[Closed] I may have figured out why my knee hurts when running

Sharp outside of knee sounds like ITB. I'm not sure you can really stretch it. Might be worth looking at exercises that get you to strengthen and recruit your hip abductors, but I guess you really need someone who knows what to look for to see if you're dropping the unsupported side of your pelvis as you run.
The theory goes that weak hip adbuctors cause the unsupported side of your pelvis to drop which in turn puts the ITB under extra tension. Reality is probably a lot more complicated though.

Yep, tight ITB. I have the same problem and am never regimented enough to do enough stretching to sort it.

The ITB is quite hard to stretch on your own. I'd be paying for a physio to advise on wht you need - it might not even be anything to do with your knee or ITB.

I got my right ITB unmangled by a sports massage lady a while back, I couldn't sleep that night because it turns out I'm so used to my leg being like a drawn bow, when it relaxes it feels too weird 😆

Hmm.. Will think about that, Ian. As for physio.. Seems like finding a good one could be as hard as finding a good garage...

You might get lucky with the NHS. Or local physiotherapy unit are more than happy for people to self refer. They say their referrals are just as good as those referred by the local doctors, but you don't need to wait for a doctor to see you first. Never had to wait more than a week for a first appointment.

Found out when I saw our GP about a dodgy back and he just have me the self referral and explained the situation. I think it's brilliant!

Sounds like the ITB I had.

Got a referral to NHS physio from GP. They are in the same building so I was in within a week.

Had ITB massage - very painful - was chatting to the physio at the start, then a few minutes in she said "you've gone very quiet" with a knowing wink.

I now use a hard foam roller 2-3 times per week and all is fixed and good. i.e. did half marathon pb at the weekend and had no pain (actually no pain from any of my many previous injuries).

Try sitting/kneeling on your haunches, which stretches the top of the thighs. Do it for a few days and things loosen up. Then see if you get the pain.

Look on Youtube there are quite a few videos regarding ITB stretches. I found a foam roller best for mine, beware though its not comfortable! There's a yoga position thats good for post run stretching also( the Locust I think).

Edit: it's not the Locust pose. Put I T band stretches in google you'll find some good advice and it works. The stretches and roller worked for me anyway.

I've done plenty of rollering, at first it instantly fixed the problem but seems to have lost its efficacy lately. Although I've been lifting my heels more lately which makes life easier, but it could be causing this problem.

Who'd have thought running was so complicated eh?

I like the idea of kneeling. I wonder if I can do that whilst working.

Went for the first run today in a while, making sure not to drop my hip, and I had no knee pain at all.

Cheers IanMunro that was bang on 🙂

Suspect ITB related but attempts to stretch it seem futile

Physio told me that it is pretty much impossible to stretch an ITB adequately and that the roller is the only way to really loosen it off other than massage.

Has worked for me.

Although I've been lifting my heels more lately which makes life easier, but it could be causing this problem.

lifting your heels while running is a good technique as it reduces the strain on the muscles around the front of the hip like the ileopsoas. It effectively reduces the force required to bring your leg forward for the next stride. This will almost certainly reduce the strain on other muscles too.

Sounds like IanMunro has it.

For me, ITB solving consisted of:
- roller, every night, for a good 10 minutes or so. Actually, being too cheap to buy a foam roller, I used a tennis ball and (full) wine bottle.
- stretching by standing facing the couch, laying the offending leg on the couch, knee bent, so you can see the inside of your knee, then lean in towards the knee.
- an exercise involving standing on the offending leg, knee half-bent; then dropping on that same leg til the knee's fully bent, all the while with the weight on that leg.

Between that combination of massage/ stretching/ strengthening, I solved it enough for a marathon. It's regressed since then, mainly because I stopped the exercises

lifting your heels while running is a good technique as it reduces the strain on the muscles around the front of the hip like the ileopsoas.

That's certainly my experience, that was another tip I got from this forum, I forget who it was. Just trying not to overextend on the push off because I think that and bending my knee a lot might cause trouble. I'll experiment next time.

I used to get severe ITB pain a few years ago, and one roller session cured it completely. However since picking up my knees and trying to relax it came back. I was obviously relaxing too much cos my dropping pelvis aggravated it again.