Runner's Knee Facts, Symptoms
Are you an avid runner who is experiencing chronic knee pain? If so, you may be dealing with patellofemoral pain syndrome. If this sounds like a foreign fossil name, how does runner’s knee sound? Pronunciation wise, I’m sure better, medically speaking, no better. Patellafemoral pain syndrome is the scientific name for a common complaint amongst the running community. They call it runner’s knee because quite frankly its not exactly a condition in itself. It sums up a multitude of knee disorders with different causes all centering around the kneecap.
But, the funny thing is about runner’s knee,which is much like golfer’s knee – although found in runner’s, the condition, as we will call it, doesn’t not only occur in runners. You are at risk for runner’s knee if you participate in any activity that requires a significant amount of bending at the knee’s, such as biking, jumping, or even walking.
Even if you consider yourself the perfect role model of an athlete who stretches daily and strength trains accordingly, you are still at risk for developing runner’s knee for various other reasons like direct trauma from an accident to the knee, or overuse. Continuously and repetitively bending can irritate the nerves in your kneecap. Something that is seemingly easy on the body, like bending down and picking up a baby constantly throughout the day, can put insurmountable pressure on the kneecaps, causing tendons to overstretch and cause pain.
Also, if any of your bones are even the slightest out of alignment, your body weight will not be evenly distributed through your body causing a lot of pain, and damage to your kneecaps and surrounding muscle and tendons.
Those who suffer from flat foot also run a high risk of developing this so called runners knee, mostly because the impact from running with no arch support creates an uncomfortable situation for the muscles and tendons down there.
As silly as this may sound, having weak thigh muscles also puts you at significant risk for knee disorders. The muscles in your legs are the foundation and support of your bone structure.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
Add a CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first one and get the conversation started!