patellofemoral pain syndrome - JP Fitness Forums

sg516 · 01-04-2008, 12:11 PM

my doctor just told me this is what is wrong with me (physically.. he declined to comment on whats wrong with me mentally

). This sucks bc now i have to go through three months of physical therapy. he said the reason is that the outside half of my right quad is significantly stronger than the inside so the patella is being pulled to the right. so it hurts to go down stairs, to run, to squat, and, oddly, to sit for long periods of time. i am glad i dont need surgery but i am really bummed about this. i am in the process of training for a triathlon plus i also do jiu jitsu and kung fu. i had to stop my lifting routine bc it was too much pressure on the knee. i jiu jitsu i can't through ppl, or shoot on them and i can't use rubber guard. in kung fu i can't kick properly and can't put much torque on the knee without it hurting a lot. and running and biking hurts like a bastard. at least swimming is still ok.

ok so i done venting and i will now get to the point. i am curious does anyone here have any experience with this particular problem? one thing i forgot to ask the doctor (most likely bc i was mentally reeling from the 3 months of PT) was if i continue to do stuff will it run any risk of permanently damaging the knee? i don't want to take a break in my martial arts training and i won't take a break in the triathlon training so i just want to make sure i am not going to royally screw myself by exercising with it. if its just pain i can deal with it but if continuing to use it is going to eventually result in a need for surgery i will have to tone it down. any advice is appreciated.

Mon · 01-04-2008, 12:29 PM

I am not an expert here (just a member), but I found this list of mobility warm up exercises by Mike Robertson and Eric Cressey on bad knees in one of their threads at t-nation.

Try these and let us know how you feel after doing these. This is probably what you need to get you going and more mobile. Do them in order. If there are any you don't know, just go to google and type in its name in between " " to find your results faster and see pictures/descriptions on how to do these. As far as reps go for each one of these, I am not the person to ask. One of the experts on here may be able to help you with that. For me, I usually make up my own reps from 5-10.

people with knee problems...
Birddog
Calf Stretch
Supine Bridge
Hip Corrections TESTOSTERONE NATION (find the letter Q)
High Knee Walks
Pull-Back Butt Kicks
Mini-Band Side Steps
Cradle Walks
Single Leg RDL (more for glute medius recruitment than hamstring stretch)
Reverse Warrior Lunge w/Twist
Walking Spiderman
Alternating Lateral Lunge
Squat-to-Stand

marathonrunner · 01-04-2008, 02:19 PM

I had patella-femoral syndrome a few years ago. It was so bad that the left side of my patella was sticking up! I know, pleasant huh! I went to PT for it and they found that my VMO was not firing and that my VL and IT Band were extremely tight.; thus causing improper tracking of my patella. It was tracking laterally and basically the patella was rubbing over the epicondyle of the femur instead of the groove. They worked on increasing the strength of my VMO through e-stim and resistance exercises and then did a variety of soft-tissue techniques to release the lateral side of my leg (ART, Graston, deep tissue massage). They also tapped my knee cap down so that it didn't track incorrectly and cause pain. I used the tapping anytime I was running or working out. With all this being said, rehab was pretty easy and recovery was quick. As long as they know what is causing the issues and how to treat it correctly, you should be fine. I would caution you however to avoid any exercise that causes pain. If you exercise and your patella is not tracking correctly (rubbing over the bone), you have the potential to cause damage. Hopefully the tapping and resistance exercises will get you back up and running (literally) soon. But if not, you should be able to continue with resistance training and at least swimming. Treat it correctly now and avoid a long recovery, no recovery, or further damage. It is frustrating, as any injury is, but it's just a phase. You'll be back up soon.

UConnJulie · 01-05-2008, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marathonrunner

I had patella-femoral syndrome a few years ago. It was so bad that the left side of my patella was sticking up! I know, pleasant huh! I went to PT for it and they found that my VMO was not firing and that my VL and IT Band were extremely tight.; thus causing improper tracking of my patella. It was tracking laterally and basically the patella was rubbing over the epicondyle of the femur instead of the groove. They worked on increasing the strength of my VMO through e-stim and resistance exercises and then did a variety of soft-tissue techniques to release the lateral side of my leg (ART, Graston, deep tissue massage). They also tapped my knee cap down so that it didn't track incorrectly and cause pain. I used the tapping anytime I was running or working out. With all this being said, rehab was pretty easy and recovery was quick. As long as they know what is causing the issues and how to treat it correctly, you should be fine. I would caution you however to avoid any exercise that causes pain. If you exercise and your patella is not tracking correctly (rubbing over the bone), you have the potential to cause damage. Hopefully the tapping and resistance exercises will get you back up and running (literally) soon. But if not, you should be able to continue with resistance training and at least swimming. Treat it correctly now and avoid a long recovery, no recovery, or further damage. It is frustrating, as any injury is, but it's just a phase. You'll be back up soon.

Good answer!

student · 01-05-2008, 07:11 PM

Mike Boyle has an article on this I believe. In it he states that they have usually found the problem to be the Glute medius, and palpation of this muscle in athletes complaining of knee pain usually reveals some tenderness. The article is available on strengthcoach.com and may still be found on his old site if you google it. I found it very informative. It is named - Anterior Knee Pain- Pain Site versus Pain Source. Hope this helps some

bryanc · 01-07-2008, 03:39 PM

I think I posted the PFPS drop squat protocol we used at the Sport Medicine Centre in Calgary a few years back. You could probably search for it. Ironically, it's the same protocol for patellar tendinopathy.

sg516 · 01-07-2008, 06:31 PM

thanks for all the replies. its been very informative. i just hope i dont have to wait forever to see the PT. my wife is a naval officer so i have to go through military medicine to see the PT but with the war going on lots of ppl have a much greater need than me. so i am afraid they will make me wait. i hope the send me out to an outside doctor but even then it might be a month before i get seen. o well. thanks for the info again.

kuri · 01-07-2008, 06:58 PM

I think this is the pure gold advice from Hartman and Bryan that should help.