Painful knees, can anyone help?

[ushills]

You've got chondromalacia patallae, read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae

I've had it quite badly from sitting too far back when skiing. It will go away eventually, but make sure your saddle is set at the right height, i.e. not too low.

Now cancel the appointment and send me the consultancy fee in beer tokens.

+1, Patellofemoral pain. I have the same thing, due to muscles in upper legs not working equally. I get it in my left leg and can feel the inflammation and fluid squirting around kneecap. Physio noticed I overpronate and gave me a small rugby ball to squeeze between legs to work on my inner muscles. I find walking helps and cycling make it worse unless I really concentrate on using inner leg muscles when pedalling.

Again ultrasound and x-rays with me showed no cartlidge damage but it hurts on a regular basis.

 

[Lizzie]

You've got chondromalacia patallae, read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae

I've had it quite badly from sitting too far back when skiing. It will go away eventually, but make sure your saddle is set at the right height, i.e. not too low.

Now cancel the appointment and send me the consultancy fee in beer tokens.

did you also have a load of crunchy sound effects?? My cocktail of fish oil and glucosamine seems to have helped a lot, thanks for the advice on my pedals, my legs aren't particularly short I don't think but I'll check!

 

[Baggy]

I've recently been suffering from crunchy sound effects from a patella problem - but after being referred to physio by my GP have managed to sort things out. One of the exercises they recommended was squats...which I hated doing in the past as they made my knee crunch more, and hurt.

As it turns out I'd been doing them wrong before, bringing the knee too far forwards, and now I've done them properly it's made a real diffreence to the strength of my knees and hips.

As said above, check out your bike position etc, but do get checked out by a physio, too.

 

[snailracer]

did you also have a load of crunchy sound effects?? My cocktail of fish oil and glucosamine seems to have helped a lot, thanks for the advice on my pedals, my legs aren't particularly short I don't think but I'll check!

Yep, crunchy, since I was 13 when I damaged them playing too much football

 

[snailracer]

did you also have a load of crunchy sound effects?? My cocktail of fish oil and glucosamine seems to have helped a lot, thanks for the advice on my pedals, my legs aren't particularly short I don't think but I'll check!

Here's a guide, with some useful suggestions on measuring leg length accurately:

http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/cranks.html

 

[italiafirenze]

Here's a guide, with some useful suggestions on measuring leg length accurately:

http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/cranks.html

Just to veer off topic slightly but I would try adjusting your saddle fore/aft before changing your crankset.

Your cleats and saddle should be positioned to give your knee the perfect position over the pedal when your lower leg is perpendicular to the crank

 

[KateK]

I had sharp pain below my kneecap after a period of being in hospital, really bad to walk, climb stairs. I saw a physio who said basically the weak muscles were not holding the joint in place properly ...I am pretty flexible so there tends to be movement and yes, I have very crunchy joints (too many mountains and being hit by a cycling tourist who went right through a red light at high speed) . Cycling was OK but when I got off it hurt again. She gave me exercises and I started cycling but didn't increase distances or do much uphill until I built up muscle strength. They have definitely got better although I come downstairs like a duck in the mornings.!