Knee pain - why?

[pepecat]

So, I cycled a lot last year, didn't really have any hassles with knees etc. I don't currently ride clipless (have all the bits / shoes but haven't made the change yet). I haven't changed my bike set up one millimetre since last year, but after Tueday's ride I have left knee (under the kneecap pain). I didn't have any pain whilst cycling, it was Tues evening and yesterday it's been sore when walking on it. Weight bearing too much seems to be the problem - walking round the house is fine, but after a few minutes it starts to hurt (sharp pain), and i can feel a dull ache under it all the time.

I get that cyclists have knee problems due to incorrect set up on the bike, but that's usually for new cyclists, isn't it? What's weird is that last year my knee was fine, no changes to the bike, and now i have a sore knee!!
Any ideas why?

 

[montage]

sounds similar to what I had, a misaligned kneecap. Sometimes this can be easy to cure, sometimes not, as there are a fair few causes. Start a heavy stretching routine, paying attention to iliotibial band and the hamstrings as these can both pull on the kneecap. If it isn't stretching, you're looking at a possible muscle imbalance which takes time, but is pretty easy, to rehabilitate. If tightness or imbalance aren't the answers it's a surgery job, but you'll be unlucky if thats the case.

Definately get yourself down to the doctors straight away - say you been resting it for 4 weeks or so already so that he refers you to a physio sooner. If you can get an appointment with a knee surgeon, they really do know everything there is to know about knees, far more than a physio.

Don't ride on it whilst it hurts! If it is a misaligned patella then you'll just cause damage to the cartilage underneath if you do too much.


My betting would be muscle imbalance, as a slightly wrongly set up bike can take it's time to cause niggles....but over the internet, it's anybody's guess.

Fingers crossed you'll be fine....even if you do need surgery it isn't major - I had mine last summer, and now I'm sprinting faster than ever

 

[pepecat]

Thanks montage, though that does all sound a bit scary!........ Knee seems to be ok today (after an hour and a half hoovering and cleaning!!) so I'm going to go out again soon and see what happens. If it keeps recurring then i'll take a trip to the gp, if not, think i'll just put it down to a one off and carry on.

 

[zoxed]

Was your Tuesday ride the first of the year, or was it your usual distance/tempo ? (I have problems when I increase either too fast !!
Also, although *you* may not have adjusted the bike, it could have happened by accident: e.g. bike gets knocked over parked at work, pedal axle bent but someone picks it up again and you do not notice it. Or a twisted saddle ? Or a loose saddle bolt, ride over pothole => saddle slides down a little ?