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Thread: Knee Bursitis

  1. #1
    Registered User Red Sky's Avatar
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    Default Knee Bursitis

    Anyone out there had a run in with this malady? I'm training for a flip flop next year, and have been working on 8-12 miles on the weekends with a light pack. I'd had a burning sensation on the inside edge of the patella off and on after hiking, and now it's pretty consistent during and after for a day or two. Ice helps a lot, but doesn't seem cure it. Just wondering if anyone has found any good treatments or therapy.

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    Registered User Storm's Avatar
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    I was having a lot of knee pain on my last section hike. Primarily going down hill. Bought a couple knee wraps at walmart and hiked the rest of the way pain free. I have heard that leg lifts to build up muscles also works, have been doing them but no hills locally to test out the theory.
    "The difficult can be done immediately, the impossible takes a little longer"

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    Annoyingly, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation, Anti-inflammatories.

    See a doctor if reduced use doesn't rapidly improve your condition. Probably mostly need to back off on your mileage and weight for a bit and then build up more weight and distance slowly in the future.

    Unless bursitis has been diagnosed, since it is not central to the patellar tendon, or under the patellae, it is likely some stabilizer tendon tendinitis from increasing your use of those tendons too fast.

    Remember, cardiovascular fitness increases pretty rapidly with training, on the order of weeks. Muscular strength develops more slowly, on the order of months. Tendon strength develops even more slowly, on the order of seasons and years.

    The reason people tend to injure themselves is by increasing work load too fast on the muscles because the cardio is up to the task and the exercise feels good, or in this case, because the muscles and cardio are up to strength, and exertion feels good, but the tendons aren't there yet.

    There is a reason that increasing load and duration at 10% per week is considered max for healthy young people, and too fast for some of us older folks. . . it's those damn tendons!!

    Finally, if it is tendinitis in a stabilizer tendon, walking on more even ground will reduce stress on it and may allow you to keep up more of your work load while recovering. Maybe that 10% increase in stress number should also include something to do with trail unevenness?
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

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    CDT - 2013, PCT - 2009, AT - 1300 miles done burger's Avatar
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    If your pain is medial (i.e. closer to between your legs than the outside of your leg), there are a few possibilities including ligament strain, meniscus tear/injury, or others. See here: http://www.knee-pain-explained.com/m...knee-pain.html

    At the very least, I would stop hiking since that seems to be making things worse and see a sports medicine doctor ASAP. No point in letting what might be a minor injury become a majory injury by continuing to aggravate it.

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    Registered User Red Sky's Avatar
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    All,

    Thank you for the comments. Yeah, I may be pushing a little too much. This got serious after a 14 mile day a couple of months ago. Since then I've been doing fewer miles. Most of it I would say is fairly even terrain. Also, it is undiagnosed, and I'm planning on going to a good sports med doc here in town, after the holidays. Going to rest for a few weeks and then get this looked at. I was putting a lot of effort into planning a thru hike, getting pretty excited about it, and then this happened. What a pain in the ....knee. Thanks again for the help.

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    Go to a doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Then get direction on physical therapy to strengthen your knees. I have successfully beat "jumpers knee", elbow tendonitis, IT band problems at hip and knees. It takes a while and getting older sucks.

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    Registered User Red Sky's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimmyjam View Post
    Go to a doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Then get direction on physical therapy to strengthen your knees. I have successfully beat "jumpers knee", elbow tendonitis, IT band problems at hip and knees. It takes a while and getting older sucks.
    That is for damn sure.

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