zooropa530

A bit of a backstory... I did a century about 4 weeks ago, and my knee (particularly the kneecap) was screaming afterwards. I went to the doctor - diagnosed with chondromalacia patellae.

Now, I'm going to PT, got my bike checked for fit at the LBS (my saddle was a tad too low), and I'm stretching often. PT has me stretching my quads/ITB/'strings, and strengthening my hip flexors/quads/etc.

My question is (for those who've had it) how long of a recovery am I looking at? It's been 4 weeks since the injury and the jumping on the bike is still a tad painful. Any kind of info would be useful!

cyclintom

https://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/9.39.html

You may not believe it now but it will all disappear in time. There may have been only miniscule damage that hurts a great deal more than the actual damage.

thad

Riding the bike was the best medicine for mine (started riding this spring). I suspect that with your PT and the bike fitting your problem will soon go away.

BobL

I have that. Or had that. Or still have it to some degree. In fact, I'm 4 weeks out from arthroscopic surgery for that, on my right knee.

There's no short answer. But you don't have to ride in pain.

I think the biggest things to remember are: high cadence, proper leg extension, high cadence, quad strengthening and riding with a high cadence.

Did I mention you should ride with a high pedal cadence?

Seriously for a change, I switched to riding from (mostly) running back in '94 because of CP. I read somewhere that pain in the front of the knee (back of the kneecap) meant the saddle was too low, pain in the back of the knee meant it was too low. It seems for me that the saddle never gets too high - or if it does, I notice it by rocking back and forth too much while pedalling.

Long ago, I found that if I rode with a cadence in the mid-80's, I'd feel fine at the time, but hurt the next day. If I kept my cadence over 90, I almost never hurt the next day. I bought a Cateye Astrale for the cadence function in '96 or so, and have never been without one since. I have iced my knees after rides. I don't think that's usually necessary, but it might help you. I'd be careful of too much advil or naproxen because they can cause kidney damage (google "analgesic nephropathy" for info). Sometimes, though, you gotta take the stuff.

Back in the spring, I decided I wanted to add more running to my workouts. I would get loud clicks in my knees from time to time, and it would stop me in my tracks. The pain would subside, and I'd start running again. One night in early June, after running gassers, my right knee started swelling and hurting. I had to see the doc. My family doc thought it was a torn meniscus, but the MRI didn't confirm it. The MRI said it was a small piece of loose cartilage. I was able to resume riding with little pain in about a month. To shorten the long story somewhat, I had arthroscopic surgery 4 weeks ago to "clean out" that knee. It turned out to be a big piece of loose cartilage. I was on an exercise bike 4 days after surgery, and riding my regular short rides (13 miles) 9 days after surgery.

Look up "closed chain" knee exercises. This is what my surgeon recommends for me now for quad strengthening. He also said that except for the CP on the back of my kneecap, the rest of my knee cartilage looked like a 20-something year old (I'm 51) and credits my high cadence cycling for doing that. CP is a mechanical problem - it's caused by your kneecap not tracking correctly as you straighten your knees.

I think surgery for this is not done very often, but I'm really glad I had it done. My knee feels better than it has in 20 years. I'm hoping that by the time it's fully healed, I'll be able to do things pain free that I haven't done pain free in 20 years.


Hope this helps,
BobL

phillybill

I had this back in late 70's....shots in the knees, crutches and pan killers for a year. If you rehab right about 4-6 months. The real problem is eliminating the type of repetative movement that is creating the irritation to the patella. Do some light weights and leg specific stuff. You need to build up the muscles aroun the injured area. Take it slow on the bike......

phillybill

The bike does help, just don't rush it. Actually I go mine from running and swimming in college. Frankly the knee condition is what turned me into a hard core biker years ago.

zooropa530

Thanks guys. Sounds like I was still in diapers when some of you got it - I'm in my mid twenties!

I'm just guessing, but mine doesn't sound as bad as others who've described it. Sounds to me like I need to focus on strengthening my quads/knee muscles. The doctor said it wasn't bad - he was hesitant to even call it chondromalacia. So I hope my prognosis looks good, I just don't want to do anything that would result in a chronic type of injury...

JPinoy

Had knee pain a few months back as well & this is what I did:

Had the fit checked by 3 different bike shops,
incresed cadence by staying away from the 52 chain ring,
Got one of those patella & IT band straps
stratching & strengthening exercises
Am now pain free and mostly mash the 52 & can ride harder and farther

Good luck..........

531Aussie

as they say, firstly make sure your seat's not too low.

I got rid of my non-chronic chondro in about a week by doing these weighted straight-leg kicking exercises with light weights (maybe a slight knee bend):



I'm no Dr Butt.....I was told by my physio that the problem is caused by a "slackening" of the middle quads (vastus intermedius or rectus femoris...can't remember which), which leads to the knee cap not being pulled up as quickly as it should during quad contraction, therefore, resulting in the knee cap grinding on the femur, causing the pain.

Not much weight is required: I ended up using an old boot with a 5lb weight plate taped to it.

pedex

Also check your cleats or toe cages/straps, they may be too far forward or too small for your feet in the case of toe cages/straps........being too far forward puts serious strain on the knees, it happened to me,put me out of work for a week. You need to have the place where your feet contact the pedal to have the balls of your feet on top of or just forward of the spindle, the farther forward the contact point on your feet is the more strain it causes, often long distance riders put their cleats as far back as possible cause mileage will aggravate it bigtime.

lilHinault

It's well known I'm an idiot but here's what *seems* to be working for me, since I have had a bit of knee problems, and what's weird, *tickling* sensation under the knee caps when pedaling. I did the usual internet geek obsessive reading on it, and it seems it comes down to tracking problems, caused by the outer "quad" being more developed than the inner one, I know sounds odd because they're both nice and big in cyclists, but anyway I decided that lunges and squats and stuff like doing sissy squats but with the knees together, imagine a little kid doing the peepee dance and you get the idea, to hit that innner quad, might help, and they seem to be helping. I also work on standing when climbing hills more for a quick tune-up while riding. I seem to be having less knee concerns and no tickling sensations for a while now, I just do the exercises with my own body weight, that's plenty.

mscycler

I try to make it a habit to not have anything wrong with me that I cant pronounce.

mscycler

jedi_rider

Mine was bad enough that I had to have my knees 'scoped. Too much basketball and snowboarding in my younger days.

Along with leg exercises that help track the knees better, I've had no problems since.

I also firmly believe that my taking glucosamine-chondroitin supplements significantly helped.

Now, I just make sure that I wear the proper shoes with the right insoles along with a good bike fit.

ho hum

Spin baby! Get pedals that float and allow your legs to find the right angle for them to work at. Spin... Spin.... Spin and Spin some more!

Zouf

Been off the bike now for 2 months, max I can do if I ride is 8-9km at 28 km/h, spinning, no pushing - and the pain is back. I've been doing stretching and strenghtening exercise like a madman (i've never been this flexible in years), but I still can't ride. I can run 5-7 km smooth pace without too much pain. I had the same about 7 yrs ago from intensive running (that's what brought me more onto the bike). Thank god the weather is turning bad, at least I don't feel as bad for not riding.

Lectron

Enough good fat in your diet? Consider Glucosamine and MSM

Meek

I second this. I can definitely feel and HEAR a difference when I occasionally ( ) forget to take it for a while. Oh, some people were claiming that you didn't need the Chondroitin so I tried straight Glucosamine Sulfate. Once again it was apparent that the combo was better. Now I added MSM to the mix and sometimes forget how messed up my knees are.

zooropa530

Great tips - I picked up some Glucosamine HCl, but if you guys are raving about Chondroitin that much, I might have to look into that too.

For the guys that take these supplements, do you take it all the time, or are you just taking it whenever you have problems?

Meek

I take it all the time. I really should start putting down my thoughts on different brands I try. After a find the best brand then I should play with dosages.

FWIW I even notice it working on my shoulders when benching, funny thing is I didn't think I had a problem with my shoulders but now they are so much smoother, the stuff seriously makes you feel younger with less aches and pains.

jedi_rider

You should take Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM supplements on a daily basis. It takes about 8 weeks for first time users to really notice a difference.

Remember, this is not a drug where you see results fairly quickly. You should consider taking it as part of your daily vitamin supplment.