Strengthening knee ligament.

[BERTAVFC]

Having had a recent knee ligament injury caused by a poor warm-up on a cold day, I was unable to run for 6 weeks. The injury in question was located snugly against the outside left of my left knee-cap. After this period which included many mobilisational exercises I gingerly took to the roads. My knee was fine until around the 1.5~2 mile mark where a painful twinge in the area began, this was repeated every time I subsequently ran. I was hoping that somebody out there may be able to give me some advice as to some form of exercise to strenghthen the ligament, my GP shrugged his shoulders and told me to rest for another month which I can ill-afford to do. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated, all the best and happy christmas!, cheers, Rob.

[Daveb]

Hi mate,

I too have a ligament injury (but mine is on hte sacro-illiac joint, which is on the hip), I've been injured for 12 months.

For your knee, I would definetely go and see a physio. Yes, they cost but they can help you a lot at strengthening not only the ligament but the areas around it.

[jmherrng]

Are you sure it was a ligament you injured because it sounds like you have runners knee? This is very common amongst guys building up big miles and is caused by inflammtion of the ITB (illiotibial band). This can be exageratted by excessive pronantion or tight ITB.

Id get your gait checked for a start and be sure to stretch ITB regularly. Applying heat the the affected area before your run should alleviate pain.

If it is a ligament injury this will take in the region of 6 weeks to heal. You cant really strengthen a ligament but you can strengthen the supporting muscles around the knee using squats, lunges and isolation exercises such as leg extentions and leg curls

As stated before dont waste your time at a GP with a sports injury. Go to a sports therapist or osteopath if you want a proper diagnosis and treatment.

Hope this is of some help

[BERTAVFC]

That's a big help, sounds like that could be my problem, many thanks, will take up your advice on that.

[Greg123]

Hello mate, I've got exactly the same problem, I rested for about 5 weeks, and it felt fine. So I ran with a support and had to stop after about a minute! Felt it going again and thought it was probably best to go and see my physio! Seems like rest isn't the best option with this(unless I just didn't rest enough!) So im going to see my physio this week hopefully he'l be able to help me out and with a bit of rest over xmas it'l be fine!?
Let us know how you get on

Greg

[dalo]

Hey daveb what part of the PRMC did you injure yourself on?

[markd]

Its probably be said a million times but swimming really helps as it is non impact. Running two miles is a long way after a knee op, I'm no doc but it may be a while before your knee is upto running on.

[Daveb]

Hey daveb what part of the PRMC did you injure yourself on?

I twinged it a little about 5 weeks before PRMC whilst cycling up a hill. I had it in a low gear (hardest one) and think I pushed myself too hard and felt a little twinge in my hip. There wasnt much pain so I cycled home and rested it a couple of days. There still was little to no pain, just felt weird (almost like it was slightly dislocated) at all so I carried on training.

On my PRMC all was fine until the assault course. I got through it, but that night it was really aching, so I decided when I got home I would rest it for a while. Well, I rested it and it got worse! lol

Went to a physio (after seeing 2 docs, a cowboy physio and a chiropractor) and found that I had hurt my ligament on the Sacroilliac joint, which resulted in the muscles relaxing around the joint so the whole joint lowered down further than it should do....that's why every time I try to run, the impact on it absoloutely kills....though saying that, I have been given exercises to stregthen the core areas around it and it is slowly getting better.....slowly!

[sammy571819]

Hey mate,

I agree with the lads that the best route to go down is to go see a physio. If it is a problem with your ITB i had a similar problem with it but it was at my hip not my knee and came on suddenly like yous. I went to the physio for about 3 months altogether but still found it hard to run until I saw a physio who specialises in orthotics. After looking at my feet for about 5 minutes she gave me an insole and in about 2 weeks i was running again and aint felt anything since. I'd advise to go see the physio and ask them to look at your feet incase you have problems with your instep which is what caused my problem. Hope you get running again soon, i know what it feels like not being able to!!

[BERTAVFC]

Well I finally saw a podiatrist who after giving my stance the once over confirmed I have over-pronation of the left foot caused by my right leg being shorter than the left!!. I was given a heel pad and off the shelf orthotics. Things are a little painful right now, getting used to them and I've got my PJFT on friday. I'm not expecting any record times, just did a mock test at the gym and did a poor 10.15, mind you I suppose as long as you put a strong performance in at PRMC they couldnt care less how you run on a treadmill!.

[sammy571819]

Well at least you now know what the problem is now! dont worry about the pain in your legs, after i started using my insoles my legs were quite painful for a couple of weeks but were fine after that.

[BERTAVFC]

Well gents we have a candidate for the worst PJFT pass in history, 10.44!!. I hasten to add this was not due to poor CV fitness but the running in of orthotics. My advice is simple, give your feet a fortnight to adapt or you'll regret it!, like running with your feet in a vice . It doesnt help when you've got a not unattractive lady bouncing around infront of you either

[GGHT]

Well I finally saw a podiatrist who after giving my stance the once over confirmed I have over-pronation of the left foot caused by my right leg being shorter than the left!!. I was given a heel pad and off the shelf orthotics. Things are a little painful right now, getting used to them and I've got my PJFT on friday. I'm not expecting any record times, just did a mock test at the gym and did a poor 10.15, mind you I suppose as long as you put a strong performance in at PRMC they couldnt care less how you run on a treadmill!.

Very similar to what happened to me. Wish i'd gone to podiatrist straight away but anyway. I cancelled me PJFT but by then i'd become proper unfit. You could well find your orthotics make an immense difference.

EDIT: Just saw your new post. What like the one in me avatar?

Nah they do take a while to get used to, your legs and feet are recruiting/using different muscles so have to give it time.

[Greg123]

Hi all,
Knee seems to be better now-although I still havent run on it that much. Just another thing though, I'm flat footed and this is why I get problems with my knees, so I bought innersoles 'Orthaheel', not the most expensive but all I can afford at this point in time. Hoping to get custom ones one day. Just wondered what people thought of the cheap innersoles out there and if you feel they are any good?
Thanks
Greg

[Daveb]

Hi Greg,

That's great to hear you're on the mend mate and nearly recovered.

I'm afraid I cant comment on the orthotics as I dont really know much about it. Just wanted to say good to hear you've recovered.