So after doing an adventure race with about 24 miles of running and 76 miles of mountain biking last weekend I somehow thought doing some kicksets in the pool would be a good idea on Monday. Sure enough, for most of last week what I think is my IT Band was very tight and I was getting a little clicking from it on the outside of my right knee. I have had this happen before (didn’t learn obviously) so knew to keep an eye on it.
Gradually throughout the course of last week the clicking and discomfort on the outside of the knee went away. However, I have a sharp tightness coming from my quad to directly above my knee cap. The tightness starts maybe a couple inches above the kneecap and then extends downward to right above the kneecap where it is most tight (I’d say it comes down on a slight diagonol starting a little bit towards the outside of the quad and then going to directly above the kneecap). I feel two little bony bumps right above my kneecap with a groove right above them and the tightness extends right into that groove. Is this the Quadriceps tendon?
My quad feels generally fine except for this very specific spot, I can massage the whole quad pain free but if I poke my finger at this spot it feels like someone is stabbing me.
Is this related to the IT band tightness I felt earlier but that then sort of went away. It was just slightly tight after a sprint race this past weekend and continued to feel that way Sunday and yesterday. After a hard run this morning it is VERY tight.
Any help, suggestions, stretches? Anything I can do here at work? Sitting with me knees bent I can really feel the tightness.
I’m no doctor, PT, or anything related to a medical field. However I have had my share of IT Band problems in the past and am going on 13 months without any issues! I would recommend getting out the old ice pack and icing for about 10-15 minutes every few hours while at work, also if you can take NSAID’s (Advil, etc.) that can help with the inflammation as well. Also doing some streches to really loosen the lateral side of your glutes would be useful. R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) method is my general approach until I can get in to see a PT. Massage can also be a great helper too, although you have to be careful with massage therapists, make sure you have one that knows about your injury, and can offer a good explaination of how they plan on helping you fix the problem.
Just my thoughts and what has worked for me!
Train safe and be careful running until you can have a professional take a look at it!
Thanks! I guess my question is, this doesn’t seem to be IT band but more quadriceps tendon I think? I am not sure if those two things sort of go hand in hand when it comes to injury or what. I have had the inflammed IT band before, usually from doing something dumb like a ton of kicking in the pool or whatever. Usually a little rest and ice and it goes away.
This time it seems to have sort of migrated to the quadriceps tendon I think? The IT Band is still a little tight, but what’s causing me pain is directly above my kneecap. Isn’t the IT band along the outside of the knee? My tightness comes right in above the kneecap.
Good point, your IT Band actually runs from the lateral side of your legs from right below the knee to back up behind your butt. So that may not directly be the culprit here. However I have noticed that with muscles, as soon as one gets really tight or injured, another one picks up the slack until it too becomes a mess! If your kneecap is really tight (i.e. you can’t move it around with your leg relaxed out), then it sounds like a lot of the connecting tissue there might be too tight…the problem is finding out if that is the problem, or if this is caused by something else. If you want a good excuse to get a massage I would take the opportunity to see if it helps relax the muscle…if not, go see a PT…
If you are constantly battling injury, maybe it is time to really diagnose the problem (mine was my “running style”…well, lack thereof) so you can fix it and go injury free!
I have to disagree re: the IT band not being a part of the possible S/Sx’s here. The IT band DOES in fact have an attachment to the lateral patella and can and does on occasion cause patellar tracking “issues” and the click that the original poster mentioned. Your advice to seek out a PT is sound and I would add to seek out one that used Graston technique, knows something about running biomechanics and instead of just focusing on the knee, look at the hip as well. just my two cents. ERIK
Thanks, I think the knee and my biomechanics are relatively sound.
As I said, this came up after running 24 miles off-road and doing 76 miles of mountain biking. Then the next Monday I did a bunch of kicking in the pool. Kicking in the pool also bothers me, (not sure why I forgot this) so it was certainly dumb to do the day after the adventure race. FWIW, the race was last Saturday, I biked an easy 30 on Sunday and felt fine. Did the kicking in the pool on Mondy and things flared up.
I believe the clicking, not from the kneecap, was just an inflammed IT band as this has happened before and usually settles down. It did settle down, however, trying to push things, I did a couple fast runs last week (although short) to prep for a sprint tri this past Saturday. Raced with just a little tightness more in the quadriceps tendon area (directly above the kneecap). Rode about 25 Sunday again with a little tightness. Ran about 3 mile to the pool yesterday with a little tightness. Ran 6.5 miles hard this morning…LOTS of tightness!
sounds like a case of the “terrible Too’s”… too much, too fast, too soon!
I would seek out professional advice in your area my friend. without hands on testing, palpation and observation a forum will only give you “ideas” of what is going on. Having someone who is actually there will make all the difference in the world. I wish you luck with recovery and might I suggest a brief, albeit needed, recovery period ERIK
“I’m no doctor, PT, or anything related to a medical field”
I think that might be enough to know not to take medical advice from this guy.
Anecdotal advice can be just as bad as wrong advice for some. Just be careful giving out treatment advice at all. My $.02.
My adivce? Go see a good sports medicine dr. or a PT with a sports background. A regular doc will treat you as though you are an “average American” same for an average PT. They will get your knee working, but not to the level a normal trithlete wants.
“I’m no doctor, PT, or anything related to a medical field”
I think that might be enough to know not to take medical advice from this guy.
Anecdotal advice can be just as bad as wrong advice for some. Just be careful giving out treatment advice at all. My $.02.
My adivce? Go see a good sports medicine dr. or a PT with a sports background. A regular doc will treat you as though you are an “average American” same for an average PT. They will get your knee working, but not to the level a normal trithlete wants.
Exactly why I mentioned it, just saying what worked for me UNTIL I saw a PT. I don’t really see the R.I.C.E. method as medical advice, just a way to ease pain until you can get in to a PT. I will be more careful in the future about handing out any advice that might be taken in such a way. Thanks for the info.
On the note of the problem, the forum seems to agree that seeing a PT is the way to go! Best of luck, take remember to take 'er easy!
ERIK