This is my “good” knee. The one without all the scars and screws and reconstructed parts. But for the last month or so, it hasn’t been very good. I finally got into the doc, and he’s preliminarily calling it Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, or PFPS. There are a whole lot of theories as to how it happens, and it can lead to some fairly bad things (like Chondromalacia Patella, or a breakdown of the cartilage on the back of the kneecap).
The doctor was of the same opinion I was before I went in. Essentially, I’ve been doing a whole lot of work that recruits my outer quadriceps (vastus lateralis) more than my inner (vastus medialis), which can pull my kneecap off center over time, which causes it to wear against the groove in the femur that it’s supposed to track through. No bueno. So he’s sending me for an x-ray to make sure nothing more insidious is going on, and then to physical therapy to correct the muscle imbalance.
In the mean time, because it was cheap and simple, I picked up this knee band strap. It’s supposed to help with patellar tracking issues for people who run/jump and have knee pain. We’ll see. I wore it to the gym tonight and it seemed to sorta kinda help some.
That’s the bad news. The good news is, he twisted and pulled and poked and prodded, and he doesn’t think there’s anything worse going on. Nothing to indicate a ligament or meniscus problem, which I was more concerned about. So now it’s up to me how much I can do. As the doctor put it, “you can do as much as you think you can tolerate.” Sweet! So with some reservation, it’s time to register for my first big road running race of the year.