Knee hurts, and I have a half 2 weeks away!

Triathlon Forum
1

Here’s what happened…

Wednesday: did a run-bike-run, but having changed my seat and had it at too low a level, just struggled throught the 10 mile ride, but ached on the run. Knee pain on left leg, outside, not on knee cap, but on the bone.

Thursday: long day at work, no training.

Friday: tried to go for an hour run, knee hurt immediately, I tried to “work out of it” turned around after 20 minutes, limped back at a walk in some severe pain. decided to ice and take Ibuprofen.

Here’s the question… I have my first half-iron in 2 weeks. I have to bag my 10-mile race this sunday, since I was basically a cripple today. Good news is that I’m going to get re-fitted tomorrow to fix my seat and hopefully what I think caused my knee problems, but I’m wondering what else I can do??? I’m scared to death that I won’t get to race, or if I do, I’ll end up in the hospital… :frowning:

2

was just in the same boat and did my half last weekend. I was out 3 weeks prior. tomorrow, if not Sunday I will PM you. for now, seriously, keeep off of it, and apply ice. it’s hard to think of doing that, but I’m telling you with my heart and soul it’s the best thing.

don’t walk. don’t run, don’t bike. if you feel the need to train, get into the pool and kick EASY when you swim. also stay out of the hot tub.

kittycat

3

Thanks, that would be great if you could. Being the sappy girl I am, I cried the whole run back, partly b/c I was in pain ( I had to pick up my car from Jiffy lube before it closed, thus forcing me to run in pain ,stupid me) and partly b/c of the thought of not doing my race.

I missed the 2001 Marine Corps at about this same point. Made it through all the training just to get such bad tendinitis 3 weeks prior that I had to stop. I just want to be sure to make a good decision!

I’m planning on calling a couple of docs Monday morning…but you think it would be ok to swim? I won’t kick, just will wear the wetsuit and pull. No biking? And just ice and anti-inflammatories? do you think its an IT band? its an odd place for me to have pain…

4

do no kicking sets, use the pull bouy to swim. Ice Ice and Ice some more. I’d ice again as well.
hope it clears up. I lost a full 13 months of running to ITB syndrome. it sucks

5

where was your pain? i want to see if theis is really an itb problem…I hurt mainly when my leg was bent, not when weight was on it.

were you able to bike?

6

… being two weeks away from a .5 doesn’t change the injury recovery rules.

They are very simple but difficult to do without thinking your loosing fitness…

Rest Ice Compression Elevate… these work as a group… for RICE to be successful, you must do ALL 4 elements. Anything less is will not be as effective (if at all). As a side note, ICE followed by HEAT (repeat) combination is also been shown to be as effective as ice only (depends on the particulars of your injury).

Adding Anti-inflamatories will definately help… but, eliminate NSAID’s (including OTC’s such as asprin, ibuprophen, etc.)at least 24 hrs. before the race (reduces potential for the serious condition called Hyponatremia).

Activity that doesn’t aggrevate the injury is acceptable… this may or may not include swimming. You have to be the judge. The best way to determine proper activity (which is usually some form of therapy) comes after proper diagnosis by a doctor. That will provide the best long term results.

With two weeks (or two days, or two months, or two years) the rules toward recovery remain basically the same - Recovery starts by allowing the body to heal at it’s own pace by not causing further injury. Whether or not the body will heal based on your schedule is not much on a issue - specially since the healing process is defined by the body’s schedule - unfortunately.

Pretty simple - on paper… but, tough to actually do. Good Luck…

FWIW Joe Moya

7

Damn, I’m so sorry to hear about your injury. I currenly have that same injury, it sounds like classic IT-Band. I just got a cortisone shot today and I’m hoping that it helps. I have recently learned (from this site) that inline skating is great cross-training for triathlon. Not as much flexion/extension in the knee so if you have a pair of rollerblades you may want to give them a try while recovering.

Oh yeah, TONS of ice and stretching!

Dave from VA

8

great idea, as that my rollerblades have gathered dust from all my training. :slight_smile: cortisone shot in the side of the knee? OUCH! I had that in my ankle and foot. hope it doesn’t come to that. the lateral flexion doesn’t hurt? and what stretching do you do? I’ve done the rope or towel around the foot, lay on the back, and stretch leg across the body routine for my IT stretch.

9

Locate an Active Release doc in your area and get there fast! I can’t say enough good things about mine and ITB is one area he worked with great success. You’ll be back running in no time.

10

The pain was on the outside starting about 5 inches about the knee on the outside of the leg and running in under the patella. It only hurt to bend the leg for the first few months while I was on 800mg ibuprofen 2xday. After 2 months it didn’t hurt to ride and I could run about 800m pain free. 6 months later and I could run 1200m pain free. No pain cycling. My IT band was so swollen it stuck out about 2inches compare to the other.
joy joy fun fun. hope you heal quickly.

11

Terrapin-likeyoungfemale, PLEASE listen to these other folks and let the dang thing heal. However, here’s something you can do if you want to train. One-legged pedalling on the trainer. Don’t overdo it, don’t strain, but, pedal away all you’d like, there are contralateral benefits that will help your injured leg to stay in shape, without it even having to move. You could do this with an ice pack on your hurt knee propped on a chair. Swimming with a pull buoy is fine…as long as you aren’t kicking enough to flex that hurt knee. Look at this as an opportunity to get better swimming, and to freshen your desire to run. If you are REALLY intense enough to warrant doing something outrageous, steroid shot in the area will probably help…BUT, there are lots of possible long-term side effects (like an increased risk of avascular necrosis…the thing that Bo Jackson had in his hip) of which you should be aware. However, if you are going to go that route, the sooner, the better. That decision is up to you and your doctor.

Good luck. Hopefully this will just be a scare and not a mini-disaster.

12

I’m going to disagree with some of these folks on one point. This is based on just getting back into the game after a 10 month ITB-related injury.

I would suggest that you alternate ice and heat, for example, 5 minutes ice, 15 minutes moist heat. When I was strictly doing the ice, I would feel stiff in the knee when I was done. I was also going to physical therapy, and they were doing ultrasound treatment, which they described as “deep penetrating heat.” It occurred to me that what I was doing could be counter-productive to what they were doing, so I started to alternate ice-heat. It really seems to work.

Also, after physical therapy, ultrasound, accupuncture, chiropractor, and STILL having pain, I got to a very good sports massage lady who suggested that it could be TFL rather than strictly ITB (they are related, but that’s a long story). She really worked the TFL, and now I use a foam roller at home and roll on it with the outside of each leg. It does wonders to knead out the tight spots anywhere between the hips and the knees.

Best wishes and God bless.

13

iced and ibuprofen last night, this morning as well, the good girl that I am, and resting. I have done the moist heat/ice thing before too (had a quad strain 2 years ago).

I’m just hoping this was a temporary thing I did to myself with one ride on a bad bike fitting, or lack there of. Am I foolish to think that, since I havent’ ever had any pain in that area before when running? Even my first loop of running on our r-b-r brick was fine, it wasn’t till after I biked 5 laps that I ached…I’m going to get refitted today and hopefully clear that ? up.

But I like the trainer idea! I’ll feel better sitting on my bike anyways. And to top off my woes…doc just called (primary care that is) and said I di test positive for strep. argh. now i’m sick and injured! :frowning:

any other halfs I can enter???

14

I would agree that the TFL is part of the problem, but there’s probably more going on. Work these muscles with a foam roller, a tennis ball, or whatever, and you might just make it for you 1/2 IM:

http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas2/tensorfascialata.html
http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas2/gluteusmedius.html
http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas2/gluteusminimus.html
http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas2/piriformis.html
http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas2/gracilis.html

Hope that helps.

15

here’s the deal. nobody here knows what your knee problem is. at this point, you don’;t even know what your knee problem is because you haven’t had proper diagnosis. you’re smart to call the docs tomorrow morning. make it a priority, and don’t freak out. this is taper time anyway! and I’m sure your base is rock solid (mine wasn’t)

so, here’s the deal–go ahead and swim, but don’t do it excessively. remember, you could overtrain and end up with sore rotator cuffs. the pull bouy is a good idea-but again, don’t do more than a few sets, because it exculsively uses the shoulders. so, just go easy, that’s what I’m telling you. don’t try to get any big gains or “make up” for anything now because you will end up with more problems. and with the kick, just don’t kick alot and DO NOT do flip turns. just do an open turn and push off really really easy–no deep knee bend at all. do not do butterfly kick, breast kick, or any weird kick. just do a hardly existant kick–in other words…drag your feet behind. sometimes I put on long fins and just let my feet trail me. the fins keep my feet bouyant, and the stress on the shoulders is the same.

also, is deep water running an option for you? since I don’t know how hurt you are, I can’t answer this. but, if it doesn’t hurt, maybe gentle deep water running would be ok. talk about that with your doc.

anyway-my knee problem is not ITB related at all. I think alot of times people are quick to assume that’s what it is. mine is very tight hamstrings, and tight calves. this combination is trouble, and voila, knee pain.

also, don’t be afraid to ask your doc to go to therapy. something I regret is not going to therapy on the onset of my knee pain. the doc (he is a great one) didn’t think that stretching (or lack there of) was my problem. so, he prescribed meds, gave me a TENS unit (try your hardest to get one of these things from him), and sent me on. Finally I called my former physical therapist. he said come right in we can help you even though you’re just 3 days away. Well, going in helped tremedously. Had I gone in from the beginning my race day would have been much better. A good physical therapist should help you identify the root of the problem and enable you to address that root and correct it. Docs are great at diagnosis and medication, but often aren’t able to identify the root of the issue the way a phy. therp. can. (totally my opinion)

anyway, keep us posted. i think the best thing you can do right now is not freak out. my big problem is that I was undertrained in running and was so burned out. so, I was struggling way before the injury.

in the end, you’re going to be fine. call the doc, go to therapy, and you’ll get through race day. don’t even think that you won’t make it because you will. if I could, you could.

best~kittycat

16

I did swim today and yesterday (in a 50 m pool–less turns to deal with!) and did exactly what you said, KC. I meant to do some drills with my fins on, but that felt a little weird on the knee, so I just let them trail b/c you get a lift off them anyways (my extra long ones, not the zoomers. Can’t cheat as well with those!).

Knee oddly feels tight. I’ve been icing it, but it was stiff just from the 4 minutes or so I sat in the trainer while they adjusted my bike (I didnt’ want to go any longer than that). Pain is top of knee cap and on the side. Weird. One person in the shop suggested that my lack of orthotics for the past week might have contributed to the side problem and the top of the knee cap a result of the bad seat fitting (hopefully all who read this will learn a lesson about adjusting your own seat height. I had NO problems until I changed the seat on my own. let your LBS do it!).

I’m open to skipping the half, I just want to be sure to make a good decision. I do have a sprint the weekend after. :slight_smile: maybe there’s my answer!