knee tendonitis

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BarryTas
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knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:17 am

I have developed tendonitis in my right knee

not happy

has anyone else had this?
when do we stop for coffee???

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wheels46
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby wheels46 » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:28 am

Timely post because it's (I think) flaring up in my left knee... doesn't trouble me whilst riding. Tends to be a stabbing pain when I clip my foot into the pedal.

Treating it with ice post ride and maybe a bit of heat when I'm sitting at the computer desk etc.

Agree Barry... it's annoying.

BarryTas
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:43 am

mr physio man said.... "stretch, ice, rest, stay at home and annoy your wife and no exercise till your physio says so. Oh and legs are uneven"

physios are always full of bad news and just pick pick pick
when do we stop for coffee???

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wheels46
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby wheels46 » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:49 am

Ummm yep... they are always going to tell you what you really don't want to know/hear. :?

BarryTas
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:52 am

he was very gruff but funny, like an Australian dad
when do we stop for coffee???

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foo on patrol
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby foo on patrol » Fri Sep 02, 2011 7:49 pm

The only way you will even look like getting rid of it will be, to stay off the bike until things are right. :|

I rode close to 1000ks with sever tendonitis up the front of my right leg and had to get off the bike for six months, but the damage was already done. :( I know get bouts of shin splints in this leg as a result. :twisted: I was doing a charity ride From Ipswich to Cairns for cancer research, so there wasn't a hope in hell, of me pulling out. :)

Massage and painkillers will help, do the right thing and let it heal up first. :wink:

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zephy
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby zephy » Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:04 am

was there any mention of alternative exercise? walking, swimming etc

When knee trouble stuck me I found daily walking (exercise walking, rather then just everyday walking) and staying off the bike for a period worked well.... not sure if you race etc but it is just about fitness for me so YMMV
Just an ol' man, riding an ol' bike.... every hill feels like Alpe d'Heuz....

GraemeL
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby GraemeL » Sat Sep 03, 2011 12:38 pm

I would assume other forms of excersise would help. What about bike setup? would it be of any benfit to check foot and cleat positions etc?

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BarryTas
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:11 am

my knee had a dull ache for a few months while using the spin bikes. The i decided to take up running. I did 3, 8-10 km runs in a week and it blew my knee out.

no exercise till the physio says so :( i should be right within a week
when do we stop for coffee???

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Schmenz
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby Schmenz » Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:12 pm

I have just discovered this. Been riding a month now, and my right knee is screaming on every pedal stroke. We played with my cleat position, then I rode 80kms and discovered the pain the next day.

Rest, Ice are pretty much the only thing you can do.

The other big help is looking at the quads, hamstrings and ITBs and seeing which is stong and weak and which is causing the excessive pulling.

The knee can have pain in several areas, so identifying which tendon is inflamed and what is causing the problem also helps.

I'm in the same position as the rider above and am doing a charity event, so stopping training isn't an option, as I have only got a 3 month build up to start with!

Lots of treatment on it and a bikefit in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping it will go away.

(After some severe releasing of my ITB it is feeling better).
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scotto
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby scotto » Mon Sep 12, 2011 2:13 pm

you need a firmer diagnosis. tendonitis tells me nothing.
theres a lot to go wrong with the knee and cycling.
where and when does it hurt ?
what part of your cycling aggrivates it ?
etc etc

BarryTas
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:12 pm

scotto wrote:you need a firmer diagnosis. tendonitis tells me nothing.
theres a lot to go wrong with the knee and cycling.
where and when does it hurt ?
what part of your cycling aggrivates it ?
etc etc
under the knee cap and to the right of the knee cap.........right knee
when do we stop for coffee???

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scotto
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knee tendonitis

Postby scotto » Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:07 pm

Now we're getting somewhere. Patella femoral pain or itb (runners knee) are most likely causes. Google itb stretching and start. Ice immediately after riding, keep load on knee to a minimum ie avoid hills and keep cadence highish

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Schmenz
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby Schmenz » Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:54 am

if you are feeling it under the kneecap or around the right joint line i would also add the possibility of meniscal damage / inflammation to itb.

get onto the foam roller for the itb asap and avoid long rides and hills for a couple of weeks.

id also get your bike fit checked. if the pain is still present see a health professional and they can refer you for imaging of the knee.
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BarryTas
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:56 pm

scotto wrote:Now we're getting somewhere. Patella femoral pain or itb (runners knee) are most likely causes. Google itb stretching and start. Ice immediately after riding, keep load on knee to a minimum ie avoid hills and keep cadence highish

hmm i've had ITB problems before but on the left side. It felt like my ITB was pulling my knee cap around to the outside of the leg

my knee is nearly back to normal, but it does hurt more going up hill and i have been using a higher cadence.

the phsyio pointed out and was correct that my toes point out
when do we stop for coffee???

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JamesA
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby JamesA » Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:14 pm

Barry, I'm with Scotto, that doesn't sound like much of a diagnosis, nor does it sound like much of a plan to get you back on your bike. Is this guy a sports physio, or does he primarily do back injuries/return to work kind of stuff?

Your symptoms sound similar to my patello-femoral pain syndrome that flared up in late July (read my post in this thread). My physio has been treating it by:

(a) massaging the area;
(b) prescribing stretching and strengthening exercises; and
(c) taping my knee so I can ride.

After a few weeks, he taught me to tape it myself, more strengthening exercises. Doing 50km from Seven Mile Beach to Richmond and back tomorrow, weather permitting (no big hills, but I've only been doing Granton or Bonnet for the last 4-5 weeks). I now have permission from him to start riding Strickland again, providing I keep my cadence high.

As mentioned in the other thread, my physio (who is also a cyclist) has been awesome and keeping me on the bike while being treated. I have no idea if you have the same condition as me or ITB syndrome or something else, but I would consider getting a second opinion. If you want to give my guy a go, his name is John Kingston at Revive in Glenorchy.

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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby JamesA » Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:18 pm

BarryTas wrote:It felt like my ITB was pulling my knee cap around to the outside of the leg
Oh, and this sounds like exactly what happened to me. My vastus medialis wasn't working properly, so the vastus lateralis and itb are pulling the kneecap to the outside of the knee, where the back of the kneecap is rubbing on the femur bone and getting inflamed. The idea is to strengthen the medialis muscle so it pulls the kneecap back into position (as I understand it).

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Schmenz
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby Schmenz » Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:46 am

Also look at the pelvis. Why was the vm inhibited? What about your glutes are they firing? Quads and glutes can be inhibited it the pelvis isn't functioning properly.

Strengthen the vm but also find out why it wasnt doing it's job in the first place. :)
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BarryTas
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby BarryTas » Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:13 am

Thanks guys,

with the help from my sports physio.......he has 20 years experience

icing
stretching
massage
lunges and step ups to help balance out my legs
slight cleat adjustment

i am back to 90% on the bike, i did 130 kms (AT) over 30kms per hour on saturday
when do we stop for coffee???

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dynamictiger
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby dynamictiger » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:20 pm

Interesting post.

I didn't get my tendonitis from riding a bike. Rather I got mine from claimbing tracks called Billy Goat and similar carrying a pack that was as heavy as I was when I was younger and thought I was invincible.

This plagued me on and off for years, often causing severe limps etc to the point I could not sustain exercise for any period of time. To add to this issue I am larger build and was carrying extra weight as well.

Last week I bought my first road bike...and first bike in over 30 years. As I am no longer concerned by my knee.

The following is the fix I found with some help.

The physio I went to when I broke my finger was ...uhmm..word meaning not very good at the public hospital. So I decided to go private. As I look after the pools for several physio shops I called a few of the bosses and asked who they would recommend me too. Eventually one refered me to a canadian lady that was an independant contractor to one of his shops. This lady was in her mid 60's.

In amongst the finger therapy which was extremely painful, I happened to arrive one day with my limp and knee blowing up. She felt about a little and said you have tendonitis and to fix it I want you to lay on your back with your heels together, tilt the foot of the leg playing up away from centre by 45 degrees (or more) and lift the leg following the direction of teh foot. I want you to do this every day at least 30 times.

I did this for a while.

I decided I would like to loose some weight so I joined a gym and started a diet. On joining the gym the lady I did my assesment with asked me to show her the pyshio exercise which I did. The lady built the exercise into the gym circuit she made for me. I started this.

Shortly after I joined a spin class.

My knee has stopped playing up and bike riding was a number one issue for me until I went through this exercise. My understanding is that the inner leg quad muscles are stabilising my knee and this is assisting in shifting the load from the tendons and thus reduce tendonitis.

Hope someone else finds this helpful.

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sumgy
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Re: knee tendonitis

Postby sumgy » Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:20 am

My experience with ITB issues.
I had a cycling related injury that flared up about 2 years ago.
Symptoms were intermittent pain on the outside of my right knee along with ongoing pain in the right hip.
This then led to a tight pulling sensation around the side of the right hip and radiating up to the middle of my back.
I went to several Physio's and a muscular skeletal specialist who all prescribed a foam roller and stretches with no result.
Recently I discovered Steve Hogg's blog and started working through it.
I also contacted Steve to discuss my situation and he indicated that it was possible that my saddle was too high but that I also needed to see a Chiro and Masseuse regarding the injuries.
Between Steve and these guys we identified that I had tight ITB (knee and hip), QL, TFL, Psoas and SI joint on the right side.
At the same time I have dropped my saddle in line with Steve's method on his blog by 15mm, adjusted my setback, added decent inner soles to my shoes and changed to Speedplays.
I am now riding pain free.

IMO there is no sense in treating the result of your injury.
You need to find the cause and fix that.
Otherwise you will have a continual spiral of re-injury.


If you are interested, read Steve's Blog in this order:

The right side bias
Seat Height, how hard can it be
Seat set back for road bikes
Addendum to road pedals, which are best
Power to the Pedal - Cleat Position
Foot Correction Part 1

Also read "Perspectives on Fitting".

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