 Do you get knee pain when you run? Chances it could be down to patellofemoral pain syndrome, more commonly known as “runner’s knee” (however don’t just assume it’s this), but what actually is ‘runner’s knee’ and more importantly what can we do about it?  What is it?
Whilst these symptoms are common in runners (hence the name) they are certainly not limited to runners. It is shown as general pain on or below the knee cap. The range of pain can vary from being a sharp, stabbing pain to a dull general ache, and usually comes on during runner, walking downstairs. 5 Things you can do if you have ‘Runners Knee’ Remember an appointment with your GP would always be the first port of call. 1. Try using Kinesiology tape to reduce the symptoms – Obviously icing immediately after activates and when pain is present, applying Kinesiology tape will help reduce the inflammation the whole time it’s on. Whilst this won’t correct the cause of the knee pain, this is a good technique to use to keep the inflammation and pain down. See how to tape knee on our Facebook page. 2. Find out what the underlying cause is - Before we start jumping on that foam roller and hammer out our quads (let’s not even go there for how bad foam your rolling your IT band is), we need to actually find out the underlying issue (if it’s not your quads, foam rolling will make worse). There could be many things causing the symptoms, Overworking Quads, Weak hamstring, Nerve tension, Pelvis mechanics, foot mechanics etc. 3. Treatment – When I treat people with ‘runners knee’ symptoms in my studio the most common effective treatment I do involves the following (you wouldn’t do this in every case):
Here’s a video on our Facebook page showing a simple treatment with runner’s knee pain. 4. Prevent it coming back – Massaging the areas which always seem to tighten up with too much running is a great way to help prevent further flares. It would also be advisable to have a daily corrective exercise programme (just a 5 minute one) to help compliment and further increase the chances of the issues not coming back. 5. Consider having your running technique assessed – Once we are back to full form it might be worth having your technique assessed which may help improve performance and further increase the chance of preventing injuries. I would recommend going to an actually Therapist (physio, Sports Therapist etc) specialised in running, rather than a analysis offered by footwear shops (these are still great to help ensure you get good footwear though) as the Therapist will be looking at the effect on the whole body. The perfect place to go would BWT RunFit Gait Analysis. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner of this blog will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. This terms and conditions is subject to change at anytime with or without notice. About the author I am a Manual Therapist covering a range of different disciplines including massage & Biomechanics. I also run small specialist Pilates classes around Corfe Mullen, Broadstone, Wareham, Wimborne & Poole. Instead of just purely rubbing the pain, I always look to see if I can find a potential cause (or causes of the pain) and then work on treating this.
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