lots of people confuse 'runners knee' and ITBS (IT band) -- which one are you dealing with?

I'm not really sure to be honest. How do I find out? I have used the rollers to stretch my IT bands but not consistently.

is the pain on the front or the side? (front = runners knee, side = itbs)

front for sure, right below the knee cap.

ok, runners knee -- now i drop out of this conversation because i know way too much about ITBS but nothing about runners knee!

hopefully someone will jump in for you

I imagine that the answers will be related to
> Rest & Ice
> Strengthen exercises
> Very gradual increase in mileage (I did 1km/week increase in my long runs per week, starting at 3km working up to 15km over 3 months)
> Evaluate the way you run - your gait, your posture, how you land and how it affects your knee

all the best

I don't know how severe your knee is, but it's likely that if you've in fact been off of it for a long time, you can start using it very gently and lightly again. I've had other leg strains and stress fractures before from training a lot, and I don't think any of them was completely problem free when I restarted training, despite waiting pretty much the recommended amount. I did watch them carefully though and made sure they didn't get worse with the workouts.

I've had the same issue flare up a couple times. It stays away when I'm diligent with foam rolling and strength training. I've seen two PTs about it, and the consistent story is that it is a muscle imbalance that causes the knee cap to be slightly out of place. The strength training is for quads, hamstrings and glutes.

While rehabbing, I was obviously cut WAY back on running, and added some elliptical in its place. Also, minimize low RPM hills and climbing on the bike.

Good luck, and be patient

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TEAM F3 Undurance

I've had the same issue flare up a couple times. It stays away when I'm diligent with foam rolling and strength training. I've seen two PTs about it, and the consistent story is that it is a muscle imbalance that causes the knee cap to be slightly out of place. The strength training is for quads, hamstrings and glutes.


I've been out of commission for almost 3 months. I thought it was a torn meniscus I was in so much pain. I got an MRI which showed an intact meniscus but grade 4 runner's knee. An imbalance and lots of kneecap out of whack means all the cartilage on the back of my kneecap is gone. My PT flat out told me my long distance running days are behind me.


My advice is to get into PT asap. Don't run until you do. Do the exercises they tell you to do, faithfully. If you don't fix the issues with your gait it will only progress until you find out that half marathons may be your upper limit from now on. You won't be able to run multiple days in a row anymore. Then you'll put on a bunch of weight while trying to heal, get bitter and feel old.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

What's a grade 4?
Was it patellofemoral pain syndrome?
What was the outcome?

My wife was diagnosed with PFPS this morning. Still waiting on an MRI though. Her patella is wearing a notch in her femur...