Help! I have looked everywhere online and can’t seem to find anything that describes what I seem to have. Never had an issues with my knees and about two months ago my inner knee on my right leg (inner as in inner side of the leg, not inside) got really tight and sore. It’s right where the ropey bits of tendons (ligaments?) run down from your thigh into your knee - you can feel them jutting out when your knee is bent. It isn’t painful but just feels tight. I went to see a sports masseuse about it and he mentioned a build up and gave me a really painful massage but nope. Didn’t do anything at all. I thought it might have been my new sneakers so I stopped wearing them. I’ve not biked nor run for the past week and a half but nothing seems to make it better. I’ve been going easy on the running since about June so I don’t think it is running. I am just commuting to work on my bike so it isn’t like I’ve gone all out and injured myself. I don’t stretch as much as I should - been doing that recently though to see if it helps but nope, nothing. Anyone have any idea what this could be?
It doesn’t hurt when I’m biking, running, walking… But it is tight. I can feel it if I extend my leg or when I am going up and down stairs. If I touch my toes, I can feel it pulling. It doesn’t feel like a pulled or torn muscle. It just feels tight but no amount of stretching seems to solve it. I figured I’d check on here before heading to a doctor (not in a native English speaking country and I have a hard enough time trying to explain the issue in English let alone Japanese!) as someone here might have a clue.
Hey there
can you post a pic with a diagram on your leg of exactly where it pulls and 'juts out"? my initial instinct is Pes Anserinus bursitis (often missed and as a result of hamstring/quad/ITB imbalance but that’s anteromedially and just distal to the knee proper… often gets missed. however a pic would help some.
My first thought is that perhaps your ankles and knees are rolling inward when you stride. A shoe that has a good arch support/is built up - worn not only while training, but around the house - might help.
Thanks for the info. I looked this up online and the pictures of it are exactly the area that is causing this “pain” - it really isn’t painful per say but just tight. Sorry, the jutting out is just the ligaments (tendons?) and it does that for both legs - was more trying to describe where the problem is.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with it - online has suggested stretching, resting and “rehab” but doesn’t go into any details - or none that I found anyway. I have pretty strong hammies and quads but perhaps there is an imbalance? I do squats, lunges and dead-lifts one to two times a week and have never had this before. It just seemed to come out of nowhere which I can’t explain.
not sure if this is what’s going on with you, but when I have that issue it usually means I have been slacking on my ITB stretches (ITB stretch as in you cross the affected leg on top of each other and do a one-legged squat (kinda) with the other leg at the same time)
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there’s a couple of things you can do easily to alleviate this.
Firstly do an infusion overnight for up to 3 nights with an anti-inflammatory gel (eg diclofenac sodium) that you can buy at the pharmacy. put a blob of the gel on the inflamed area and cover it in plastic wrap and tape it down (like sealing the gel in like a blister) and leave it overnight. Then in the morning wash it off. It might make your skin flake a bit but shouldn’t be harmful unless you have allergies. That will help initially. Then for longer term management you need to stretch your adductors and hamstrings.
Stretch your adductors by side lunging stretches… eg if you’re stretching your right adductor you place your legs apart in a side lunge position and lean to the left with your right leg straight and then you should stretch in a variety of positions to target the whole adductor and hamstrings groups… move the straight leg 30, 45, 60 degrees to the front, until your leg is forwards and you are in a standing hamstring stretch pose.hold each stretch for 2 minutes (you need fibre lengthening, not just a short elastic response 20sec stretch) and release each gently. they should be firm but not painful to hold and do them 2-3 times per day. let us know how it feels in a week or so… good luck
Thank you!! Been stretching a whole heck of a lot the last two days and will continue to do so and let you know how it goes!! Hopefully I can avoid a trip to the doctor’s with this! Thanks!
Wow this is exactly what is happening to me that just took me out of IM Coz with 2 weeks left before the race. Ended up so flared that it made my ITB flared. Seems to start medially then progresses to the ITB. I’ve taken it easy for 5 weeks and not better will look into all of your suggestions as well. OP keep us updated!
No running or biking for the last week. Stretching every few hours and feeling much better. Going to give it another week and then hopfefully slowly get back into things. Been crappy as I’ve got a half in February and well, I’m not a runner so need to be out there!
Hope yours is feeling better. And yep, one day it just came out of no where!
Nope. I asked at a few places here and got strange looks so I gave up on that and have been stretching and icing. Feeling better and frankly, don’t want to go to a doctor about it as I find many of them here are horrible so… Slowtwitch to the rescue!
In Aus it’s Voltaren too but we can also buy the generic stuff which is pharmacies home-brands. it’s the same stuff only cheaper. In my experience, the US may be different as when i needed some in Canada (skiing stupidity related issue) the doc mixed some up for me that was stronger than the over-the-counter stuff. But if Jimruns says you can get it in Canada then you should be able to source some where-ever you are. The active ingredient is diclofenac sodium. If you can’t get it, try some nurofen gel - same concept, different chemical but still non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.
Glad it’s starting to feel better though. I’d avoid the doc if you can, and if you need more local treatment like some therapeutic ultrasound or massage, see a sports physio (also i know that physio in Aus doesn’t always equal physical therapist in the US but they should be able to do something).
Hope it keeps improving
Still stretching, still improving. Not 100%. I did a few deadlifts the other day and well, woke up to it bugging me. Weeks off of biking and running… Mooooooo!!! It’s amazing how doing nothing makes you lazy - or has made me lazy. I’m still lifting but no cardio hasn’t been fun. I fear I may get used to sitting on my butt and doing nothing…
I was just responding to the OP…didn’t even read your post first… Probably shoudl read other responses before writing one but I have the lazy