General Fitness & Nutrition: knee pain

I battled some knee pain earlier this year and it turned out to be related to my ilio-tibial band (IT Band).  This seems to be something that a lot of runners deal with and it can really slow you down.  My symptoms were pretty intense pain around the patella, that presented approximately 5-15 minutes into a run.  Eventually after 60 seconds of jogging, I would be forced to walk. 

To remedy this, I iced my hip and knee.  Also, I heated my IT Band (outside of thigh).  I ahve the benefit of working in a physical therapy clinic where this is all readily available.  The one thing that saved me the most was a foam roller.  These can be found in any gym, or ordered online for less than $20.  Basically you roll on your IT band on the roller to "massage" the fascia.  It is painful, but gets the job done.

 Oh yea...REST!!!

Good Luck out there

I dealt with knee pain while I was in college a lot.  I ran the marathon right out of High school and that seems to be when it all started.  I tried everything braces, bands, new shoes, stretching, ice, heat (which I would not recommend, adding to inflammation is generally bad).  I ended up talking to an aerobics instructor, of all people, and she said it could be a tracking problem.  If you sit on the floor with your legs straight out and flex your quads, your patella should slide straight back.  If it tracks to the left or the right it can rub on parts  that it's not supposed to rub on and it gets inflamed and can get very painful.  It's really very simple to fix and it solved my problem rather quickly.  It's generally due to a muscle imbalance in you quads.  Stretching and icing help during the rehab, and the added flexibility is always good.  There is some special tape out there that you can use as well, it only stretches one way, I think it's called Kinesio Tape, but that helps as well.  It's a little on the spendy side for tape but it worked better, and was cheaper, than the braces.  Athletic trainers, personal trainers or physical therapists should be able to give you some good strengthening exercises. 

That's my 2 cents.  Good luck and enjoy the run!

Well, there is a lot of information here.  I am glad to hear that I am not alone in my pain.  I hope everyone's knee pain goes away and stays away!I see all these people running all the time lately and I am so jealous that they are out running and I am stuck on the stationary bike.

My knee pain is on the bottom of my knee and contiunes around the outside.  I started running on new shoes and cross training and weight training shortly before the pain started.  I first noticed the pain after my first long run of my training this year.  I bought new shoes last week and I have only run once since my most recent pain.  (still had a little pain-only a 3 mile run.)  Lots of swimming and stationary bike (I will get out on the road bike next week!)  I am planning on testing out my knee this weekend while I am away from home and will not have access to my gym and pool.  I am trying to avoid the doctor but I was thinking of getting a deep tissue massage for some other tight spots in my hips and hamstrings.  I hope this will loosen up the knee also. 

Someone also mentioned this stuff called 'reliv' to me.  anyone heard of it and is it any good?  He said it cured his shoulder pain and the pain has not come back enve though he stopped using the stuff.  I am always skeptical about these miracle 'cure alls'.  Its like the magic 'tonic' that people would sell in 1800's Western America.

Thanks jkpesven!  I'll keep working at it. 

Cmerun