and it was AWESOME.
for the last 3 years, i have gone to cali to run that race. last year was the first year Jae ran it with me. so he had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand how bad my knees hurt when i run more than, oh maybe 2 miles or so. it's super fun. well, after last year, Jae informed me that i would not be running any more races until i got my knees checked out. so finally, almost a year later, i decided to do it already.
looky there - my lovely knees. no, there's nothing really to look at in my xrays. they're just xrays. didn't show anything exciting. but they informed me i probably have two things going on - IT band issues (which i was guessing was happening) and what they call 'patellofemoral pain'. aka knee pain haha. he explained that there are 3 muscles hooking onto the outside of the knee and only one going on the inside of the knee. when i'm running, those 3 on the outside are pulling my kneecap over to the side, and that's why i'm getting all the pain on the outer/bottom edge of my kneecap. and then i keep having the horrible pain, especially when i bend my knee, for a few days after while my kneecap is working it's way back in place.
so their recommendation? physical therapy.
they said they could do surgery, but it's only proved to be super helpful about 60% of the time. it's just kind of too unpredictable. they said they get the best results from just doing therapy and strengthening that inner muscle so it can hold my kneecap where it should be.
that being said, i start therapy this friday. fun fun! i hear the foam roller is something to be afraid of....
I had a super similar problem and had the surgery when i was in high school! My knee barely bothers me anymore! I really hope that your knee gets feeling better soon! :)
ReplyDeletethat's basically my problem... crooked knee caps! ha. I did physical therapy twice for it and it didn't work so I had the surgery. I probably could have tried harder with the physical therapy though... Surgery definitely sucked. They said I'd probably have to get the other knee done eventually... I refuse. It was tooooo painful.
ReplyDeletei am so glad you did go to the doctor, its nice to kind of just know whats causing the pain! i bet it would help a lot too (as far as the it band issue goes) to ice your knees after you run, which is what vince has to do with his after longer runs and it helps a lot! plus, making sure you really stretch helps too. hope the physical therapy works so you don't have to get surgery!
ReplyDeleteI have IT band issues too! You'll have to educate me on the types of exercises they have you do. I'd like to know. I hear that strengthening your booty helps too. weird.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they will have you do one leg squats. Foam roll everyday! It's awesome for you. I hope it fixes your problems! I as well am interested in what they do for you from a personal trainers perspective.
ReplyDelete