Sore medial meniscus while running in vff

[Fancy Free]

I ran a 10K on sat. (11:31 min miles) I've been running in vff for about 3 months following a 4 month bout with tendonitis in my foot. Around mile 5 my right knee started hurting. I injured it 30 years ago (I'm 53) and it has been weak ever since. This is the second time since running in the vff that the knee has hurt. It recovers quickly, about a week. I've decide to transition into bfr. Any suggestions on avoiding knee problems? Should I wear a knee brace while running?

 

[Jimmy Hart]

NO knee braces while running

NO knee braces while running unless there is a major structural problem!!! which it doesn't sound like you have. If you start running with a brace that knee will only get weaker and your issues magnified. If the pain has only happened twice in the vffs and you've been running in them for three months then it's not the shoes or you would be having the pain all the time. Your injury is 30 years old...was it ever fixed? Healed properly? Etc. An injury should have healed given the amount of time since it happened so I would have to assume that you are either still dealing with compensation (subconciously) for it which by this point has become a full on adaptation and the issue is only manifesting under certain circumstances.

First suggestion would be to try and find a correlation of scenario, terrain, or anything else that is similar in the two times it started hurting. If so then you may have an answer and can work to correct it. The medial meniscus is there to support torking motions in the knee as well as offer shock absorption between the tibia and femur. A lot of uneven terrain and a weak knee could cause a flare up of pain in that area. The fact that the pain goes away with a weeks rest is a good sign that maybe there was some outside factor causing this issue in these two instances.

Second suggestion would be to make sure you are doing exercises to strengthen the knee. Most knee injuries leave the knee weak in the Vastus Medialis (the tear drop shaped muscle on the inside of the leg above the knee cap) and that has to be addressed for overall knee stability. After my knee surgery I had to use electro stim and direct contact during movements to help my brain reconnect with that muscle. If your initial injury was in the medial meniscus then it could very well be that your vastus medialis is just weak and needs to be strengthened. It would leave you with a sore knee when the knee was forced to run on uneven surfaces for a long stretch as well as just get sore when it's been worked too much.

The medial meniscus should heal itself if the injury was to the outer third of the tissue. The inner two thirds get less blood flow and they can take longer to heal but can still heal without surgery. Given the time frame of 30 years I would assume a full healing has happenend. If the meniscus is gone then your pain could be related to a few things but most common would be arthritis and inflammation due to a lack of shock absorption that the meniscus would be resonponsible for. Another growing issue with the medial meniscus is the weight of the runner. Larger bodied runners will cause more stress and pain on the meniscus due to the impact forces they are exerting on the knee joint. If you're a larger bodied person and you're running on uneven surfaces then you are at a higher risk of chronic pains and injury in this area of the knee.

 

[Fancy Free]

thank-you for the reply

thank-you for the reply Jimmy. Good advise. No brace. The trail both times was a long (run for an hour) level flat and sloping slightly towards the left. I do most my running in the mountains, steep, not level, not smooth, and changing constantly. I weight is good. It seems the sameness of the trail is more of the problem, repetivie motion, I'll definiely do some exercises. Glad you are back on your feet.....cute dog

 

[Jimmy Hart]

I'd put money on the constant

I'd put money on the constant slope causing the issue. Running on a slope causes sheering forces to the knee to keep you upright. I have a trail out here that I avoid a lot of times because it's a long stright path that slopes down to a creek so both ways I'm running on a slope and it causes knee pains. Not much you can do other than strengthen and work on over all joint stability and the pain can go away when put in that scenario but it might take a while.

 

[Fancy Free]

I've looked up exercises for

I've looked up exercises for the vastus medialis as well as for the quads, hams, and inner abductors. I'll start on Monday. Thanks for for the tip.