Any of you suffer with patella-femoral pain with cycling?
Discussion
I feel fine fitness wise from Straphpuffer but booked in to see a physio at half 8 tomorrow morning with left knee pain around border of patella
Cycling has definitely made it worse and when I work the hills it comes on worse, there is no way I could run today on it
What I found at the weekend is when I was moving my left foot into certain positions it would either ease or aggravate my knee, then I had to run pretty much one lap due to bot being able to get a wheel out after a puncture.
So any tips? Anyone else suffered the same?
Cycling has definitely made it worse and when I work the hills it comes on worse, there is no way I could run today on it
What I found at the weekend is when I was moving my left foot into certain positions it would either ease or aggravate my knee, then I had to run pretty much one lap due to bot being able to get a wheel out after a puncture.
So any tips? Anyone else suffered the same?
Im getting physio for something similar at the moment, although it was bought on by football rather than riding (havent ridden for a while). Does it hurt to walk up and especially down stairs, thats when mine is worst?
What the physio told me is that the patella often mis-tracks / doesnt track smoothly across the knuckle of the thigh bone which inflames the cartilege behind the kneecap causing the pain. It becomes misaligned due to an imbalance in the muscle strenghs in your leg. For me the initial course of treatment is stretching the upper leg muscles and knee strength exercises which are as simple as hamstring and a quad stretches (holding each stretch for 40 seconds, 3 times a day) then some shallow angle bending and straightening of the knee whilst either standing completely on one foot or partially supporting the weight with the other leg.
What the physio told me is that the patella often mis-tracks / doesnt track smoothly across the knuckle of the thigh bone which inflames the cartilege behind the kneecap causing the pain. It becomes misaligned due to an imbalance in the muscle strenghs in your leg. For me the initial course of treatment is stretching the upper leg muscles and knee strength exercises which are as simple as hamstring and a quad stretches (holding each stretch for 40 seconds, 3 times a day) then some shallow angle bending and straightening of the knee whilst either standing completely on one foot or partially supporting the weight with the other leg.
Are you clipped in?
I'd take a serious look at your pedal/cleat/shoe setup. If you get this wrong then the first joint to take the brunt of misalignment is your knees.
If your unsure, get a good local shop to check your kit out.
As an easy test - sit on the kitchen counter and dangle your legs over the edge - look how your feet naturally sit (Mine 'toe out', but considerably more so on the right).
Now look at your feet once clipped in on the bike. You can see how having your cleats at the wrong angle can have a really nasty twisting effect on your knees - even with the inbuilt float in your pedals.
I also personally suffer from a kneecap that crunches when I over extend on the saddle - dropping it down 5mm makes a world of difference.
I'd take a serious look at your pedal/cleat/shoe setup. If you get this wrong then the first joint to take the brunt of misalignment is your knees.
If your unsure, get a good local shop to check your kit out.
As an easy test - sit on the kitchen counter and dangle your legs over the edge - look how your feet naturally sit (Mine 'toe out', but considerably more so on the right).
Now look at your feet once clipped in on the bike. You can see how having your cleats at the wrong angle can have a really nasty twisting effect on your knees - even with the inbuilt float in your pedals.
I also personally suffer from a kneecap that crunches when I over extend on the saddle - dropping it down 5mm makes a world of difference.
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