The knee pain I mentioned yesterday quickly escalated after 1.5 hours of riding today. It started off being painful, and I thought maybe once my legs warmed up I would feel better. Wrong. It felt like someone was taking a hammer and driving a chisel into the top of my knee cap with every downstroke. It got so bad that I called Coach(Rick Crawford) and he advised me to have someone come pick me up. I was in the boonies, so I rode for about half an hour back into town and my mom came to my rescue. I was riding with one leg for awhile… the pain was very intense.
Game over for training today. Instead, I am continuing to ice the area, take anti-inflammatories, and will try to tape my kneecap to where it needs to be for my ride tomorrow.
Hopefully this helps… although the tape is not very elastic. Suggestions from any PTs out there?
My IT Band is pulling my knee cap to the outside of the knee and it is tracking weird. I am disappointed, but eh? What can do? Maybe my foot will heal a little bit today, not being crammed in a cycling shoe! 🙂
Dayum. Overuse from all the training?
Overuse and not enough massage! Errr… not any massage.
Kinesio tape is the best for taping and riding with. Take it easy; you don’t want to end up like me recovering from knee surgery to fix that ligament you are taping!!
Sonya,
I am a PTA NCMT and I am a soigneur for Gamin-Slipstream. I have worked with over 150 pro cyclists and Olympians from 12 different countries. I have worked on a few Mountain Bikers Gretchen Reeves..Geoff Kabush..Kashi Leuchs..Let me know if you need any work. I leave in a few days for training camp.
Sonya,
I am not a medical person but I had a similar problem a few years back – it got to where I had trouble going up and down stairs. The orthopod I went to prescribed leg extensions with light to moderate weight, toes pointed out, in the last third of the range of motion to strengthen the vastus medialus.
But, that doesn’t help for tomorrow. I woudl suggest an patella band http://www.midwestsports.com/product.asp?pn=31300300&sid=FROOGLE&EID=FR31300300&bhcd2=1231558144 You can usually pick them up about anywhere.
It won’t help forever but wearing one of these should get you through tomorrow – unless you can find someone to apply some kinesio tape to it.
Good luck, and I feel for you. That hurts plenty.
Thanks for all the tips everyone. Much appreciated! 😀
It sounds like a muscle imbalance I’ve had in the past. It was actually not too bad on easy long rides but killed me on more intense rides. I finally thought cycling was over for me.
Jon mentions similar to what the PT had me do although it sounds he may be talking about using a leg extension machine. My PT had me lay on my back on the floor, keep the leg straight but not locked back, foot rotated out about 45 degrees. He had me lift up 30 degrees and said more than that wouldn’t help and could cause problems. He said most people they don’t even use any weights. Since I’m muscular he had me use 20 lbs on the ankle but said never to go over that. I could tell a difference after a few days.
Using a foam roller on the IT may also help but if the knee cap is getting pulled out while you’re riding that may where all the pains coming from.
You’ve had your cleats fit-kitted, of course? Had to ask. Boulder is full of those options. Hope you fell better.
I used Kinesio tap quite a bit over the past year to support/relax my IT band. It’s awesome and stays on for a few days…even when you shower!
I had a PT tape it because it’s opposite of what you would think. The taping starts at the hip flexor and runs all the way down the leg towards where the IT band ends. That was for my inflamed IT band, the taping might be different for knee pain.
http://www.kinesiotaping.com
Hope it heals quickly!!!
PS. Another thing that can cause knee pain when you ride a lot is a tight VMO muscle….
Ahh chisel to the Kneecap, reminds me of my ACL reconstruction surgery…. Sounds like Reed could give you good advice, and checking your cleats position is a good too.
No advice accept to hang in there and take it easy. I hope your knee will come around and heal up properly.
Until then remember….wine is good 🙂
Lots of rest. Lots of ice. Lots of wine. 🙂
Bummer! I wish you the best in a quick and painfree recovery.
That’s no good. Get rest, lots of ice, and wow, what a leg!!!
Thanks guys, for all the info. Sounds like I need to get my hands on kinesiotape stat!! I’m going to try with athletic tape today, and I’ll get some of that good stuff when I get back to Boulder, and hopefully learn how to tape it all up too. You guys rock!
Youch! Take it easy there, girlie! I used LuekoTape and Kinesio tape with the McConnell taping technique. You have to buy the tape at a medical supply store though, can’t get it at a drug store, I don’t think. If you’re still in ABQ, there are a few in town. However, I’d see a knee specialist or a PT first though because there is different taping for different issues.
Get some Specialized BG Footbeds, they come in three models for different feet (insteps)… you stand on a special mat thing and the heat from your feet makes a template, match it to the footbed for your type of instep. They keep your knee straight in the pedal stroke, and they really work. As you know, I injured my knee about 6 weeks ago, and had pain on easy road rides for weeks, put in the footbeds, and first ride with them, no pain. My kee is recovering heaps better, it actually hurts less when riding than when not.