Other for Runner's Knee (PFPS)

Is just little reliefs

I had 'runners knee' for years. Remember this is a catch all phrase to describe knee painwhere the cause isn't known. I agree that seeking out a good physiotherapist is the place to start. Ultimately for me I had an MRI which revealed nothing, but elected to have keyhole surgery which removed my plica and since then problem solved. No I hadn't heard of it either before the surgery... Took over a year to get to that point and then a few months recovery. Obviously surgery is a last resort. As an aside I'm not sure if running on forefoot is always the answer, but again for me increasing stride frequency has kept me injury free since, circa 3 years.

So, a few years ago I got big into running. Lost a bunch of weight, almost passed my wife as she was in the midst of gaining weight during pregnancy (guys, don't do this!).
But I was running for about a year and a half on the same old shoes. Entered a 10 miler race and hurt myself. Realized afterwards that my shoes were kind of shot and I needed new ones. Beginners error. Got new shoes, and started up again.
But every time I got around 3k, my knee would just seize up. Seemed to be the tendon under the knee cap. Confirmed with a physio. Did "electro shock" treatment to strengthen the tendon. Was given a number of stretches and exercises to do for the surrounding muscles. Mostly did them. But I still would have problems when I ran longer than 3k.
Since then (this was about 2 years ago), I had stopped running really. Got lazy for the most part. But recently, I'm getting back into it again. But the knee is still sore afterwards and during. I'm keeping my runs to under 3k now. I've had a couple runs where I've pushed it past 3k. But then my knee is sore the next day. I have no problem with the distance, its just the knee. So, I'm getting a little bored not being able to push myself.

As a massage therapist...continued use of muscle causes tightening and shortening so it pulls on joints and hurts when go to move it. Building my muscles...every joint is sore. Relax and stretch all areas in legs....hot baths, Epsom salt soaks, massage, stretching routine a few days a week. Besides better body mechanics...new challenges cause body new pains.not fixing...you get injured. Take rest...overtraining can hurt. Now my knee is fine.

Just got over something similar. Pain on the top inside edge of the kneecap - about the size of a dime. At first I thought I'd bruised it and thought I could run through it. To make a long story short, bothered me for almost 3 months. Got so bad I thought it would never heal up. Finally got rid of it by:

Taking time off: 2 weeks no running at all
Massage: quad, hamstring, calf
Stretching
Knee band
Icing and
Went and saw a chiropractor

Started off slow, 2 miles every other day. Finally just went away.

For knees, I find stretching, pacing and good shoes work best to keep away knee pain. Biking and cross-training that works the muscles around your knees (the names of which suddenly evade me), can really help certain types of knee pain (works for me and my husband, who has very sensitive knees, but it doesn't work for my sister who has cronic joint pain in her knees). I also take Vitamin D, which is supposed to help with joint lubrication or something (my doctor suggested it), but I'm not sure if it's helping, or if I just haven't had any problems lately.

I personally find that treadmills altar my natural stride, since they pull the leg back as you step on them, so I get shin splints when I use treadmills. I'd love for treadmills not to be painful for yucky weather days!

So I used to be a very consistent runner. I never raced, nor really had a desire to, but I used to run between 3 and 5 miles a day, with one day a week off and one long weekend run of ~ 10 miles. I did this for no other reason than I liked running. Well, at one point I hurt my knee on a bad indoor track and was unable to run for a few months. Since, I have tried running on and off for the past couple of years, but I always quit when I start to get stiff knees. However, I finally seem to be making some progress.

Right now, I'm running around 2-3 miles a day and have gone up to as much as 4. However, I'm TERRIFIED of hurting my knees. I've been reading up on form and shoes and exercises. My knees don't hurt right now, but I'm getting a little bit of stiffness.

Here's a summary of what I've read: 1) run with shorter, quicker strides; 2) increase distance slowly; 3) slow my pace down from what I'm used to; 4) upper body should be erect; 5) I should be landing on the fleshy part of my foot - about mid-foot; 6) I should strengthen my hips and quads.

On shoes...yeesh, this is a controversey. I've always sworn by getting shoes from a running store nearby that looks at your feet, watches you run, etc., before fitting you with a pair. I've generally liked the shoes I get. However, I just read Born to Run and now I'm wondering if I should chuck my expensive shoes for something with less padding?!

I've also been trying to run hills when I'm on the treadmill to avoid too much repetative motion. This all seems to be working.

I have something similar to what you describe. Common name is "runner's knee"---you can look it up and see if you have more symptoms of it (you don't have to be runner to have this problem). But basically the kneecap isn't tracking properly and can cause pain, especially after a time of increased exercise. Ibuprofen will help with the inflammation, but glucosamin-chondroitin will help with the joints. Icing and this ointment called Tiger Balm has helped soothe the joints. Also taking a good amount of time to stretch after the workout. Maybe you should consider knee braces...simple Ace brand that look like a band with a hole for your kneecap...to stabilize your knee.

Clean era my,Houston anda l�nea Cook,

35 year old here. I have a similar routine to yours except I run more and work out lightly compared to you. I lift 3x a week and run 5x a week. One thing I noticed was leg fatigue caused my form to go bad which in turn causes injuries. Heavy leg lifting for me was the #1 reason for fatigue. As I increased my mileage, I decreased the weight I lift with my legs (squats, leg presses etc.) Instead I do more reps with lighter weights and add more variety of leg exercises.
To answer your questions:
My knees are feeling very strong and have no soreness anymore.
Since I reduced the leg lifting weights and increased mileage, I feel like my knees improved.
I am not worried about the long term effects since I don't really do like 50-60 miles a week.
I see a lot of runners in their 40s in races. A good number of them perform very well. I hope to stay a runner well into my 40s.

Lots of people attest to using minimalist footwear or even no footwear, but there is very little research yet to back this up and plenty of people, including top athletes do very well with orthodox (big, squashy and rigid!) running shoes.

I suspect that the running surface is the bigger issue. The only time I've had knee problems is after running exclusively on tarmac for some time. Nowadays I do most - ideally all - my running on the fells. I believe that the constantly changing terrain gives my muscles a varied workout. It also just happens that fell-running shoes are minimalist; this adds to the effect by making the feet and lower legs work harder to cope with the uneven ground, which in turn builds strength and resilience.

You get none of this benefit on the road. And it's boring.

One of the things that helped me was learning to balance on one leg - nothing complicated. This requires keeping the hip level, strengthens the ankles and feet, and involves the glutes. A few minutes a day.

Take a break from running. Hike instead. Start slow and when things become easy increase the length of the hikes and begin carrying a backpack. Hiking is low impact and provides a relatively injury free opportunity to experiment with strides, foot placement, strengthening various muscles, Build up knowledge of your body. After a year or so slowly take up running again.

New shoes, increase only 10% a week