Did some searching and didn’t see people having the same issues I’ve got. After getting bounced around from doctors, I found the following.
I’m bow legged, I supinate, I was running in pronation shoes aggravating it all. Got diagnosed with ITBS, got a cortisone shot, PT, and anti-inflamitory. Got new shoes (Brooks Ghost) and started running on the treadmill.
5 minutes into the run both knees started hurting below the knee cap and to the lateral side. Pain is in both of them. It’s an aching pain, but the knee feels like it’s going to give out too. Did ice and tried again 3 days later. Made it 7 minutes and same problem. 4 days later I tried 10 minutes and I’ve been in pain since. Hurts when I squat or walk up steps. Sometimes the top/bottom of the knee cap hurts too. Tried riding but the knee felt unstable (loose is how I’d call it). I didn’t hear anything tear or pop. I can walk around fine, but if I start even doing a little jog, I feel it.
You have way too much going on here.
First things first: Recover. Do ice and NSAIDs (my drug of choice is Aleve or its generic).
Give it some time off.
THEN: Go fix your problems
#1: Go to a GOOD running store and have them evaluate and recommend shoes
#2: If it is ITBS (something I am far too familiar with) get therapy and get it under control
#3: Ramp up VERY SLOWLY.
Sounds like now you have a classic case of “runner’s knee”, but as I’ve told a few people
recently the knee is such a CF of a joint you need to be talking to competent professionals.
IMO. IANAD.
-Jot
Let me clarify…
I’ve seen an ortho and PT. Both are well respected and are more the competent. Knees were bad after a race and the shot was to help with that. PT discharged me and said my ITBS was no longer an issue if I stay on top of it. this was after doing tests, etc. I was able to ride afterward no problem.
I talked to my orth and PT about shoes first, then I went to a “good” running store. Got evaluated and found the shoes that felt best for me. I’ve got a checkup in two weeks with the orth and will be raising these issues to him. I’m also taking diclofenac sodium.
Honestly, i would vote you need to see a sports medicine doc.
Cortisone for ITBS doesn’t make sense to me. That fascia is huge!
Sounds like you are doing the right things, and diagnosis by incompetent people
(like me) on the internet aren’t going to help a lot. 
Voltaren appears to be a prescription, NSAID, so ok.
Riding has never been a problem for my IT. Running is a constant battle.
-Jot
ditto on seeing a sports medicine doctor.
FWIW, I had the same issue when I first started running again a few years back.
Pain was in the same spots you describe & i had similar pains that started after 15 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 5…until I couldn’t run at all.
I went to 3 dif docs who all had a variety of treatments, surgery, shots in mind.
I finally went to a sports med doc who took a look at me and made me stop running for 12 weeks.
He then had me start running again for 10 minutes at a time, increasing 15% every week.
Never had a problem again.
Essentially, I had put too much stress onto my knees too quickly.
good luck.
Cortisone shot in 1 or both knees? Where was the shot given exactly?
Do both knees feel unstable?
Instability always makes me think of ACL tears (almost always from trauma) and mensical tears (can be without trauma) - both would be very odd to happen in both knees at the same time…
Is either knee swollen at all?
Is your patellar tendon tender when you kneel on a hard surface?
“Below the knee cap and to the lateral side” = how far lateral (lateral side of patellar tendon or over by the fibular head??) and how far below the knee cap?
Squat pain/stair pain = common with patellar tendonitis and meniscal tears in addition to others.
Good luck.
Dave
Hey Dave,
Both knees. The flare up was due to a run (it hit me like a brick). The shot was to help the healing from that.
I did have pain on the fibular head that no one could diagnose. Time and stretching seems to have made it heal. The pain is to the side of the tendon and just below the knee cap. I’m curious about the meniscus tear as another doc thought I may have done it, but wasn’t sure (and didn’t treat it) because it seemed to be triggered by something else.
thanks,
Ian
Ian,
Can you go through my list of questions and answer each one. I still have no idea if you had shots in 1 knee or both - was it into the knee joint or at the ITB insertion or where??? Swelling? Pain on the side of the tendon or just to the side of the tendon? You need to be more specific :).
I still think both sides hitting at once is odd for everything though :).
Dave
The ‘loose’ sensation in your knees sounds worrisome. Have you had an MRI done to check your ligaments as well as cartilage?
Only if you are from Mammoth, CA and will treck down to Bishop and get me an apple fritter at Schat’s
Cortisone shot in 1 or both knees? Where was the shot given exactly? Both Knees. Latteral side at the boney point where the IT Band goes over. I’m bow legged and supinate, so it did a lot of rubbing there.
Do both knees feel unstable? Yes they do at the same spots. Mostly below the knee cap. See below for the areas of pain/unstable.
Instability always makes me think of ACL tears (almost always from trauma) and mensical tears (can be without trauma) - both would be very odd to happen in both knees at the same time…
Is either knee swollen at all? I’ve got a spot there that is soft. I say it’s kind of swollen, but my wife says no. It’s at the locations where I have pain and the weakness. When i flex my knees out, it’s non-existent.
Is your patellar tendon tender when you kneel on a hard surface? The right is, but when I get up, both knees “inside” the cap felt pain when I got up from the pressure.
“Below the knee cap and to the lateral side” = how far lateral (lateral side of patellar tendon or over by the fibular head??) and how far below the knee cap? Pretty much starting from the medial side of the patellar tendon until the end of the tibia, not all the way to the fibula.
Squat pain/stair pain = common with patellar tendonitis and meniscal tears in addition to others.
I’m thinking patellar tendonosis then…
I have it on 1 knee - it is swollen just at the inferior edge of the knee cap. Mine is very localized just medial of midline and covers about the size of a nickel. Now that I think of it - my knee would feel sl. unstable when I’d go downstairs. Its not a joint instability - more I think proprioception of the patellar tendon being off and the knee would think about buckling on me. It never did - it just warned me :).
I can easily find a money spot when I dig into my tendon with my thumb (do this with knees extended and muscles relaxed). It can occur in both knees.
I almost never drive all the way to Bishop :). Plus food tastes better when you travel - you should come up and do some altitude training (and get your fritter) though the weather won’t improve until after your IM.
Dave