Anyone successfully got over runners' knee / knee pain?

We've had some people at our running club, including me, who are prone to injury but have managed to overcome it by using the run - walk - run method taught by Jeff Galloway. I found half marathons made me sore when I was doing continuous running. Now I'm doing ultra marathons very happily and also faster by taking the walk breaks he recommends.
His website explains very clearly how to work out how much run : walk ratio you need. It varies a lot from runner to runner. Might be worth a try for you.

lou it is the simplest thing ever. You just lie on the bed/table, fully clothed, and the practitioner moves their hands around in the vicinity of your body, but not actually touching. I think I dozed off as all
I remember is her tapping me and saying "turn lady".

I hadn't told her anything about my health but afterwards she said she felt 2 energy blocks in my body, one in my knee and one in my ear (deaf) and "worked" on them. It was all a bit seemingly far fetched but it worked brilliantly, came out feeling I'd had a night's sleep, and knee fixed.

Reiki practitioners are around, but ask for recommendations.

OP, an MRI showed up badly torn cartilage in my knee about 10 months ago (never felt pain like it!) I used to run, not a lot, but I do a lot of high impact classes and I have to be really careful now not to over-extend/stress the knee or do too much high impact stuff, otherwise it's really painful afterwards. I notice it particularly when I'm walking downstairs or pushing up from a sitting position.

I've been advised to stretch and strengthen my quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves as much as possible to protect my knees, as I'm very tight esp. hamstrings, which can put pressure on the knee joint. I try to mix body pump for strength with swimming and pilates for flexibility, and combat because I enjoy it.

Lou keep going with the physio exercises. When I had a bad knee many years ago it took months and months to feel the benefit! Don't be impatient and don't go back to running too soon,.

Glad you are cycling so you aren't crawling up the walls ( symptom suffered by all injured runners and cyclists)

Knee pain can be resolved with a good quality physiotherapist who is knowledgeable in the biomechanics of the knee in the context of running.

In short the action of running builds up the hamstrings which are much stronger than the quads at the front of the leg, and this weakens the quads which are meant to support the knee cap. It creates misalignment of the knee and multiple problems.

Solution is to rebalance the quad muscle strength with 100s of daily reps which involves straightening and bracing the affected leg and using a small sandbag or weight on the ankle, just raising and lower the leg. Sets of 50 or start with 25 and build up. Do on both legs will keep them balanced.

It sounds tedious but if you enjoy running like I do it's a sacrifice worth paying.

Keep the exercises going regularly even when you're better.

Also, downward facing dog is great to stretch the hamstrings and keep them from shortening which is a very common plague for runners.

This is going to sound whack but I had knee pain for years, nothing helped, until I tried Reiki. Cured on the spot and it's never come back. Might be worth a try!!

Yes. I saw a physio and she traced the problem back up to weak quads and lower abs. I had some exercises to do and try to remember to engage my abs if I feel any discomfort in my knee.

Scary thread!

So sorry about your knee runninglou. I have a torn meniscus and a cyst in my knee and my knee always hurts but most of the time it is bearable. It is always worse after intervals so I do fewer of those. I also find that running trails instead of the road is much less painful for my knee. Occasionally the knee pain is unbearable so I have a couple of weeks off and then it goes back to normal. Would a cortisone injection be an option at all? A friend of mine has had an operation which and is now having cortisone injections as he still has some pain. Good luck.

They are Calibre knee supports from Amazon. I will have a look at the quads and hamstring stuff too thanks.

I have just done an intensive dance workout with supports. I normally cannot put any weight through the knee whilst going upstairs after this workout but I have no pain today!The supports have definitely helped I will try them on a run at the weekend.

Yes cycling and cross trainer are fine. I hate swimming so don't do it. Only time my body sees a swimming pool is when I'm lying beside it in a tropical country with a cocktail in my hand.

Very often it's nothing to do with the knee which is why treatment and supports don't help - you're treating the wrong bit.

It could be a problem with your it band,hip or back among other things. I'd see an osteopath and ask them to check you over A good one will find the problem without you telling them where it hurts

I didn't run massive distances - just a hilly 5k x 3 a week but also did several high intensity spinning and body combat classes. Ironically I was prob the fittest I've ever been in my late 40s ! Last year I sustained a meniscul tear and cyst behind my left knee. Couldn't exercise let alone run for a good 7 or 8 months. I also have a job that entails spending many hours on my feet (HCP) which exacerbated the problem.
Over the last few months I've been building up the exercise - started gentle spinning but avoiding the uphill standing sections to now running some very very slow 5 - 6 kms again - bought some new trainers and wear supports on both knees - look like robocop ! also much more focused on cool downs and stretching post run - I suspect I neglected that before to be honest I also try to run on softer surfaces - regularly do a lovely run through a pine forest near home I still get niggles now and again but just try to make sure I have decent rest intervals between runs. The physio I was referred to did give me
a comprehensive selection of knee exercises which I found helped a lot too you've just got to make time to practice them every day Hope that helps a bit !

Sorry Lou. How about cycling outdoors at a club? How are knees when you cycle?

You could try high intensity interval walking, that's what I do. After years of hellish knee problems/surgery I have had both knees replaced and I'm a lot younger than your dad. I was a runner, keep fit fanatic, skiier, was jogging 3 days before my daughter was born but out of the blue my knees packed in and I had to give up all my activities and adjust accordingly. For every pound you weigh, you put at least 3 times that through your knees when running.

It's hard get your head around stopping. It has taken me 5 years to realise that my running days are over. You can still get 50% of the high by swimming fast front crawl!

Sorry OP it sounds like you come from a talented sporting family.

Yes Fintress. I feel that the less pressure on them is the best way forward for the future. I don't want to exacerbate the problem. How old are you OP?

My husband was a marathon runner and then he started with knee problems. He was advised to give it up and do other form of exercise. Pounding the pavements is really hard on the knees too. Maybe drop your mileage a bit? There are tons of knee exercises on the net you could try and see what's best for you. Knees are precious, we don't really appreciate them until they give us problems. Speaking from experience and a couple of major surgeries down the road. Hoping you find something that helps.