Knee pain

[albundy89]

i have developed rather severe knee pain over the last few months.
Anti inflam dont seem to help,tried a bike fit which only made things worse,
Been off the bike now for 4 weeks and no difference.
Tried the local witch doctor and told to join the queue for physio.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

[ALawson]

Not a quack but more details needed.

Road or MTB, what has changed between no pain and having pain.

Increased mileage, more hills, change in ratios, new bike?

[anonymous-user]

What sort of pain, how old are you?

[Deanno1dad]

I had this years ago after about 50 miles into a ride.

I moved the cleat forward a little and seemed to help..maybe as simple as this

[AlfaFoxtrot]

I've been seeing a physio recently for bike related knee pain. It's a complicated joint so I get the impression there are lots of ways you can cause it to be painful!

Key thing is to rest, use ice packs/heat packs (I found icing reduced the pain more) a couple of times a day for a few weeks until the discomfort has gone, before even attempting to cycle again. Otherwise you'll likely end up back at square one. I've found it incredibly frustrating, as just as the weather is improving I've been forced to keep the bike I'm the garage, but this combined with physio exercises + custom insoles to address the root cause should see me good again...

[albundy89]

This is on a road bike,It started as a small niggle about a year ago,no changes in bike,equipment,or roads but got steadily worse.
I tried a bike fitting which made things substantially worse so went back to as before settings which eased things off slightly.
I am currently awaiting results of x rays to maybe shed some light on the matter but even with the last 4 weeks of no riding at all along with painkillers and anti inflamatories it still persists.
It seems at worst when climbing stairs when the weight is on the balls of my feet and the knee joint just gives.
I will not see 55 again so maybe just wear and tear catching up.

[jshell]

There's a chart been posted here numerous times that shows knee pain locations and how to adjust cleats to eliminate it. Worked for me!

Anyone got it?

[ALawson]

I expect there is enough information here.

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/health-kn...

Picture in this link.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/take-care-of...

[jshell]

ALawson said:

I expect there is enough information here.

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/health-kn...

Picture in this link.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/take-care-of...

Ace!

[Pachydermus]

The only time I've had knee pain was when I tried floating cleats. Something else to consider adjusting.

[BeirutTaxi]

The knee pain is continuing because you're self diagnosing using the internet and forums.

I've had 6 months of knee problems so far and wish I had:

Stopped riding my bike sooner
Seen a specialist sooner
Not tried to self diagnose

In my case I have three problems with my knee, to which there about 5 different triggers. There is no way I could have sorted the issue without professional help.

Benefits now are that the knee is getting better and I have gained circa 1mph average speed though setup changes to the bike and functional exercises off the bike.

[scherzkeks]

albundy89 said:

i have developed rather severe knee pain over the last few months.
Anti inflam dont seem to help,tried a bike fit which only made things worse,
Been off the bike now for 4 weeks and no difference.
Tried the local witch doctor and told to join the queue for physio.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Probably falling on deaf ears as everyone wants a complicated medical solution to everything these days, but try lowering your saddle and double checking setback with a plumb bomb. Saddle height should equal inner leg length plus pedal/shoe stack minus about 1 cm (or 10 degrees). Measure from pedal top at BDC to saddle top. Setback should have plumb falling through the pedal axle or about a cm behind.

If that doesn't solve it, you have a serious issue. Many knee problems are caused by incorrect saddle positioning. That your "pro fit" made it worse does not surprise me.

[upsidedownmark]

This (BeruitTaxi) ^^

Stuff waiting in the queue for (presumably) an NHS Physio.. find a physio that specialises in bikes & fit, stump up something like 50 quid and go get it properly diagnosed and sorted, almost certainly with no wait.

Continuing with anti inflams and pain killers is daft - all that's ever going to do is mask the symptoms. Yes, once you've removed the cause they'll help get it calmed down, but that's it.

Everyone's going to have their own theory on why, most of which will be demostrably utter nonsense once you have a proper diagnosis as to what actually is wrong (point in case scherzkeks above): he may be right, but I disagree and think most sit too low / too high causes pain at the back / I'm a toe pointer so the height prescription doesn't work... etc. It's all opinion. If you know your body you can sort it out by tweaks before it gets severe.. by the point you're at, get the body fixed.

P.S. Wear and tear is mostly bull***t.

Edited by upsidedownmark on Friday 3rd June 09:26

[BeirutTaxi]

upsidedownmark said:

This ^^

Stuff waiting in the queue for (presumably) an NHS Physio.. find a physio that specialises in bikes & fit, stump up something like 50 quid and go get it properly diagnosed and sorted, almost certainly with no wait.

Continuing with anti inflams and pain killers is daft - all that's ever going to do is mask the symptoms. Yes, once you've removed the cause they'll help get it calmed down, but that's it.

P.S. Wear and tear is mostly bull***t.

That's what I did.

I don't know where the OP lives, however I used Dr Claire Ryall of Bodyworks (Winchester, Hampshire). Hugely recommended.

Amongst other things she observed that I had poor core strengths that were causing me to have incorrect positioning on the bike.

[scherzkeks]

upsidedownmark said:

Everyone's going to have their own theory on why, most of which will be demostrably utter nonsense once you have a proper diagnosis as to what actually is wrong (point in case scherzkeks above): he may be right, but I disagree and think most sit too low / too high causes pain at the back / I'm a toe pointer so the height prescription doesn't work...

Edited by upsidedownmark on Friday 3rd June 09:26

The method described works for nearly everyone. If you are a natural toe pointer or a track rider, you can add a cm or two to what I described above.

An unfortunate side effect of toe pointing is the need for a large frame, which of course then creates other sizing issues and potential for injury that many solve with silly-angled stems and hoods, spacers, and straight seatposts, physiotherapists, etc. But hey ho.

[upsidedownmark]

Indeed, I don't disagree with your methodology per-se, should get most people in the ballpark at least - but a suggestion to lower without any real data I do disagree with (which is fine, we can disagree, but it hilights the nonsense that is looking for a solution from a bunch of folks on the internet who haven't even seen you on your bike)
Also with the amount of training and riding I do, I'm pretty tuned to my body, as I suspect are you. Plenty of folks are 'tone deaf', and don't pick up on things until it's gone too far. IMHO time is well past for the OP to be experimenting.

As to toe pointing, no not really - it just increases my effective leg length by about 1cm. It's constant around the stroke, it's just where my foot sits, always has, too much trouble and no gain to change it. Effectively I just sit a cm taller at both contact points, that's hardly the end of the world in frame sizing or morphological issues