Knee Issue

[mjhoole]

Hey, I've been running for almost 10 months and I made a lot of progress with my longest being 18K thrice. 10 days ago I ran in the rain and hurt my knee. I'd completed about 2.5 miles before it started hurting so I had to walk 2.5 miles to get home. The pain kind of faded away in a few days so I thought I'd run again but it only got worse and I had to pull off of my run 500m into it. After 6 days of rest I tried again yesterday and I lasted only a mile. I can walk just fine with little or no pain at all. Do you guys think that I should maybe get it checked up? I don't have a health insurance so I don't want to waste a ton of money if its just a minor issue. Kindly let me know your thoughts on this. Appreciated!

[grannyjudes Graduate]

no bright ideas from me, except good luck, I would hate not being able to run

[mjhoole in reply to grannyjudes]

Thanks. I need it

[misswobble Graduate]

It's hard to understand why you can walk but not run on it. I had this too for a few weeks but fortunately it just got better on its own. I took the view that if I could walk on it without pain then there was nothing too much wrong with it

If yours is seriously hurting when you run then you will have to seek advice if resting it is not working. Have you got good running shoes? I changed mine as I didn't think they were helping as they had no real support or structure to them.

[mjhoole]

I have a pretty good pair of shoes but they have about 250miles on them. I was anyway going to buy a new pair in July so I will go ahead and do that

I've asked a few medical student friends of mine..Will see how it goes. Seriously gutted that I can't run :/

[tanyag_163 Graduate in reply to mjhoole]

Recommended advice is to change your shoes every 200-400 miles depending on the type of running you do and other factors like your weight. Maybe a new pair of shoes will also help? Your current pair may no longer be giving you the necessary support.

[Tomas Graduate]

Sounds to me like you need it checked by a medical professional. You have tried the resting thing and apparently it didn't work. I know it sucks, but better to spend the money now, than wait until your knees are completely ruined.

[mjhoole in reply to Tomas]

I checked. It looks like a sprain and I am advised to treat it with RICE. I am supposed to go for another check up in a week's time. Thank you btw!

[Hidden]

Disclaimer - I am not a medical professional! However, my view is that if it hurts to run - don't run. If rest didn't work then I would strongly suggest you get it looked at by a professional. You don't say in your post, but if you slipped in the rain and hurt your knee you may have done some damage to ligaments - you should get it looked at ASAP. If you run through pain you may make things worse and really put yourself back...

It's a "pain" (pardon the pun) but I would much prefer to be safe than sorry and put any future running at risk. Please do let us know how you get on...

[mjhoole in reply to Hidden]

LOL. Puns are always good

I did not slip during the run but I exerted myself more during that run because I hadn't run that week-let the guilt overtake. I still walk about a mile everyday after school and I hope that doesn't affect my recovery. Thank you btw!

[ajwyld Graduate]

I have knee issues, but a checkup allowed me to work out how to best deal with them (in my case it was a referral to a podiatrist and custom insoles). If you don't get them checked now you only risk doing further damage and it will all get even more expensive... (You don't say where ou are in the world, but not having health insurance strikes me as a false economy)

[mjhoole in reply to ajwyld]

Haha I live in Michigan. Health Insurance for International Students is very expensive but would have come in handy in a situation like this

I checked. It looks like a sprain and I am advised to treat it with RICE. I am supposed to go for another check up in a week's time. Thank you btw!

[sprynn Graduate]

HI there. Poor you. I agree that you should have it checked out. It could be ITB syndrome which will not get better on its own - I had it for 4 years and gave up running, but a year ago decided to get it fixed - it took time but I am now running again pain free. It is it ITB syndrome - hurts on the outside of the knee after a few minutes of running, but fine when walking - then you may need physio and orthopaedic insoles to correct an over pronation. Then again it could be something else - knees are tricky so try and get referred to a knee/sports specialist if the doctor cannot immediately see what's wrong.

[mjhoole in reply to sprynn]

Wow. All the best

Hope mine isn't ITB syndrome. I will have to wait a week for a check up. Thank you again for your time!

[Be11adonna Graduate]

The general treatment for soft tissue injuries, like ligaments, etc (if that's what you have) is RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation).

I also suffered and knee injury recently (on the inside of each knee). Just like you I could walk fine but not even run 20m without being in a lot of pain.

I was prescribed Voltaren to rub into the affected area every night before I went to sleep and a whole bunch of exercises to strengthen my quads. They told me that applying the Voltaren before bedtime is better because you will be moving around less (because you'll be asleep), giving it a better chance to do its job.

I also took Ibuprofen 3 x a day in the beginning as this reduced inflammation and acted as a pain killer, but high doses like this are not recommended unless your dr has told you its ok.

Good luck, I hope you heal soon. I am so frustrated that I will not be able to run for at least another 5 weeks and will probably have to start C25K again from scratch.