Knee tendon pain -- Any Advice.

[TimDanaher]

I managed to strain the suture / insertion between my kneecap and the lower patellar tendon, and I just haven't been able to shake it since. It's better than it was, but I've got to be really careful not to overdo it (about 250 Watts at 53x19 in 5-minute bursts on the turbot is about as much as I can manage without it starting to twinge.)

Now I did this last bloody November.

I've tried stopping for six weeks, alternate heat pack / cold pack, wearing an elastic support (which I find hurts the tendons behind my knee), making sure I massage it after the turbo sessions. But it's still there, niggling. Last time I went out I turned back after 20 km after hitting the hill (there's only one around here) and I could feel it tugging.

Any advice, experiences, etc.

 

[Cromcruaich]

Guess people be pretty reluctant to give specific advice, however knee injuries take ages to heal. I've had one for over a year, had physiotherapy (which I believe was of very limited use) and suspect it will be with me all my life now.

Dont push it to hard and rest, with these injuries if it hurts you have to stop - its not like muscle training. In fact if its hurting significantly then youve already gone too far. It's like picking a scab, if you keep at it, it will never heal! Recovery time for tendons is in months and months not weeks.

The issue then is, if the injury has happened once, then just doing the same stuff again is going to result in the same thing happening - only worse and more likely - so you have to take other steps to stop it reoccuring - you have to address the initial problem effectively - it's beyond my knowledge to comment on what that might involve.

Last time I went out I turned back after 20 km after hitting the hill (there's only one around here) and I could feel it tugging.

Would count your blessing that its not so bad that you can still do the above.

 

[MartinC]

+1

Getting some medical help or physio advice may help.

Worth a try too are some food supplements to help joint tissue - Glucosamine Sulphate, Chrondoitrin, Celadrin. These are a long term aid and might help you heal and avoid it happening again.

Rubbing in some Green Lipped Mussel extract cream (Pernaton?) may help too.

Check your cleat and saddle position too.

Hope it gets better.

 

[barq]

If you can see a physio who knows about cycling then they may be of more help. I resisted going private for ages hoping my GP would refer me. In the end someone pointed out that spending thousands on bikes but refusing £45 for an appointment was pretty dumb. Four years on I still have to do the exercises I was shown - if I don't I get pain. But that seems like a reasonable fix to me.

Good luck with your knee.