# Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome



## nstearns (Jun 2, 2006)

Anyone else been diagnosed with this? What's the recovery time like depending on the stage of it that you're in? How much time am I looking at off the bike? Been off for about a month and still getting phantom pain and muscle spams in the area of my right knee.


----------



## nhodge (Jul 6, 2004)

*diagnosis?*

morning,

just what were your symptoms? i did a self diagnosis on Web MD & that's what i came up w/. i get sensations of instant , short pain over the front my kneecap w/ a total & equally short loss of strength. like my knee is just going to give way in holding my weight.
doesn't happen often but it's started so it's got me worried. can you explain your situation,
please.?

thanks-norman


----------



## amorphous (Jul 7, 2006)

yulp...do your stretches...do your P/T (WITH weights) - I was off the bike for 6 weeks last year. 

If it's an muscle imbalance, you really can fix it with strengthing exercises.

Also - see a good Orthopedic. - There might be reason to scope your knee and get stuff cleared out, my pain subsided, never FULLY went away. I see an orthopedic on Monday to see if it's worth scoping...

å


----------



## imridingmybike (Jan 16, 2005)

nstearns said:


> Anyone else been diagnosed with this? What's the recovery time like depending on the stage of it that you're in? How much time am I looking at off the bike? Been off for about a month and still getting phantom pain and muscle spams in the area of my right knee.


I've had patello femoral off and on for more than 10 years. It isn't a big deal - you just need to do the right stretches - early and often.

For me, when I am having trouble, lots of hamstring stretching does the trick. 20 minutes into a ride, I stop and touch my toes for a few minutes. Then every 40 minutes or so into the ride, stop and stretch more.

IT band stretches can also help. Look it up on the internet, you'll find plently of info.

Once you find the right mixture of stretches, you'll be fine. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks to recover enough to get back on the bike.

Good luck!


----------



## Rower_CPU (May 7, 2004)

I did some PT recently for some patelofemoral pain due to a muscle imbalance. If you're going that route, my guy said to make sure you're doing "closed chain" exercises such as leg press and squats where your feet press against something, instead of "open chain" exercises like leg extensions. Apparently some of the latest research is showing that open chain exercises put a ton of pressure under the kneecap and can be detrimental to your healing/strengthening.

Something to keep in mind...


----------



## imridingmybike (Jan 16, 2005)

Rower_CPU said:


> I did some PT recently for some patelofemoral pain due to a muscle imbalance. If you're going that route, my guy said to make sure you're doing "closed chain" exercises such as leg press and squats where your feet press against something, instead of "open chain" exercises like leg extensions. Apparently some of the latest research is showing that open chain exercises put a ton of pressure under the kneecap and can be detrimental to your healing/strengthening.
> 
> Something to keep in mind...


Rower - did you ever row?

I first started getting patello femoral while in crew...


----------



## Rower_CPU (May 7, 2004)

Yup, a couple years in college. My PFS started in high school though from basketball/volleyball. It flared up again recently when I started doing some distance running. Luckily I caught it quick and recovered well.

No problems for me during crew, but I think that's because we had a good weights program.


----------



## nstearns (Jun 2, 2006)

Norman, I changed from eggbeater cleats to spd cleats so that I could do spin classes. But didn't have the cleat set up properly. I had pain directly behind and below my knee, the right side of my knee and thigh were tight and I was getting muscle spasms and sporadic pains on the left side of my knee and thigh. Also could barely put any weight on it for four days, and had a clicking sound every time I took a step. Took about four days for it to start to subside. At this point, I have to be really careful about how I position my feet because I can feel it making my knees tight and at least once every couple of days and am getting very short sporadic pains in both of my knees.


----------

