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Can any PT help me figure out my knee issue
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Sorry for the long post, here's the tldr version:
My left kneecap really hurts when I press on it, left knee is often sore after runs but it doesn't hurt when actually running. Strength training seemed to help early on but the knee issues haven't gone away and might be getting worse (too much strength training? not enough?). Looking for suggestions.


I've had persistent pain in my left knee since around May and I still can't figure out what it is or how to get rid of it. I'm wondering if any of the PTs on here, or just collective Slowtwitch knowledge/experience, can help me out.

I'll also mention up front that I haven't had it looked at by a local PT or ortho because I haven't found anyone nearby who's been helpful for any other issues I've had in the past. So a simpler question could be whether anyone can recommend a good PT in/around Connecticut (i.e. not someone whose solution for everything is "take X months off, stretch, and you'll be fine").

It really hurts if I press on my left kneecap, especially toward the inside (medial?) and lower half of the kneecap (closer to my shin). I avoid kneeling on my left knee at all costs because that really hurts. Bending and straightening the knee doesn't usually hurt.

From what I've read it sounds like some form of patellar tendonosis, except it doesn't actually hurt when I run. It seems like people who have patellar tendonosis say running is painful. It will often feel sore after a run, or if I twist an odd direction I might get a twinge in the knee, but running in general doesn't seem to be a problem.

When things started up around May it used to hurt while running (especially downhill) but I started some simple strengthening exercises like air squats, bridges, and the Myrtl routine and after a few weeks it didn’t hurt while running but still hurt when touched. I've also noticed that my left VMO will often be sore. I've tried foam rolling but with mixed results.

My last race of the season was in August and I thought the lower training volume would finally help kick the problem, but it hasn't. I have been doing more hip/glute/quad/hamstring strengthening at the gym because it helped earlier and that's what people recommended. Most people say to do eccentric single leg squats, so I did them for a while but I've since stopped because after a while they started making my knee more painful.

At this point I'm unsure if I should be increasing the load (as is commonly recommended for other tendon problems like achilles and high hamstring tendonosis) or maybe I should go back to the simpler exercises with little to no load (like air squats, bridges, Myrtl routine, hamstring curls, etc). Or maybe something else entirely.

Any thoughts?
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