My knee hurts: Old Young Man

Hurts to bend it back and forth. Worse in cold. Certainly caused by too much activity, not enough stretches, gets fatigued very easily unless I’m cycling. Always ride SS but it’s the left knee.

Presumably the GP will tell me to go and pay for physio, as they are wont to do, which is expensive and not for December.

Knee fixing tips?

My left knee aches most of the time, after a hard kneecap/Tarmac interface. It often feels like my leg wants to hinge sideways, if I put too much weight on it. Been to the doc, who basically said I’ve got to live with it, or else it’s highly invasive surgery, with no guarantee that there would be any significant improvement.
It’s nagging at me now, and I’m sprawled on the couch with my legs up, but it’s still uncomfortable.
Getting older doesn’t help matters, for sure.
Riding doesn’t aggravate it, but I’m afraid to ride too much, especially in winter, in case the bike does the same as last time; both tyres went sideways at walking speed having just turned onto a shared-use cycle path, with no warning.
Good thing my helmet stopped my skull hitting the ground, too, scuffed the visor, and made my ears ring, and grazed my face.

It’s a very sad state of affairs.

What do I want for my 27th?

Knee op thanks.

Toxicsox is an expert in these matters. He knows a physio that can make you forget your knee pain. Apparently.

Had an email from a local physio just now. Getting it checked out because he has wisely mentioned “ARTHRITIS”. doom.

Or not.

Similar issure on the bike left leg. I dropped the saddle job done

Get it checked out

Like wise I had 6 weeks off the bike due to incorrect saddle height and cleat position not allowing enough float.

Physio stretches, squats and a bike fit.

Well I’m 20 yrs older and had various knee arthroscopes. I’d say get a good physio who understands cycling, do lots of proper core work and spin light gears. As long as I keep up the exercises and ride a couple of times a week I am ok. One big nono for me is pushing big gears. I got into track riding earlier this year and have to be really careful winding up to speed

I suppose riding brakeless DJ hasn’t helped one bit.

Neither will that work has been either 20+ miles walking a day or standing at a table all day. Or lifting kegs. Or riding bikes.

Very varied but very knee-intensive.

You want to see a proper specialist – standard GP not good enough, physio’s also very varied – numpty to knee sports specialist (be aware if physios branding themselves as sports specialist just because they know there’s money to be made there).

Anyway get yourself to a proper clinic. Get doctor to refer you, see if you can get an MRI done. 27 is a bit young to have problems, have you had any particular impact or other injury causing incident.

Incorrect fit and pedalling big gear can cause this. Leg doesn’t achieve full extension when pedalling, the small muscle on the inside of the knee is used for final extension to lock leg due to this not really being used fully during cycling the outer muscle can become in-proportionately stronger and as a result pulls the knee cap off course when bending it. Soft tissue massage will help but ultimately better stretches and strengthening exercises are needed.

Any particular impact?

No, just the cumulative effect of several significant collisions.

No gears, SS only for 3 years, Saddle height is good… at the moment.

Knees really haven’t evolved to cope with what we put them through, have they? Knees are crap.
I was trying to play-fight with my kid earlier… “Oh stop. My knee’s popped out”. Stupid bloody torn cartilage. 🙁
Still, at least I do have the excuse of being 50 in just over a month!

I do wonder how much worse clips could be for knees because (although most have a degree of float) they don’t allow you to naturally find a comfortable foot position, nor vary it during a ride. Also the repetition of seated pedalling vs dropping your post and standing up and moving about more. When I’ve had knee pain more stretching has helped, particularly using a foam roller on the ITB.

worzel –

ultimately better stretches and strengthening exercises are needed.

Could you elaborate as to what stretches / exercises? I definitely have the knee cap tracking issue, so far osteo (and previous physio) has been limited help in fixing, just maintaining

If you have bad knees stop using your ss. You need gears. I would also recommend a professional bike fit.

If your using spds/cleats then invest in some quality floating cleats to save your knees.

Learn some good stretches and make sure you do them before, during and after your ride.

Start having baths instead of showers.

Cycling really isn’t a high stress activity for knees. As others have said

1) Adjust saddle height and fore and aft position – Not too high and not too far back either
2) Look at cleats – float helps but when you pedal and your feet don’t move about, that’s when you have good position.
3) Use lower gears (I ride fixed and SS, but spin at 90+rpm on geared bikes)

I also find a good foam roller can help. Hope it works out.

DR78 – on top on the standard quad, hamstring and calf stretches exercises such as using your muscles to pull your knee cap towards the back of your leg (hard to explain but essentially locking the leg, squats (you don’t need weight but get your bum down to your ankles) single legged squats, lying on the floor and with one raised leg pointing your toe writing the alphabet in the air with your toe (sounds weird but works)

If you google knee strengthening exercises you find some really good articles and videos. You need to identify root cause which is likely to be bike fit. Cadence was never my strong point and I preferred to push a big gear; as soon as the saddle height was reduced I instantly went from 80 rpm to 100 rpm as I was no longer over stretching ( a saddle too low will cause similar problems) in colder conditions decent knee warmers are essential.

Some really good fitting advice here: http://bikedynamics.co.uk

Try a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement.

Give up on SS

I’ve just had my knee fixed. Walking feels better. Mine used to lock and also give way on stairs which has caused me to dislocate and ruin my shoulder.

Had a knee arthroscopy last Friday, diagnosis was loose bone fragments from fibula fracture and the lateral meniscus had rough edges. No more pain and locking just pain from the instruments being in my knee.

Sorry, mate, but if it’s arthritis you are f**cked. You can spend a fortune on any treatment you chose and in the end it won’t make a scrap of difference. I know, I’ve been there!