No orthos have been able to tell if that’s the case for me. They all say “maybe”. Um, ok.
Do you mean the tracking of the patella (sp?) or kneecap during a given motion or do you mean the path of the entire knee during a specific activity such as pedalling?
If it is pedalling we put you in front of a camera, put an adhesive dot on your knee and let you pedal then wash the video through our Innovision Motion Analysis software, or any good motion capture system. It will reveal the path of your knee through a number of pedal cycles. In a perfect world it would be rather stright. In the real world it could describe any number of ellipses or odd shapes as your knee sort of “wings out” especially at the top of your pedals stroke. Then it is may be a matter of correcting something about your pedal interface and varus or valgus alignment. Maybe.
Which do you mean? If it is genuinely the tracking of your patella through a smooth, straight flexion/extension of your knee, that is a matter for a trained therapist most likely.
Personally if I have a question about this, I address it in the weight room. I hit the weights and do knee extensions. Typically if you have an issue, the strengthening will straighten it out in a couple of sessions.
If your knee is tracking oddly, it is most likely due to some sort of muscular imbalance. I had this problem when I played youth soccer. The doctor told me the best thing to do for it would be to strengthen the muscles to the outside of my leg to help pull the knee cap back into proper alignment. Of course, in my case it was very obvious that it was causing a problem, since it gave pretty bad pain when I would run.
I would recommend going to a physical therapist and having them properly diagnose the problem. In all likelihood, your best bet will be to strengthen the muscles around the knee to aid in stabilization.
I went to my doc with knee pain, got a referral to a PT and the PT told me what the problem was, tracking. I was told there are basically two choices to fix it, PT exercises to strengthen the muscles around my knee to equalize it or get a tendon release to move it back inline. One side of my knee/leg is strong than the other so it makes my knee out of whack.
While what others are mentioning/suggesting is not incorrect I would counter with this… What is causing the imbalance in the first place? Just like a swimmer with primary impingement syndrome… it is typically NOT a lack of strength of the rotator cuff but rather, the traps and levator scaps are too tight therefore elevating the scapula enough to inhibit the lower traps from doing their job (depression and retraction of the scapula) which then moves the acromion out of the way as to not impinge on the supraspinatus (just one way to cause impingement).
So, to make a long story short… you got this knee “thing” from something else. It is most likely a symptom and you can chase it all you want with leg extensions, Ultrasound therapy or electrical muscle stim. but unless you figure out mechanically what you are doing wrong (running or cycling) it will most likely continue to cause problems. just my .02… take it or leave it.
ERIK
no ideas but HI!!! and ((((((hugs)))))
So, to make a long story short… you got this knee “thing” from something else. It is most likely a symptom and you can chase it all you want with leg extensions, Ultrasound therapy or electrical muscle stim. but unless you figure out mechanically what you are doing wrong (running or cycling) it will most likely continue to cause problems. just my .02… take it or leave it.
I am definitely not a PT, but I’ll give my 2 cents as well. I believe that the imbalance is not caused by a problem in running or cycling, but because of running and cycling. These are sports that only build up specific muscles, but can often cause imbalances in the average person. Triathlon is a sport that is directed straight forward with little to no lateral movement. This causes the stabilizing muscles to become much weaker in comparison to the other muscles being used. It is these stabilizing muscles that will help keep joints like the knee cap in proper alignment. In most cases, supplementation with strength training is the solution to the problem. I know, I know, this is ST and strength training is never the right thing to do, but in this case it is highly probable that it is. Of course this has to be properly planned and practiced, so make sure to get the advice of someone certified, that way you will work the correct muscles properly. Like I said, just my 2 cents…
I don’t know anything about your specific problem but this is an excellent book on treating knees.
Do you mean the tracking of the patella (sp?) or kneecap during a given motion or do you mean the path of the entire knee during a specific activity such as pedalling?
If it is pedalling we put you in front of a camera, put an adhesive dot on your knee and let you pedal then wash the video through our Innovision Motion Analysis software, or any good motion capture system. It will reveal the path of your knee through a number of pedal cycles. In a perfect world it would be rather stright. In the real world it could describe any number of ellipses or odd shapes as your knee sort of “wings out” especially at the top of your pedals stroke. Then it is may be a matter of correcting something about your pedal interface and varus or valgus alignment. Maybe.
Which do you mean? If it is genuinely the tracking of your patella through a smooth, straight flexion/extension of your knee, that is a matter for a trained therapist most likely.
Patella tracking. Although the knee during pedaling is another potential thing to look at (again).
In a perfect world it would be rather stright.
I’m actually not totally convinced of this. This is one of the things that Retul pushes, and both Dan & I have some reservations about this. Obviously, there is a point at which it is a problem, but some lateral travel is not actually worse than none, and none is not necessarily better. I’m worried that people will start wedging and shimming and locking down on cleats to prevent knee travel, when it’s not clearly proven that it’s bad. I am sure there is an acceptable range, but I think anything within that range is equally good. I think this is a big part of why people who switched from more fixed cleats that spring center to speedplay, especially Xs have reduced knee pain. Something for thought…
But how do you know where the imbalance is? Maybe abductors need more work than adductors etc. Don’t want to strengthen the already efficient group and neglect the weaker one but just doing a blanket work out do you? I’m not sure my self.
I like what you and eDeRoche said. My problem was definitely because of cycling. Went from years of body building to cycling and noticed how everything I did was on a sagital plain and how weak my abductors adductors were. I lost about 50% capability in using the cable machine around my ankles to work out ab/add since I stopped lifiting/functional compund movement excercises. Working with a PT twice a week has helped tremendously.
Yeah interesting point to consider. I know John Howard here in San Diego is huge about keeping the knee, foot, and hip in a straight line with each other which I hardly see anyone obtain naturally.