Since a big ride round the country 10 years ago, I’ve had problems with the point where the hamstring tendons join the fibula, on the outside of the knee. It hurts if I ride more than 30 miles, or if I do 20 miles a few weekends running. I never felt it before I got SPDs (for that trip), and it’s one of the reasons I’ve not used SPDs much since. It hurts more if I make an effort to pedal in circles, rather than just push down.

It stops me cycling as much as I’d like to, so I’d love to get to the bottom of it.

Anyone had the same thing? Any tips for stretching or other remedies?

Many thanks,

Ed

might sound silly but NHS – Main symptom was tight adductor. Took me a couple of months to see a specialist but she was very knowlegable about biking and diagnosed the problem. Now have decent physio and off for an MRI scan next week to check that there's no damage. All for free (OK, apart from the huge amounts of tax I pay). I've messed around for a year and no one else got to the root of the problem.

Not sure quite where you mean from your description. I am guessing it is the outside of your knee just below your knee cap and if you prod back & forth in that area you can feel a thick tendon??

If that's right, then it sounds like illiotibial band syndrome, ITB syndrome.
I get it when I run & haven't been able to get rid of it. The general advice is ice the area and stretch. Sometimes I have been told it can be linked to weak muscles in your hips and even your hamstrings.
Are your muscles around your hips (to the side) and your butt muscles inflexible? If so, they could be pulling on your ITB which inflames the area beneath the band further down your leg near where it joins the bone.

What type of pain is it? Does it come on fairly quickly and it like an inflamed, burning type of pain?
Google ITB syndrome and look for stretches to do. There's loads out there.

Yup, sounds like ITB to me. Easy peasy to work on, as I've had problems with it for a few years. Hasn't stopped me biking or marathon running though 🙂 First up, worth checking that it is – on the outside of your leg, above the knee, can you feel a tendon? And does it feel tight? If so, that's i.

There's a couple of stretches you can do, one of which involve lying on your side and pulling the offending leg behind you up to your bum, as if stretching your quads. Then press down on the knee with your other heel (if that makes sense).
More effective for me has been lying on a foam roller/ tennis ball – although I've used a full bottle of wine. Lie on your side with that leg on the foam roller, and with your weight on the roller. Then kind of roll yourself up and down it. It's kind of like tenderising meat. 🙂
Apparently the key thing is to build the strength in that muscle – I found that standing on one leg with the standing knee half bent really builds up the strength around it.

The main problem is that while these ease the issue, they don't compeletely resolve it – you have to carry on doing them. I stopped a couple of months ago, but have now had to go back to doing the full shebang every evening because it was getting painful again

Sounds like exactly the same sort of problem I have, was diagnosed with ITB Syndrome. Hit me after an 130 mile off road ride and I've been trying to shake it off since.

I had two sessions of physion and the problem appeared to go away but it's flared up again in the last week or so but I've been able to control it with some careful stretches.

Get some physio first, it was extremely useful for me.

Thanks all, I've had a bit of ITB problems as as well, (the burning pain around the top outside of the knee and up the outside of the leg, but I've had this other thing for much longer, before and after the ITB.

Running sets the ITB off; cycling, specifically pulling up on the pedals with the hamstring, sets the other thing off.

They're probably related, but don't seem like it.

I'll get back to the physio anyway, but I was interested to see if anyone else had had the same issue from the same cause.

Doubt its ITB syndrome – sounds more like tendonitis. Rest it.

@nedrapier. I've suffered from ITBS, ligament tears, hamstring tears…the whole 9 yards. The one thing I did do which seemed to alleviate pain on the bike was adjust my saddle to the correct height, which in my case was raising it approx 15mm. Bought a foam roller from my physio too which IMO is effective for deep tissue massage, especially the ITB. Ditto the stretching, this is fundamental too. I know everyone has their on view on this topic as most of us have suffered…but it helped me and I was in crippling pain after about 50k of any ride. Good Luck.

Goan, tendonitis sounds more like it. As I said though, it's a long term recurring problem and I'd rather get to the root cause of, rather than resting it for ever.

Physio and stretching then. funnily enough, I don't have as much problem when the saddles a bit lower for rough stuff, maybe because I spend more time out of the saddle, rather than sitting and pedalling in circles.

Feldo, how long has it taken to stretch your pain-free mileage? Can you now do as much as you want, or are you still limited?

Best get it checked.

It sounds to me that you are describing pain around the superior Tib/fib joint, which be problemmatic for various reasons in cyclists and runners (and everybody else- it's a troublesome little joint sometimes).

It could also be a tendon or synovial problem around that area. It may of course be due to something somewhere else causing this to flare up as a secondary problem.

Go see a health professional (physio, I would say). It'll be worth the effort.

@nedrapier. It was pretty much instantaneous, and the only limitation to mileage now is my fitness! Not doing anything much more than 60-70m because of the weather and lack of light, but this seems OK. The problem is still there, but cycling now doesn't appear to bother it so much. Strangely running and sitting still for ages does!
Don't know where you are based, but http://www.activ8rehab.co.uk in Chertsey were very good and did all sorts of tests, posture analysis etc. Figure out the problem, then someone can recommend if physio is the way ahead. All the best.

I live in essex, but work in London (the other side though) so I might be able to pop in.

Encouraging to hear of your improvement though!

Ed

if your cycling you should be stretching your legs out – quads, medials, hamstrings, itb, arse as a mnimum. this will help some what.

see a physio – they know better than we do over the net.

get a bike fit.

Another vote for getting someone qualified to look at it. Potential causes include:
Bursitis
Tendon inflammation
ITB problems
Overusing hamstrings to compensate for weak Gluteus Maximus or Tensor Fascia Lata to compensate for weak Gluteus medius or Iliopsoas (these may be the cause of the problem)

Blimey. I retired the XY seatpost with a good whack of layback on it (came with the bike) and put an inline seatpost on for a SDW ride at the weekend.

I was nervous about riding that far on a hurty knee and certain I'd be in a quite a bit of pain by the end of it. I didn't have much hope for the seatpost making much of a difference, I thought it might help a little bit. But with the saddle about an inch further forward, climbing was easier and 100miles later my knee barely hurts at all!

Hooray for me, my knee and the seatpost.

I'm getting the same thing, started road riding about a month ago, but about 2 weeks ago started getting some pain in my left knee, it came on after about 10 miles, adjusted the saddle up and it certainly made a difference, very difficult to pin point however seems to come on now around the 30 mile mark. However when I go out on the MTB I get no pain.

Would it be worth booking a bike fitting session?

Could well be, I get the idea that fit on a road bike is a lot more critical, because you're pedaling in the same position all the time. On a MTB, you're shifting your weight around more, out of the saddle more, much more variety and opportunity for hurty bits to have a break between the bits that make them hurty.

there are a couple of threads on here about bike fitting. Some saying that they've paid for it and they've found it very helpful, others saying they haven't and they don't see the point.