Pain behind the knees

Hi all,

I'm 46 years old and, like many others, took up running to keep fit when the world went into lockdown. I'm not unfit, so jumped straight into running 5k.
First time out, it took me about 29 minutes and I slowly improved to a personal best of 24.04 in December... which I'm quite proud of... my ultimate goal is sub 23 minutes, so I'm not far off.

Along the way I discovered a whole host of new injuries, ITBS, Peroneal Tendonitis, Tight Calves, Patella Pain... but managed to shake each one off quite quickly by doing a bit of research and learning how to combat these injuries through rest, stretching, strength training and cross training (i.e. cycling instead of running for a bit).

Around the same time that I ran my PB I started getting pain behind my knees, another new injury, which I'm trying to convince myself is Hamstring Tendonitis, but I can't seem to shake it. I'm still able to/trying to run between 3 and 5 times a week, but I forgotten what it feels like to run without this pain behind my knees... so much so that I'm starting to think it's normal!

I have received conflicting advice from my friends... at one extreme I'm being told to keep running, go out every day, if only for a mile and it'll eventually go away... at the other extreme, I'm being told to stop running otherwise I'll soon have oesteoarthritis and be on my way to needing surgery.

Has anyone else experienced pain behind their knees when running and, if so, did you manage to cure it somehow?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Comments

  • TTTT ✭✭✭
    Welcome to running! Well done on the time improvement. I might be out of turn with some people but can I suggest you go and see a physio? Knees are very complex and it could be a number of things. Mine is a runner and that helps!
  • Hi @TT, thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

    Physio is quite expensive, isn't it?... I'll have a look around my local area and see what I can see. Might have to wait until Boris unlocks us before I can see anyone though.

    In the meantime I've had a revolutionary idea!

    Even though I can run with this annoying pain, I've decided I'm not going to, complete abstinence until I'm sure the pain is no longer there... keeping up the stretching and body-weight strength training of course.

    This'll be the first time since March that I've gone more than 3 days without running.

    Hopefully it'll work, wish me luck!
  • TTTT ✭✭✭
    Hello, all physios are insured to be open, it is up to them whether they are. 

    Mine is £45 an hour. You can also refer yourself under the NHS, if you are in the UK, but it might take a whole to be offered an appointment. 
  • I bought this support. Had great experience from the bearhug thigh support! 
  • Thanks @lowriallen, I'll take a look at that.

    I used to wear open patella knee supports when playing football, but stopped because they ended up causing pain rather than giving any noticeable benefit. I also convinced myself that they were akin to walking with a crutch and were actually preventing my muscles from getting stronger... daft huh?

    But, the supports came off and I was all right without them.

    A bit of insight, I snapped my ACL in my left knee and had some minor surgery on my right knee so the supports were a mental crutch rather than anything prescribed... and this was many years ago, surgery was in 1996... supports came off, when I stopped playing 11-a-side at the age of about 37... only played 5-a-side after that until I was about 42... I only play irregularly now, rather than every week.

    General update, I have been trying hard not to run daily and have only been out once or twice a week for a slow paced run since my original post, I have been religiously stretching and doing bodyweight strength exercises each evening and things... dare I say it... seem to be looking up!

    I managed to run 5k yesterday and today with only minor pain at the start of each run.

    Fingers crossed it was just pain through overuse rather than oesteoarthritis!
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