Comments on: Patellofemoral syndrome

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:56:02 +0000

First of all, a big thank you to Mistress Krista for relieving some of the tremendous stress I’ve been going through lately. Your humor is much appreciated. Your advice too.
Second, I have had knee pain since at least going back to my teens. (An incident that sticks in my memory is going to mount my bicycle and having the earth-bound leg feel as if it bent backward and down I went, right in front of the cute neighbor kid.) Recently I came across a book called The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook. I borrowed it from my library, then purchased my own copy. It has helped me immensely! Not only for my knee pain either. Stiff necks, low back pain, pain down the side of my upper arm. According to the book much surgery could be avoided if people looked into getting rid of their “trigger points” (which is really just tensed, tightened muscle). Very, very helpful book, and I find it easy to understand and use too.

By: bbandef2

bbandef2 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:43:25 +0000

I had micro fracture surgery on my left knee 9 months ago. It has been a long recovery and I’m still not 100%. My knee is easily aggravated so I do low impact cardio and easy, light weight squats. I’m still working to get my quad muscles back after 6 weeks of crutches. I’m 52 so it takes me longer but I too would like more information on training tips for those of us with weak knees.

By: karen

karen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:10:28 +0000

I have had knee pain from torn cartilage for 4-5 years, which just gets worse as the years go ( I’m 31). Suffering from several wrong diagnosis and in addition plica surgery/ arthroscopy ( which made my knees stiff and more painfull).

I am a fan of this site and would LOVE to see more training tips for ladies like me, where almost everything hurts big time: squats, lunges, leg extensions/- flexions, step up/down. And for those of us with this injury who have a difficult time doing any cardio because of this.

Ups, need I say my elbows have startet acting up too !? sore all the time, lock when I do tricep exercises and pop out of place.

Would love tips and shared stories.

By: dajohnson89

dajohnson89 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:33:07 +0000

Anti-inflammatory drugs relieve the symptoms of patellofemoral syndrome. However, they do nothing for treatment. Most anti-inflammatory drugs have minor side effects, which prevents even the strongest constitutions ingesting them over long periods of time. Furthermore, PF pain is typically activated with stress, and latent otherwise. So a much better recourse to pain management is maximum rest.

As a word of caution to anyone with this injury: you CANNOT run through it using ice and pain-killers. You need rest, flexibility, and strengthening. And rest. All of this is to allow the knee-cap to track around the aggravated cartilage. Otherwise, it will continue rubbing up against damaged and jagged cartilage, exacerbating the inflammation and delaying recovery.

The good news is: once the cartilage is smoothed out and repaired, the excessive stretching and strengthening isn’t necessary (unless you have a chronic condition; but most cases seem to be acute).

This injury floored me, and it will only go away with time.

By: rosibel

rosibel — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:40:43 +0000

My friend is athletic and healthy, but about 5 months ago, as she began running regularly after a temporary break, she started having knee discomfort. After researching about knee problems, she found that her knee discomfort was probably what is known as “runner’s knee”.

She says that 8 years ago she hurt her knee slightly while skiing, but it never bothered her again until now.

She has tried different things like icing, taking breaks from running, wearing a brace, but the problem has persisted. Wearing a brace may have kind of aggravated it because she took to wearing it all the time, and so may have weakened the muscles around the knee somewhat.

Now she’s talking about taking something called “Wobenzyme N” which is said to be an all-natural anti-inflammatory pain reliever, useful for sports-related injuries. I’m a bit skeptical about it, and have been trying to find the dirt online about this ‘Wobenzyme’ (which can be rather pricey) but am not finding much besides propaganda from the people who sell it.

So I turn to my most trusted source of info. on all things athletic/body/pumping iron/kicking ass. (I love this website, I don’t know how you find time to write so much on tons of useful topics, impeccably *and* make one laugh out loud and do training on top of that. Canadians to the rescue yet again!

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:12:54 +0000

I have had patellofemoral pain for a year and half and even going to physio for strengthening and soft-tissue work but nothing seems to work. I do my excercises at home and ice 3 times a day. It frustrates me because I can’t play soccer. What should I do now? I like can’t stand it. My physiotherapist said there was nothing wrong when I run or my body shape and he said my muscles were very strong and he didn’t know what the cause of my pain is. I can’t stand it. What should I do next. There is never a sec that my knee doesn’t hurt.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:09:18 +0000

By: bsmith

bsmith — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:30:18 +0000

You may want to look into Dick Hartzell, the Rubber Band Man, on icing. His approach, NOT to ice, has brought athletes from a sprained ankle back to the field sometimes in the same game.

Icing is a big no-no in Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is one of the best joint medicines in the world.

By: Orvette

Orvette — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:56:12 +0000

I recently joined a gym after losing 50 lbs using diet. I have 25 lbs more to lose but want to start getting truly fit and defined. I have had knee symptoms on & off since I was a kid that sound like patellofemoral syndrome. I outgrew the knee pain I had as a kid and then didn’t experience it again until I gained 75 lbs in my 30’s. I lost 25 lbs during that time and the knee pain once again totally resolved. I regained the weight plus some and am now in my 40’s. My weight loss this time has not resolved the knee issues. It’s not usually actually painful – just makes an AWFUL noise during the first 1/3 of a squat for example. And after bicycling or using an arc trainer regularly they do begin to feel sore. This has scared me away from the gym for a while, but I really want to get back. Should I endure the noise my knees make but continue to do low impact exercises and just rest when I have soreness? I’m afraid of wearing down cartilage or something due to the loud grinding sounds they make.