Bill

Have been struggling with a knee injury for 6 months or so. Talked to an ortho. Did several weeks of PT. Doctor thinks it's patellar tendinitis. I have to wonder. I have soreness in the middle of the knee cap, on the lower part of the bone. It's better than it was. I thought that the soreness was the major problem. Now I am not so sure. I have vague symptoms that seem to start in the hip or butt area and impact the side of my quads. I am now wondering if this is not what is making my knee/leg feel week. I only get severe knee pain when I am driving in a car for a long time. Cycling seems to affect it, but I am not fully sure. I haven't swam in a regular way for many months because kicking definitely affects the leg/knee. Rolling with a styrofoam cylinder seems to help a little. Anyone have anything similar?

lazerzxr

what caused it in the first place, how did it start?

milnerpt

patellofemoral pain. classic movie-goers sign.... pain with sitting long drives with it flexed.


how is buttock pain relating to this?

zandoval 

CT, MRI, Sonogram???

danlikes

2001 I was up in Bothell Washington and broke my leg, blew out the ACL, ripped and folded Meniscus disc and split the tibia bone length wise. Between driving home and the surgery I was on crutches for 6 months.

Now years latter my knee has started to wake up with heavy pedaling. I think the muscles and scar tissue or having to re adjust with increased demand.

Point being did you injure the Knee in the past, even though it was years ago it could be an old injury or arthritis caused by the scarring are what ever.

I ask because the blown ACU was actually several years old according to the Dr. that did the Surgery in 01, just went undiagnosed for a few years.

Good luck though them knees is serous business.

eippo1

Might be time for an MRI. You could have scar tissue, meniscus tear, etc. I had bone spurs when I originally had symptoms like yours. I got surgery and all has been well for the past 15 years. Well mostly because I've had some trouble since breaking that same kneecap in 2008. I assume it's scar tissue this time.

Bill

ABout 16 years ago I developed patellar tendinitis because of running. Intense pain came to my knee while I was running. I never ever really got rid of this. That is to say , if I ran far enough the pain would return. Finally, I decided to stop running, although I would try here and there to run, thinking that the rest would have stopped the problem. It did not. I didn't have problems with this any more as long as I didn't run.

MrTuner1970

Earlier this year, I had patellofemoral syndrome, common with cyclists (and runners). Symptoms were similar to yours. Little to no pain while cycling, but soreness afterward, especially a day or two after a ride.

Here's the way I approached it:
1. Got a professional fit to eliminate fit as a cause
2. On the advice of my doctor (also a cyclist), took two weeks off. No riding...at all.
3. On the advice of my doctor, took 600mg of Ibuprofen three times a day for those two weeks.

That fixed my problems. Might not fix yours.

What had happened was that the seatpost clamp wasn't doing its job, allowing saddle height to drop by 3-4 cm. That was the primary culprit. The fit solved the primary cause, but it took several weeks for the pain to go away. But it eventually did, and things are almost back to normal. I'd say about 98%. Still have a tiny bit of weakness in that sore knee, but I can ride like normal with pain.

Bill

good thoughts. i did have a bike fit. Seat was brought up a bit and my pedals were adjusted. things did seem a little better. i tried taking a couple of weeks off. didn't quite do too much. i tried the ibuprophen route. that helped a little. I am intrigued by what you say about the pain a day or two after a ride. That is the case for me. I just have a little irritation while riding. Sometimes the next day there is the weakness. But sometimes it's not until 2 days later, and I wonder if it is still from the riding. I often will do some weights on the day after a ride. Tried to figure out if that were to blame. who knows? I've had enough of it, though. I certainly am not riding like I usually do. I only ride two times a week, and I ride fewer miles than I normally do.

MrTuner1970

Oops, I forgot part 2 of my recovery. The fitting helped, but I was still having small twinges after the rides.

My fitter suggested that I get the Specialized BG Footbeds (comes with wedges) to correct over-pronation. So I did. Used a laser lever to make sure my legs were tracking straight up and down during the pedal stroke. (Trainer, along with mirrors. Using the laser beam, bisect the pedal to see how knees are tracking. Add wedges to correct. You can also use the laser from the side to see where your knee is relative to the pedal at the 3 o'clock pedal position).

I have three of the wedges under the left footbed, and one under the right, in addition to two thin wedges under each cleat.

Did all this from January-March of this year. Started to feel good again in mid-April. Now, I don't notice any pain. So far, so good.