So we know we've got a bunch of runners watching this who are questioning
whether or not the pain that they're feeling in their knee
is runner's knee or something else.
So Brad, I think a good place for us to
start is to talk about the typical signs and symptoms of runner's knee.
Talk about what it is and then talk about various other things
that might cause similar pain that, quite frankly, isn't runner's knee.
So what do you think?
Yeah, absolutely. So runner’s knee is a bit of an umbrella term, to some people meaning
different things when they say runner’s knee. When I say runner’s knee,
I’m talking about something known as patellofemoral pain
which in simple speak is pain at the front of the knee or kneecap.
That’s what I mean when I say runner’s knee.
And what are the kind of typical signs and symptoms?
What would people expect to be feeling with a typical case of runner's knee?
So, it would definitely be brought on
when they run, but the point in the run when it comes on is different for different people.
But then from there, it will be aggravated by some day to day activities
so fairly commonly with people go up or down stairs
that will bring all their runner’s knee symptoms. In the gym with squatting
or lunging, or day to day squatting and lunging like playing with their children,
for example, but hopping or jumping is another one
and the other slightly different example
for some people is pain when they sit down for a long period of time
And then, particularly when they then first get up and get going again.
That can bring on their pain at the front of the knee.
And is it usually kind of pain through range of motion?
A kind of pain that's there, regardless of of where they are and range?
Or is there a typical kind of point where they think, ooh, that hurts
when I hit that kind of depth of a squat, if you like,
So for most people it is
WHen they hit a mark. Again, it varies from runner to runner.
but as a rough line in the sand
about 45 degrees, give or take.
That's when the average person will go “Yeah that’s bringing on my pain”.
Are we talking sharp pain?
Are we talking dull pain?
Is it kind of really, as you began to allude to, a kind of pinpoint
or is it more diffuse?
What's the what's the nature?
It's often really vairable.
So most runners will put their hand on the front of their knee and sort of rub around
and say “I know it’s at the front, but might be behind my kneecap,
I definitely can’t point to it with one finger”.
Most commonly, it will be an aching type pain but some people do
experience some stabbing or sharp shooting sensations.
But more often than not, it's pretty variable and is achey.
Lots of us talk about kind of clicky, cracky, funny
sounding knees, which I often put down to wear and tear more than anything else.
But is there any kind of link between these kinds of noises
that we hear our knees make versus patellofemoral pain, runner's knee?
Or is it unrelated?
Most of the time, it’s unrelated. You will have runners that have very noisey knees,
and they’ve never had pain before.
You will have runners that have noisey knees that then become painful.
You can have painful knees that don’t make any noise at all...
Normally it’s just one of those things and has probably got nothing to do
with the pain you’re experiencing.
Yeah. Got you. So I think that's a
big misconception that people seem to have is that, you know,
the the noise and the pain are pretty much hand in hand.
They're just, in my experience again, they're not.
But with with the other injuries
that people have, that kind of often feel very similar to runner's knee.
What kind of other injuries are there and what would they feel like?
Very broadly speaking,
I know this is difficult to do
in general terms, but what would they feel like
in comparison to a typical case of runner's knee?
So there’s three obvious ones really.
The one most runners, I suspect, will have heard of at some point
is iliotibial band pain, or ITB pain, or ITB syndrome,
again lots of different names. That’s in a similar place, but it’s normally more towards
the outside of the knee and normally has a sharper and more painful quality.
There’s also patellar tendinopathy, sometimes called tendonitis or tendon pain.
Again, that’s in a similar area, but it’s normally a bit more pinpoint.
Runners can normally take one finger and point to that spot, just at the very bottom
of their kneecap, as opposed to putting ther hand on and rubbing around the knee.
And then the final one is Hoffa’s fat pad pain, or fat pad impingement.
Not as common as the other two, but can bother people when they’re running.
Again, it’s in a very similar place, and what should lead you down that path is if you’ve
got a puffy knee. If there’s any sign of swelling which we wouldn’t
expect from runner’s knee
that’s when you should start to think “is it a fat pad problem?”.
Got you. And of course, we all know that if you’re not sure,
if you're feeling pain in general, we need to get you off
to a physical therapist to actually get a proper assessment done.
But if there was one, if there was one thing that you could say,
if this is present in terms of the signs and symptoms that someone is experiencing,
your brain straightaway goes to runner’s knee, patellofemoral pain,
what would it be?
So it’s definitely that variable pattern,
that hand on the front of the knee and rubbing around,
but the other test we would use is a single leg squat. If you can stand on one leg
and do some mini squats, and it doesn’t bring on your pain,
it’s probably not runner’s knee. Whereas if you do that and it definitely
brings on that pain you feel when you’re running, that’s the best sign that we’ve got
that makes us start to think “Yup, this is probably runner’s knee”.
Got you. I think that’s going to help a lot of people.
Thank you so much for doing that and sharing that wisdom, Brad.
Up next: check out the video right over here for three of the best exercises you can do
to fix your knee pain and get back to running. Hope you found today’s video interesting,
I’ll see you in the next one.