Home Forums Chat Forum Patella tracking issues – Accept defeat or push on through

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  • Patella tracking issues – Accept defeat or push on through
  • alansd1980
    Full Member

    Since about Christmas I have been training for a 5 day race  MTB race in the alps, pretty full on, loads of climbing (13500 metres in 5 days)

    Over the last 6 weeks I have had some grumbling knee pain so went to see a local physio who thinks I have some patella tracking issues. Gave me some excersizes to try and said I can try strapping my knee up, been stretching plenty to try and fix the cause since and had a sports massage.

    Have rested as part of my taper and did an easy 45 mins on the turbo yesterday and by last night my knee was pretty swollen. This morning its slightly less so but still some discomfort.

    I am due to travel tomorrow and start my event on Saturday, looking at the stages I think I will be riding between 5 and 8 hours a day.

    Has anyone got any personal experience of this and any insight into potential damage or is it just ongoing discomfort?

    I am trying to get another physio assessment but they are open funny hours!

    longdog
    Free Member

    I found strapping with kinesiology tape (see YouTube) helped mine along with sports massage and exercises, but not sure that’s going to work with an imminent 5 days of 5-8 hours hard riding 😔

    alansd1980
    Full Member

    Thanks, this is my worry. I have never really had this before so don’t know where it goes if I try and push on through. Potential damage or just a bit sore for a while?

    Day 1 is a huge day 75km and 3200m of climbing and if that kills my leg I am stuck as its a point to point event so I could well end up spending quite a lot of money on accommodation and trying to get myself to the end to recover my bike bag etc

    longdog
    Free Member

    Tbh if an easy 45min on the turbo left it swollen I think you know the answer (plus what you’ve said about transfers/additional cost if you bail). I doubt any amount of tape and anti-inflammatory/pain killers will deal with 5 long days racing.

    Maybe insurance will get some of your costs back? If not just go where it is for the holiday and r&r?

    ampthill
    Full Member

    Could you have managed it before the tapper?

    My knees can hurt and it can take a while for the muscles to co ordinnate at the start of the ride. Mine were better after and 10 hour plus pedal than before

    But I’ve not had visible swelling

    Is a 2 hour ride an option this evening?

    1
    airvent
    Free Member

    I’d be worried about causing long term damage

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Have rested as part of my taper and did an easy 45 mins on the turbo yesterday and by last night my knee was pretty swollen. This morning its slightly less so but still some discomfort.

    I am due to travel tomorrow and start my event on Saturday, looking at the stages I think I will be riding between 5 and 8 hours a day.

    How swollen was it? And how painful, and how long did the pain last? If you had to look hard to find the swelling, and the pain went away after you finished cycling, you might be ok. If it was a noticeable swelling (someone else could see it without you needing to point it out) and/or it was a throbbing pain all night then a 5 day event sounds like a massive risk to be honest. Seeing as you’re pretty much already committed to it at this stage I would be tempted to go anyway, but it would be to participate only and not try to fulfil any ambitious time goals, and be prepared to have a sensible word with yourself and pull out if (when) it starts to go sideways. Yes, to answer your q, you can give yourself a really nasty injury if you just push through, possibly but not definitely permanent, but certainly with the chance of very long lasting effects, depending on how effectively the rehab goes

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    So it’s specifically long periods of seated pedalling that are aggravating the knee? I’m assuming you’re clipping in OP(?)

    Same pedals/shoes/Q factor on the Turbo and Race bike as well?

    If there’s no time for an emergency bike fit and cleat adjustment (plus you probably don’t want to be trying that on the fly either), is it worth chucking some back-up flats in your luggage to at least have the option?

    If Day one kills your knee, the easiest short term mitigation might be to allow your feet the “infinite float” of flats for the next four…

    1
    Duggan
    Free Member

    My physio has said to me several times that on a scale of 1-10, pain that’s 3 or below is OK to proceed, but pain over 3 means stop.

    However, I’m not sure if that really applies to multi-stage MTB races, he probably had people doing parkrun in mind when he said that maybe.

    I think it’s unfortunately a fact that yes you could potentially do some serious damage.

    I guess you need to ask yourself how much time off the bike/rehab you are prepared to “pay” afterwards for doing the event? If the answer is “none” then it seems like a big gamble.

    Only you know if its a once in a lifetime event or something you do all the time and could just enter again next year?

    Twodogs
    Full Member

    They may well let you defer your entry to next year. Appreciate you’d lose travel costs etc….

    1
    alansd1980
    Full Member

    Thanks all for the input.

    The swelling was and still is easily seen and the pain is more after than during although I did a couple of sprints and felt a twinge.

    I was always going with the challenge of just completing rather than racing for places but the time away is a big deal as much as the cost. 2 pre teens and a bit of work travel means I would rather cancel this recover and do another challenge later than go and abandon which sounds like from peoples experience if this kind of problem is likely.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    They may well let you defer your entry to next year. Appreciate you’d lose travel costs etc….

    That would be the line I’d be exploring.  Sounds an amazing opportunity to have to miss, but I’m notbsure I’d want to be looking back on it in three years time and it being the last time you were able to ride a bike

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    A friend of mine “self-medicated” using light-weight high-rep leg raises. So successful was he that his consultant referred a Stratford Harrier Olympic hopeful to him. He got her sorted out too.

    alansd1980
    Full Member

    So my flight left at 6 and I am sat at home with an aching knee after a day of light activity, walking to the shops/cutting the grass etc) so I am pretty sure I made the right call. Thanks for everyones input.

    I spoke to an old friend who had a similar issue when trying to do the tour divide and it took him years to recover due to damage. He was pretty adamant not to try and push through as well.

    On the bright side, my 11year old is just getting into mtb and wants to go to Swinley on an inset day next week. After planning on 5 days in the high alps I am hoping with a weeks rest I am fit to do a loop of the blues!

    Need to start planning for the next event now….. I have about 70quid of torq fuel to get through!

    susepic
    Full Member

    That sounds like a sensible (even if disappointing) decision. I deferred my place on the Fred Whitton for similar reasons.

    Once it’s settled down and your physio has had a good look, it can be worth taking a look at some of the kneehab folks on instagram – people like kneesovertoesguy, coachgreen.pt running_fitness_dude who have some great kneehab routines and might add some variety over what your physio is recommending. Take it easy and see how the knee responds and build up slowly.

    Good luck and enjoy Swinley with your lad

    Edukator
    Free Member

    I did Transwales with a patella broken a week previously, though I didn’t know it was broken. But it wasn’t swollen and the joint moved smoothly albeit painfully. If it had been swollen I wouldn’t have started. When I got back to a place with a fully functioning health service they produced a wheel chair the instant they saw the x-ray images

    Even though I finished it wasn’t really an enjoyable experience and I wasn’t my normal quite enthusiastic self, and I remember the suffering more than the high points. Long term recovery was 100%. So should I have done it? I’m still not sure, I got away with it but suffered more than was reasonable.

    Edit: one quote from a health professional sticks with me “if you can walk on it it can’t be broken”

    Philby
    Full Member

    Had patella tracking issues for several years. When it flared up the pain made sleeping difficult. I did all the exercises the physio gave me plus taping the kneecaps, and on one occasion had a steroid injection into the knee (which didn’t have much effect).

    I had it once just before going skiing and was in a great deal of pain the night before and during the flight and transfer. It was too late to cancel and I thought I could do a few half days on some of the gentle slopes. Bizarrely, I managed a full 6 days skiing including reds and a couple of black runs without any pain. A similar situation happened the following year when I went skiing although my knees were less painful on this occasion, but the same result happened and I enjoyed 6 days on the slopes.

    My theory is that when you are skiing you aren’t travelling in a straight line, as you would walking or running, but at an angle and with lots of turns which uses the muscle on the inside just above the knee (I think its called the vastus medialis which is one of the 4 quadricep muscles) in a different way which probably pulls the patella back into its proper track. IANAD / IANAP

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