Developed some bad knee pain on the outside of my right knee over the weekend. Only seems to be bad after riding for about 50k and whilst is painful on weight bearing after riding this only seems to last about an hour after some ibuprofen.
I'm fairly sure it's my lateral collateral ligament causing it - IT band seems less likely as the pains very specifically confined to a small area on the outside of my knee when repeatedly flexing and extending the knee - IT band is quite long so would expect the pain to travel a bit further if it was that. No obvious swelling in the knee itself. No precipitating trauma or injury I can think of, just started on Saturday on a 200 audax.
Has anyone had any lateral collateral injuries before and know of any exercises or techniques to strengthen the muscles around it to stop this happening? I'm hesitant to spend loads of money on a physio if they're just going to tell me what I already know and give POLICE and NSAIDs as advice...
Rest and gentle rehabilitation in the short and medium term.
Worth seeing a physio for assessment and possible corrective exercises if it's a recurrent problem in the longer term.
I wouldn't worry too much if it's come on suddenly and nothing has 'changed' - i.e. no trauma, no change of bike.
I've had sudden on-set pain in the knee before, and it's usually down to sleeping 'funny' - earlier last year, woke with a sore knee - stupidly carried on with it, walked up Snowdon, carried on cycling to work, then went to stay at a mates house for 'riding and beers'. Struggling to walk to the local pub on the first night, then couldn't put any power down through my knee during the first day's riding. Literally couldn't ride on day two. Rested it for a week and it healed. It's not come back.
I also have to watch how I sleep generally - sometimes I'll cross my feet and end up with my heel pinching the nerves on the top of the other foot - this is so painful by the time I'm awake, and takes days to recover.
Thanks - I now have "what does the fox say" stuck in my head.
♪ ♫ Knee goes pop, leg goes crack, gotbike goes ow ow ow ♫ ♪
...Sorry I have nothing useful to add 🦊
You need a physio assessment IMO. IT band issues can lead to very focused pain. MRs TJ had all the symptoms of a torn meniscus. Turned out to be a tight IT band causing the kneecap to track crookedly and causing the focused pain and clicking. A week with a foam roller and the pain went away never to return
My understanding is that cycling can give rise to tight IT bands
Fair enough TJ, thanks for that. If it turns out to be something as simple as that it'll be well worth the money!
Can anyone recommend a good sports physio in Sheffield?
I would go to a decent physio and get defined if its more than one off, i had something similar, pain on outside of left knee after rides, sore and uncomfortable to walk after ride and then ignored it for 18months thinking I'd pulled something and it would sort itself out then soft pedalled that leg without real realising then I'd developed patellar formal pain syndrome, or "runners knee" ie kneecap pulled out of alignment due to a weakness somewhere and now have a pretty detailed series of exercises to resolve as in my case it was actually caused by a weakness in my glutes and tight hamstrings, hip flexors etc all normal cycling/desk jockey related weaknesses even though I'm a black belt in my middle-aged pilates session I've been doing for 3 yrs! Thought it was IT band issue at first but not that.
I wish i'd seen a physio as soon as it appeared and it would have been easier to resolve. This is harder the older one gets too so is a constant reminder to me now! :-))
