General Fitness & Nutrition: Help....My knee!!!

Hi all So need some advice. I run 5k every morn, not had any problems with knees or anything till yesterday. I had finished my run with no problems had just slowed to a walk and turned right into a back alley when all of a sudden my left knee hurt..lots! I hobbled back home and continued to hobble around (I know I should have rested or iced but I had to get breakfast etc for kids....so shoot me!) then I went to grocery store and it seemed to ease....and it was seeming to ease yesterday somewhat though stairs still hurt. Today I get up and it did not ease, I couldn't even walk the dog more than 1/2k and have hobbled around and am now icing. I have a 10k two weeks tomorrow and am concerned about how this will impact my training and even if I'll be able to do it. I think I just twisted or pulled something but this is my first injury and I don't know how to work around/with it to still train. I don't belong to a gym, don't really have time to drive to a pool to swim, and still need to exercise dog who cannot run next to a bike.....what to do?? Any and all advice appreciated...oh and physio....yeah can't afford a bunch of that!!!! Thanks in advance!!! Amanda

Thanks for your comments and recommendations Kat. Would runners knee have come on so suddenly? I literally had no pain at all then turned down my alley and possible stopped running and went to walking at same time and then had major pain. I thought with runners knee you would have had a little build up of pain. I have iced and have ran every other day but I am in crippling pain with that knee....I have the Dr's this Fri as I'm sure I have twisted something. Doesn't hurt to walk, hurts to bend at a certain point, can take weight on it, but can't touch it on the side. I really don't want to drop out of this 10k, I did want to get in a couple more longer runs before then though I know that I will have no problem with running it if I pace and don't race. I know how hard it is to not run everyday and I know I run better when I don't run everyday but usually I start walking the dog and then think "I'll just have a little run" and next thing you know I run the rest of the way!!! Maybe if I didn't wear my running gear I wouldn't....Ha, I will talk the dog in stiletto's......my next post will be 'crazy lady ran in stiletto's and broke leg' If I don't take it easier I'm sure my husband will break my other leg to keep me from running as he thinks I'm mad (he doesn't run) (oh and thats a joke by the way people). Oh well, maybe I'll get me some crutches and see how hard it is to run with them!!!

Amanda - You should have a doc check out your knee ASAP. An overuse injury like runners knee would come on more gradually. If this had a specific onset of pain, especially if it was associated with any twisting motion, then you may have torn your meniscus or done some other damage that needs repair or rehab. At a minimum I would advise you not to run at all until you can walk without pain. I wouldn't worry about the loss of training as close as you are to your race. You don't have enough time left to either improve much with continued training or to lose too much from stopping. I was always told that your performance today is based on your training from two weeks ago. On the other hand, continuing to run when you have damaged your knee (and if you have pain, you have damage) can only lead to a longer layoff in the long term. This advice is coming from someone who didn't seek out the best medical advice he could afford 18 months ago and may be facing surgery or a permanent switch from running to cycling as a result.

Amanda - Here's my story for what it is worth. on 8/22/07 I went for a run of about 3.7 miles. Felt fine during the run, but my knee was killing me about an hour later. Kept hurting for a week and I went to see my regular doc. He told me what yours did, probably a torn meniscus, but I could keep running if it did not hurt. Bought a bike over Labor day weekend, put in about 500 miles in a month (no pain at all riding) and then with 3 days running training ran a 5K and got 3rd in my age group (everyone was participating in the marathon, the 5K was an adjunct.) Slowly built up my mileage until I started to get more knee pain than I wanted to take in mid-January. Went to a sports med doc, he said runners knee & set me up for physical therapy. Worked on correcting some muscle imbalance and got a knee brace that had a bolster to keep my kneecap aligned. That helped immensely, but the pain would not go away completely. It kept moving around on my knee. eventually went back to see the sports doc and he sent me to see a surgeon. The surgeon and sports med doc think that the problem is still the torn meniscus. Possibly a piece has torn off and is floating around in the joint, hence the pain moves around. Could be other issues that are more serious (the surgeon really scared me with possibilities.) The only way to know for sure and to repair whatever it is is to scope the knee. I continued to train with the brace and ice, tore my calf 6 weeks prior to my race I was training for, took a week off, came back up to speed over 2 more weeks and still did a very decent 1:53:50 for a half marathon. Prior to my injuries I had been hoping to break 1:45, but considering what happened, I was very happy. Skip ahead to now. I've not run since July 7, but have been putting in tons of miles on my bike. Haven't had the recommended surgery and keep putting off getting a second opinion from another surgeon. I've never had surgery (other than having my wisdom teeth extracted) and don't relish the thought. Since I can get out on my bike, I get the excersize I need to stay sane, but I miss the running and the running community. Most days I am pain free and have about 95% range of motion in the affected knee. Good days it gets up to maybe 97%, bad days down to 85% and I can tell you when it is going to rain. Sooner or later I need to get it fixed, but I'm opting for later right now. Bottom line for you - if you can run without pain, go for it. But if the pain continues to impede your enjoyment of running, consider having the surgery. Good luck!

Yeah. I hate it that my body refuses to belive my head when I tell it I am still 19. One reason (besides being a chicken) that I have been putting off surgery is that my wife has extensive gardens in our yard and needs my help in maintaining them. Therefore anything that has me laid up even for a couple of weeks needs to be put off until after the growing season. So I will probably be looking at getting it taken care of in November or December.I don't want to wait too long as I signed up for a half marathon in the beginning of May and would like to at least try to train for it.

Good luck with your knee. From what I have heard including from friends and acquaintences who have had the surgery, you get pretty immediate relief and can rehab quickly if you follow instructions.