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Injury Archives: Knee Injuries

Runner's Knee.The first symptom is usually stiffness, especially after sitting for a long time. There's pain inside and around the knee a general ache. This condition can occur when the (floppy) foot rolls in and puts great pressure on the inside and middle of the knee. The leg rotates and the patella often moves outside its normal path, wearing out the cartilage. As time passes, this may become chondromalacia a true medical problem where the cartilage softens and begins to disintegrate. Early chondromalacia is felt as a "creaky" joint, with a rough feeling under the kneecap.

Tendonitis.This is pain on the inside or outside of the knee. Tendons connect muscles to bones and they can become inflamed from a direct injury or overuse. Floppy feet tend to get tendonitis on the inside, rigid feet on the outside.

Patella Tendonitis.This is pain and inflammation in the soft tissue just below the kneecap, or where it connects to the tibia, just below.

Plica syndrome is another, but rarer problem of pronators. It involves a pinching and folding of the membrane at the knee joint. Symptoms are similar to chondromalacia with pain around the joint line, either medially or laterally, but not always under the kneecap. There may be a clicking sensation, which indicates damage to the meniscus, a shock-absorbing structure inside the joint.

Treatment of Knee Injuries

Ice massage. Keep a styrofoam cup in the freezer for this. Ice twice a day, 10 minutes on, 20 off, 10 on.
Don't run for at least 2-3 days to get the healing started, longer for a more advanced injury.
When you start back, run very little at first, every other day.
No speedwork or hills for at least two weeks, or until the soreness is gone.
Knee injuries usually take more time because we run on them and aggravate them.
Even when it seems healed, continue icing, reduce mileage and avoid speed and hills for two weeks.

From Galloway's Book on Running by Jeff Galloway (Shelter Publications, 1984), pp. 213-214