Frustrating and puzzling knee

In August I overdid it and inflamed my Patella tendon so badly I couldn't walk. I've been having physio and doing a stepping down exercise to get my knee running straight. Things were going well and I'd got back to running 20 minutes every other day or so. About a fortnight ago I developed sciatica which is now easing but it is now extremely painful to bend the knee so much so that putting socks on is a trial. I went for a little jogette yesterday and had a popping kind of pain behind the knee, It also feels a bit unstable and has swelling above it. My physio just seems puzzled. Seeing the Doc on Wednesday but would welcome any ideas.

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Originally Posted by Henry Porter

In August I overdid it and inflamed my Patella tendon so badly I couldn't walk. I've been having physio and doing a stepping down exercise to get my knee running straight. Things were going well and I'd got back to running 20 minutes every other day or so. About a fortnight ago I developed sciatica which is now easing but it is now extremely painful to bend the knee so much so that putting socks on is a trial. I went for a little jogette yesterday and had a popping kind of pain behind the knee, It also feels a bit unstable and has swelling above it. My physio just seems puzzled. Seeing the Doc on Wednesday but would welcome any ideas.

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There's quite a lot of soft tissue stuff happening around the knee so you need to get it looked at and diagnosed. Some possible options would be bursitis, ligament damage, torn muscle. Hard to guess without a full history fo you and what occured. At what point your stride did you feel the pop? What has the physio had you doing? I'd definitely recommend seeing someone who specialises in running so if that's not yr physio you should find someone else. They shouldn't be puzzled by what's happened!

Thanks for your response. My physio is a specialist sports physio and I have been impressed by their hands on approach. Also the original thing I was presenting with is pretty much sorted. Mind it has cost a fair bit. I've been injured for about a year now(with different but linked bits) and at my age (53) I beginning to think this bit of my life is over.

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Originally Posted by Henry Porter

Thanks for your response. My physio is a specialist sports physio and I have been impressed by their hands on approach. Also the original thing I was presenting with is pretty much sorted. Mind it has cost a fair bit. I've been injured for about a year now(with different but linked bits) and at my age (53) I beginning to think this bit of my life is over.

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sounds like yr physio knows what they're doing. cost is always an issue, just think about a comparison with costs for keeping a car on the road! good luck with finding out what the issue is now, unfortunately the body isn't as easy to solve like a car because we're not made of component parts that can be easily replaced, the interconnections through the body are very complicated!

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Originally Posted by Henry Porter

I went for a little jogette yesterday and had a popping kind of pain behind the knee, It also feels a bit unstable and has swelling above it. My physio just seems puzzled. Seeing the Doc on Wednesday but would welcome any ideas.

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I used to get popping in my knee and pain coming from under the kneecap, combined with pain above around the quadriceps tendon and swelling generally around the kneecap. It turned out to be bad kneecap tracking, but it is rather difficult to nail down unless your physio is top notch i found out. Ask a medical professional to see if you have a Plica remaining on the bad knee, if you do that's one more thing we have in common.

Thanks Mr brightside, very helpful and you are right there is a tracking issue but being a fool I overdid the exercise to fix it and made things worse! I know you had a long period off; are you back at it? If so what made the difference/ any tips?

I've seen my doctor (rather a good fell runner) and have decided to have the medical bit running alongside the physio and see what happens although they are to some extent in opposition- the doc says Ibuprofen 3X a day and the physio says they get in the way of healing.

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Originally Posted by Henry Porter

Thanks Mr brightside, very helpful and you are right there is a tracking issue but being a fool I overdid the exercise to fix it and made things worse! I know you had a long period off; are you back at it? If so what made the difference/ any tips?

I've seen my doctor (rather a good fell runner) and have decided to have the medical bit running alongside the physio and see what happens although they are to some extent in opposition- the doc says Ibuprofen 3X a day and the physio says they get in the way of healing.

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My rehab program is still ongoing and began in February of this year. The biggest help has been taping my patella over to correct the tracking problem. Improving the recruitment of the VMO has been part of the rehab as this helps to push the patella over; initially this caused straining in the attatchment near to the patella but this was a simple problem to manage and phase out. Patella mobilisation was another big focus along with a lot of advanced stretches. I also didn't run, cycle or do very much at all for the first 6 months of the program, the rest was vital to allow repair processes and to allow physiological changes to take place i think. I'd spent years trying to run through it and went through thick and thin, it just slowly got worse and worse.

Without tape on my knee i still get problems, but i've had to come around to the idea that my biomechanics are that shaky that it'll never be right dispite having the benefit of a seriously good physio. It's still early days and i pray the problem will wither away year on year, but the best i can realistically hope for is 10 miles in one go and no more.

Some of us aren't built to run like others and there is a limit to what current techniques can achieve, but keep going with it as there aren't many of us that are as unfixable as i've turned out to be.

Thanks, sorry to hear it has been so difficult. Mind if you are not racing regular five mile loops of the likes of High Rigg or Souther Fell would be enough to keep me sane. All the best. Mark.