Inside Knee Pain When Running

Why You Have Inside Knee Pain After Running

When it comes to keeping your body strong and healthy, youre encouraged to eat well, get adequate sleep, and, of course, exercise regularly. But this is a lot easier said than done when youre experiencing ongoing pain.

Knee pain can be excruciating, making even the lightest workouts difficult. But what exactly is causing this pain? And are there ways to relieve it and get back to living actively without pain?

In this blog, well cover:

• How to beat runners knee with medical treatment

Muscles Weakness / Imbalances

‘When we run, we dont just go forwards, we may have to nip around bends, dips in the pavements and quick stops especially in busy cities,’ explains Alibhai. ‘If the muscles around the knee arent strong enough to handle the quick stops and change of direction, they may not support the joint thus leading to knee pain when running. It is important to strengthen and stretch the surrounding muscles for support of the joint.’

The body is both smart and full of imbalances, that’s why the more you run the more certain dominant muscles can take over. This can lead to any number of injury issues, not just in your knees, but working on muscle imbalances is a good way to treat runner’s knee.

How to improve it:

When Should You Go To The Doctor

Knee injuries are prevalent, and you do not need to see a doctor immediately after an accident. Try not to bend your leg, dont put pressure on it, and use an ice pack to reduce swelling. Rest for three days and do the following:

• Cover area with an elastic compression bandage
• Try walking with crutches for three days
• Ice the affected area three or four times a day for twenty minutes
• Do not bend your legs while sitting, and do not climb stairs
• Keep your knee slightly higher than your body when you sleep
• Take anti-inflammatory medications, such as Ibuprofen or Naproxen

However, if your pain does not decrease after three days and you have one or more of the following conditions, see your doctor.

• Severe pain and numbness in the legs even when there is no weight on it
• Swelling, redness, and deformity of the affected area
• Fever and bluish discoloration in your calf

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If Knee Pain Is More Sharp Frequent Or Intense Or If It Leads To A Feeling Of Instability Catching Or Buckling It May Be A More Urgent Issue

Structural problems such as ligament or meniscus tears are usually another story. These injuries, by definition, suggest damage to one of the stabilizing structures in the knee joint. Symptoms of instability, swelling, limited range of motion, and higher levels of pain are more common with these injuries and are all signs that you should have your knee examined by a professional before returning to running.

Can Inner Knee Pain Be Caused Outside The Knee

Inner knee pain can occur due to excessive stress placed on the knee joint. This may occur if the other muscles that bear a portion of the weight from the knee are weakened as a result of the injury.

The thigh and hip muscles are among the muscles that make up this group. Strong or tight hip and thigh muscles put additional strain on the knee’s muscles and ligaments, resulting in pain.

About Dr. Sean Ormond

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Back In Motion Offers Effective Treatment For Inner Knee Pain When Running

Tired of feeling inner knee pain every time you go running? Our team at Back in Motion Physical Therapy offers treatment options that can help address your running-related knee pain. First, we can do a free screening on your knee to pinpoint the source of your pain.

Then, our physical therapists will construct an individualized therapy plan for you thats designed to reduce your pain and prevent future pain. You can even sign up for a virtual therapy or at-home care session with us and treat your pain from home.

Contact us today for more information about how we can treat your knee pain or to schedule your initial appointment.

Get The Right Running Shoes

Dont let inner knee pain slow you down.

If you havent experienced an injury, consider your footwear. In fact, the wrong footwear can actually lead to knee and hip injuries.

Understanding your body is an important part of picking the right running shoes. Do your feet pronate and supinate when walking or running?

Typically people with normal arches and feet that pronate and supinate properly are less prone to pain when running.

If you have high arches or have flat feet, it is not uncommon for your foot to pronate or supinate too much. Wearing shoes made for people with a normal foot type can cause pain and injury.

Injuries due to the wrong running shoes include but arent limited to:

• Inner knee pain
• Plantar fasciitis

This is why it is vital to match your shoe type to the biomechanics of your footto avoid injuries and inner knee pain while running.

If you are unsure of what type of foot you have, consult with your doctor, physical therapist, or even a customer service representative at your local shoe store to help determine the best type of shoe for your biomechanics.

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Diagnosis Of Inner Knee Pain

If you see your doctor with knee pain, theyll examine your knee and are likely to ask:

• when your pain started and if theres anything that makes it worse
• if theres any activity, accident or injury that could have caused it
• if you have any other symptoms such as your knee giving way or clicking, or pain in any other joints

They may suggest an X-ray or an MRI scan, but this is not always necessary. Your doctor may be able to make a diagnosis based on the examination and your symptoms.

If you have cartilage or ligament damage, your doctor may suggest a procedure to look inside your knee. This is called an arthroscopy . It involves making a small cut in your knee and inserting a thin tube and a camera. As well as helping with diagnosis, damaged tissue can be repaired or removed during the procedure.

Medial Collateral Ligament Strain Or Tear

A medial collateral ligament tear or strain is also painful on the inside of the knee. This pain may be on the joint line but can also be slightly above or below as this is where the ligament runs. The worse the injury the more unstable the knee will feel. There might be low swelling which will be localised to the inside of the knee, of in a more severe sprain or sudden acute injury the swelling might be quite significant. Read more about this condition in our related article: MCL Injury.

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How To Heal Runners Knee

Getting healthy from PFPS is quite possible. In fact, its often not as difficult as many think.

But that doesnt mean it will be easy. Because runners knee is not as fully understood as other injuries, the treatment is less conclusive and more oriented toward rest and training modifications.

If youre patient and willing to try new things, you might be able to start running in just a week or two without any pain.

Check out our Injury Prevention for Runners program, which includes a full treatment protocol for runners knee:

• A daily treatment approach so you know exactly what to do to get healthy on a daily basis
• Video demonstrations of effective exercises to treat PFPS
• Tips & tricks on how to heal faster and get back to running
• Training advice on when to stop running, how to focus on pain management, and more

The program also includes training plans tailored for prevention, an expert interview series, 5 more injury treatment protocols, a collection of runner-specific core and strength routines, and more.

See all the details here and I hope that you recover from your runners knee injury as soon as possible!

What Should I Do About Achilles Pain When I Run

To treat achilles pain at home, Andy recommends applying ice to the area if you can feel a lump there . You can also gently massage the area with your fingers.

You could also try using heel wedges in your shoes. Get advice about this from a sports or running shop.

See a GP or a physiotherapist if you have achilles pain that does not disappear after 3 to 4 weeks.

If you have a sudden, sharp pain, your achilles tendon may have torn. See a GP straight away if this is the case.

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What To Do If You’ve Just Experienced Knee Pain Running

This is what senior chartered physiotherapist Ward says to do immediately after you’ve experienced knee pain whilst running and what to do if the pain doesn’t subside after a couple of days.

‘If knee pain occurs, take a day or two to rest with ice applied to the knee. Then, try to identify the cause did you fall, twist it, new trainers, new route, uneven ground, longer distance, or do too many runs close together?’

‘If the pain continues or is unidentifiable, see a physiotherapist for assessment. They can diagnose the injury and provide a rehab plan, as well as advising on footwear, pacing, and scheduling of runs and strength training sessions. Kinesiology tape can also be helpful to relieve pain whilst you complete your rehab, as well as allowing you to return to running earlier.’

Inner Knee Pain Symptoms

Pain on the inside of the knee can feel different for different people. You may feel it as a sharp pain, a burning pain or a mild ache. It can come and go, or you may get pain with particular movements such as squatting, going upstairs or straightening your leg. Other symptoms you may have depend on whats causing your pain. You may have swelling or, with some types of injury, your knee may click or get stuck in one position .

With a medial collateral ligament injury, youll have some pain and stiffness on the inside of your knee. These usually come on straight away. You may not always have swelling.

Pain from an anterior cruciate ligament injury may be sudden and you may hear a pop. Your knee is likely to swell up quite quickly and may feel as if its going to give way.

Symptoms of a meniscus tear generally come on over several hours following the initial injury. You may have pain and swelling and you may have difficulty fully straightening your leg. Your knee may also lock or feel unstable, as if its about to give way.

Osteoarthritis in your knee usually causes pain when youre putting weight on your affected leg, and gets better when you rest your leg. You may have stiffness and loss of movement first thing in the morning or after sitting for a while. You may also have some swelling around your knee.

Pes anserine bursitis can cause pain when youre going up and down stairs or when you stand up. You may also have pain at night or some slight swelling.

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Runners Knee Is The Most Common Culprit Of Running

According to research, approximately 25 percent of running-related injuries are attributed to patellofemoral pain syndrome , or runners knee. In my experience, the number of women affected by this condition is significantly higher than the number of men due in part to the angle that womens wider hips create at the knee joint. Runners knee can feel like a dull, diffuse ache in and around the kneecap. It is caused by muscle imbalances that cause the knee cap to shift out of place as you bend and straighten your leg, ultimately leading to irritation in and around the joint.

Runners knee can often lead to chondromalacia, a condition that develops when the cartilage under the kneecap becomes rough with repeated wear and tear. This roughening causes increased friction below the joints surface, leading to irritation, inflammation, and pain.

IT band syndrome is also an overuse injury. The IT band is a band of fascia that extends from the hip to just below the knee. It acts as a stabilizer during running, and overuse or a quick increase in training volume can cause it to become irritated.

How Often Should Runners Strength Train

‘Runners should strength train at least three times per week to maintain or increase muscle mass and muscle strength to support their knees and prevent knee pain running,’ says P.volve physiotherapist Dr Amy Hoover. ‘The knees are primarily a hinge joint and the lower body should absorb shock through the more mobile joints the foot or ankle and the hip. This is why hip strength and mobility are so important for runners, as the hip muscles are the largest and most powerful of the lower body.’

However, it’s not all about lower body exercises like deadlifts, squats and lunges . Also working on keeping your core strong is one of the most important parts of running with good form.Hoover explains:

‘Core strength is also very important to support the spine and pelvis during running and high impact activity. Running is done mostly in one plane of motion, so it develops those muscles the most, namely the quads and hamstrings. However, our bodies need to work in three planes of motion, and we need to work the muscles in all three planes to maintain balance and symmetry in the body.’

Try these core exercises to build functional strength in your abdominals, lower back and glutes.

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What Is Runner’s Knee

Runner’s knee also known as patellofemoral pain syndrome is an overuse injury that affects as many as 30% of female runners and 25% of male runners. That makes it the most common running-related injury.

In runner’s knee, the cartilage in your kneecap gets irritated. This causes pain while you’re running, squatting, bending or even sitting for awhile. I often see patients come in with runner’s knee after they start running at an incline or increase miles or speed.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Or Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis occurs when the protective cartilage in the knee wears down. A classic symptom of this condition is pain when you exert pressure on the joint, especially when walking up and down stairs. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is the result of the bodys immune system attacking healthy joints and tissues. Swelling, stiffness, and loss of motion in the knee are signals that you may have rheumatoid arthritis.

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The above medical conditions cover most of the reasons for your knee pain when running. That said, if you suspect that your running knee pain is caused by something else, then be sure to see a certified physician for a thorough assessment.

In the meantime, thank for you reading my post.

Run strong and stay safe.

Osteoarthritis & Running Knee Pain

Osteoarthritis more often affects athletes in the latter stages of their careers. It is simply a wear and tear in the joint and is a common cause of running knee pain in older athletes.

Symptoms include:

• Deep aching pain in the knee or hip
• Pain is usually worse after exercise
• Joint stiffness which often reduces with movement

There is no cure for Osteoarthritis however, knee supports, medication hot & cold therapy, and mobility exercises can all help relieve symptoms. In severe cases, joint replacement surgery is indicated.

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What Causes Inner Knee Pain

The common causes:

• General training load. Most likely, inner knee pain is simply the result of training a bit more than your body is ready for. Maybe you did more miles, more hills, ran faster, or slept less than your body expected. As a result of feeling overwhelmed, the body sends a pain signal to the brain to try and slow you down so the tissue can recover.
• Pes anserine bursitis. This is a slightly less common cause of inner knee pain, but its still worth mentioning. Bursa are fluid filled sacs that cushion different tissues. Sometimes the repetitive load of running can irritate one particular bursa sac located 2-3 inches below the knee joint. Here the tendons at the end of the hamstring muscle attach to the shinbone in a shape that resembles a gooses foot, pes anserinus in Latin.

Uncommon Causes: the following issues are unlikely to be the cause of your inner knee pain, but its a good idea to know them in case you need to get checked out by a orthopedic expert.

Pain On The Inner Side Of The Knee

Pain on the inner side of the knee often comes on gradually. However, in some casesparticularly if caused by a sudden impact or injurythe onset of pain is immediate.

Medial knee pain is the term most commonly used to describe this type of pain, which can be experienced either as a dull, aching pain, or a sharp pain. Given the importance of the knee joint in our daily lives, the impact of pain can be significant.

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