Runner's Knee
Runner's knee is caused by overuse of the iliotibial tract – a band of connective tissue that runs along the outside of the thigh. The condition is also known as iliotibial band syndrome. Overuse causes the band to rub against a bony prominence, which triggers pain. This pain usually appears after a certain amount of running and tends to fade quickly once the activity stops.
Symptoms
The complaint consists of an aching or stabbing pain on the outside of the knee, which can radiate towards the back of the knee and the outside of the lower leg. Three stages can be distinguished: in stage I the pain appears after exercise, in stage II it appears during exercise, and in stage III the pain is constantly present and training is no longer possible.
Causes
Several factors can contribute to the development of runner's knee:
- Insufficient or no warm-up.
- Short or stiff muscles, which makes stretching the outside of the thigh important.
- Running too much, too often or too fast within a short period, especially at the start of the season or after an injury.
- One-sided training forms, such as hill training or plyometric jump training.
- Always running on the same side of a cambered road.
- Shoes with worn down or collapsed outer heels.
Runners are particularly vulnerable to runner's knee when there is:
- Shortened muscles on the outside of the thigh.
- Bow-leggedness.
- A heel bone that tilts outward.
What can you do yourself to prevent this complaint?
To help prevent runner's knee, the following advice is important:
- Warm-up – spend at least 10 minutes on this before you start running.
- Good training build-up – increase your training load gradually and vary your running direction regularly on cambered roads.
- Running shoes – make sure your shoes have no worn heels and offer the right pronation support; with a leg length difference of more than 1 cm, an insole can help.
- Cool-down – jog gently for another 5 minutes after training and follow this with stretching exercises.
What can you do if this injury has occurred anyway?
- Adjust your training – train in a modified way and consider alternative forms of exercise such as cycling or aqua jogging.
- Cooling – cool the knee with ice for 10 to 15 minutes after training, 3 to 5 times a day, always placing a tea towel between the ice and the skin.
Treatment by the physiotherapist
The physiotherapist can support recovery through deep transverse friction massage of the surrounding muscles, dry needling and kinesiology taping. In addition, an adapted training schedule is drawn up and attention is given to stretching the iliotibial band.