General Cycling Discussion - Injuries

I have an injury in the back of my left knee. I called the GP and, the nurse said I may have tendonitis. I said that, I also wondered if, it could also be a pulled muscle. It hurts every time I peddle.

Has anyone else had a similar injury that could describe their experience to me?

I always forget - is back of knee due to a low saddle? Did GP prescribe rest?

Back of the knee hurts is when your saddle is too high and you stretched your leg. Or, you might have done some stretching exercises that were too intensive or you weren't warmed up yet.

You need to rest to avoid any further damage, whenever you lie down rise the leg up using a pillow and always keep it slightly bent, put ice dressing on it like once a day, wear knee brace or some elastic band. You can also try some antinflamatory meds like Ibuprofen but it needs to be combined with resting the leg, by itself it won't help much. After the pain is gone rest for a couple more days and take it easy for a week to prevent the injury from coming back.

Identify what caused the injury and address it.

It's known as RICE:

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

I always forget - is back of knee due to a low saddle? Did GP prescribe rest?

Since I only talked to the nurse on the phone, the GP didn't say anything. But nurse did say that I might need to see an orthopedist.

Working on a bum knee as well.

RICE fore the next few days, then a few days of heat, and then a couple more days just resting the soft tissue.

Back of the knee hurts is when your saddle is too high and you stretched your leg. Or, you might have done some stretching exercises that were too intensive or you weren't warmed up yet.

You need to rest to avoid any further damage, whenever you lie down rise the leg up using a pillow and always keep it slightly bent, put ice dressing on it like once a day, wear knee brace or some elastic band. You can also try some antinflamatory meds like Ibuprofen but it needs to be combined with resting the leg, by itself it won't help much. After the pain is gone rest for a couple more days and take it easy for a week to prevent the injury from coming back.

Identify what caused the injury and address it.

It's known as RICE:

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

Thanks

I did raise the saddle a couple of weeks ago a little bit so, I will lower it back to the position I had it before I raised it.

The only thing I won't do is, use Ibuprofen for the pain because, I don't want to get a false sense of relief from the lack of pain due to the medication. I don't want to react to that, by going out n' injuring it further, because of mistakenly thinking it was better. I didn't use Ibuprofen for the same reason, when I got a hairline fracture in my right wrist, from a moronic crash in mall parking lot, back in 2003/4.

The RICE I definitely agree with.

Go to the doctor and let him have a look at it. They can't tell you what you need till they look at it and there is no way to decide if you need to see a specialist till they do.

Go to the doctor and let him have a look at it. They can't tell you what you need till they look at it and there is no way to decide if you need to see a specialist till they do.

Yes, I am still going to schedule an appointment with the GP. I just want to do it after my upcoming dental checkup at UMBC(Univ. of MD-Baltimore County; not going to local dentists' because of cost)

I will definitely go to the GP after that.

Ibuprofen is taken in this case not as pain killer but as anti-inflammatory medication. It actually helps healing irritated tendons and muscles. If you go to see a doctor they're very likely to prescribe you even stronger anti-inflammatory medication.

As far seeing the doctor, I don't necessarily go see them for every little pain. You'll have to judge how strong the pain is. Does it keep you awake, does it last for over a week, is it getting worse?

It can't hurt though to see a doctor :)

Ibuprofen is taken in this case not as pain killer but as anti-inflammatory medication. It actually helps healing irritated tendons and muscles. If you go to see a doctor they're very likely to prescribe you even stronger anti-inflammatory medication.

As far seeing the doctor, I don't necessarily go see them for every little pain. You'll have to judge how strong the pain is. Does it keep you awake, does it last for over a week, is it getting worse?

It can't hurt though to see a doctor :)

I am an insomniac so, the pain has no chance of keeping me awake, if it were to get to that point(which thankfully it hasn't). I don't think the pain is getting worse. I am going with your RICE suggestion.

A bit of good news is, it no longer feels like the back of my knee but, the calf muscle. That would explain why, my leg would hurt when curled in or fully extended.

IANAD, but it sounds like a little strain to the upper calf connective tissue where it connects behind the knee. Saddle too high, yup, I bet so.

Since I deal with pain on such a level daily anyway, it would have to seriously interfere with me to get me to the doc. (Last Dec., the NP who read my X-Ray and diagnosed a sprained ankle missed the hairline fracture in the ankle bone, so I was riding to work for five weeks, limping around the job, and putting in 35-37 hours a week on a broken ankle without knowing it. By the time they found it, the break had closed back up and built up.) I hate the d*mn*d doctor's office!

Don't know how old you are, Chris516, but it's a good idea to get on top of it now, so you don't end up like some of us old farts, with daily pain that would send the average 20-y-o to bed with one or six of Daddy's Bud Lights.

IANAD, but it sounds like a little strain to the upper calf connective tissue where it connects behind the knee. Saddle too high, yup, I bet so.

Since I deal with pain on such a level daily anyway, it would have to seriously interfere with me to get me to the doc. (Last Dec., the NP who read my X-Ray and diagnosed a sprained ankle missed the hairline fracture in the ankle bone, so I was riding to work for five weeks, limping around the job, and putting in 35-37 hours a week on a broken ankle without knowing it. By the time they found it, the break had closed back up and built up.) I hate the d*mn*d doctor's office!

Don't know how old you are, Chris516, but it's a good idea to get on top of it now, so you don't end up like some of us old farts, with daily pain that would send the average 20-y-o to bed with one or six of Daddy's Bud Lights.

Just when I start to recover from that, I go out n' break my wrist.

could be a mild strain to your hamstring