger and it hasnt dislocated since 2000. Who knew being a couch potatoe would be so dangerous even for a skinny guy.

 

[zapmamak]

Thanks for all the great

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I gotta do something. These look like some great exercises. Thanks so much for all the feedback!

 

[GeorgesRun]

I keep thinking that I saw

I keep thinking that I saw something useful in Runner's World recently about knee rehab, but I can't remember which issue. They usually run an article every couple of months or so about strengthening the muscles that control how the patella tracks, though.

Cold making it worse could mean that your muscles aren't warmed up well, or that you tense up overall and it affects your form?

 

[zapmamak]

Oh it was really cold on my

Oh it was really cold on my last run and I was completely tense waiting around for everyone to show up. I know my form has been really bad lately especially in my VFFs.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

The cold always seems to make

The cold always seems to make my aches worse.

 

[zapmamak]

OK. So my plan is to work on

OK. So my plan is to work on some strength training specifically for my quads and hamstrings. But, today I totally ditched my fingers and ran completely barefoot. Guess what? No pain. No swelling. No discomfort. Not even an inkling of it. Granted I didn't run too far. Just 2 miles, but it was all good! Yay! Happy knee!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

So do you suppose that when

So do you suppose that when you wear the VFFs you land with more force and that could be causing your knee problems? I find that when I run with anything on my feet, I land with more force, AND I heel-strike. Argh! Glad you're working this out, Zap.

 

[zapmamak]

TJ - I definitely think my

TJ - I definitely think my foot impact is way more in my VFFs than completely barefoot. Sheesh! Do I have a lot to work out with this puzzle! I'm seriously thinking about taking up ping pong instead of running (

 

[macdiver]

   Both of my knees have

Both of my knees have issues with grinding and popping from the patella rubbing on the bone. I am also prone to patella dislocations since I do not have the groove in my knees that the patella normally rides in. I know this will seem counterintuitive but I have found that squats really helped my knees. To be effective though you must go below parallel. If you stop at parallel or higher you are putting more strain on your knees. Start off with no weights and the work your way up. Dumbbells in your hands work well if you do not have access to a squat rack. Oh, don't use a smith machine, it does not allow for your natural range of motion.

If it were not for my bad knees I would not have found barefoot running. I googled shoes for running with bad knees and ended up on WebMD talking about bf running. Go figure, but It works for me.

good luck

 

[zapmamak]

macdiver wrote:I have found

I have found that squats really helped my knees

Thanks for the suggestion. Is this what you are talking about? I could only do it for about 5 minutes today. I could feel it help my lower back and hips, but I have some serious work to do.

 

[saypay45]

I agree with mac, squats are

I agree with mac, squats are great for knees because a lot of knee issues come from weak quads. I don't use weight for squats, just body weight or with a broomstick or something behind my head.