knee injury

Question
Hi!

I'm 24 and have been running seriously for the past 2 to 3 years. I'm 5'4 and weigh between 125 and 130. At my peak i was running about 5-6 miles a day 5-6 days/week. About 2 years ago, I had my first knee injury in my right knee. I am an overpronator, so I got custom-made orthotics, which solved my right-knee problem.
A little later I started experiencing pain in my left knee (inner, lower knee). I went to a PT and identified it as unbalanced/weak muscles, so I started strength training. The pain still came and went and I saw a few more PTs (my muscles are fine, but my quads are tight, so they told me to do stretching exercises). The knee pain never really went away.
I took a long break (probably a few months) from seriously running, and have gone back to it these past few months. I'm experiencing soreness on the outside of my left knee,  a bit higher than my knee cap. I suspect my IT band is the reason. I still weight train 3x a week and now i'm trying to resume running slowly, about 1 mile at a time 3x a week. I also started using a foam roller and am taking glucosamine/chondritin.. But i still experience the soreness (although mild right now). My insurance right now doesn't cover PT, and my past few visits haven't really given me any answers. I'm hoping you might know some possible causes/solutions.

Thank you!

Answer
Hi Alice
Most injuries in running are directly related to tracking and alignment of the muscular skeleton and this is base on your description and symptoms and also ITB which is just part of the overall structure.You more than likely have a slight case of chondromalacia with others issues associated.First i would stop doing weight training running foam roller and gluo/chon is worthless and waist of money.The best course of treatment for your situation is up right stationary bike workouts for 45 min to 1hr 30min as often as you can with med tension increasing it as you get stronger along the way at high rev 65 to 85 rpm.The number one thing for success is having a great great deal of patience and consistency with your workouts.I have helped hundreds and hundreds around the world over the years and i was my first client years ago which took me 8 months to correct and no problems since and i have been running for 34 yrs.If you have any questions just get in touch or call me here in albuquerque NM any time.Just go to site for contact.I have included a letter from a client i work with for your info and thoughts.


All the best

John





Hello Mr. DeHart,

I just wanted to write and say thank you for your guidance over more than a year now while dealing with my various leg and knee issues. In particular thank you for the motivation, I must say that when you really love something like running and are forced to give it up so suddenly it is no way comfortable. Below I抳e described my case and hope it might help those with similar issues work through them and serve as a recommendation for others to seek out your guidance in the future.

After returning from Iraq in 2008 I ramped up my training as I was preparing to complete my initial term of service as a captain in the United States Army and hoped to take part in a number of ultra marathons during the summer of 2009. During the train-up I managed to finish a training marathon in 3:29 (yes, that one minute matters!), a number of 30 mile long runs, back to back runs adding up to more than 40 miles, complete an 80k race, and then jumped in to a 100 miler about a month later which I left at the 67 mile mark, and then decided to enter a 100k three weeks following and again had to drop out at around 42 miles, and finally a 5k shortly thereafter and felt something was more seriously wrong with my right knee. I have had tightness in my right ITB on and off since I began running in high school but felt this was a more serious pain related to the knee. I抦 sure to some this all seems silly, particularly running the amount described with out pausing due to potential injury concerns but if you truly love running it is often difficult to cut back when you enjoy the challenge, perceive the issue as less than serious, and believe it will pass on its own.

In any case, I stopped running completely for about three months and felt an even more intense pain when I tried running for just a few minutes, not to mention my knee was making cracking sounds far too frequently. I decided to search the web and the usual running online sources and found some ideas as to the causes, but in my opinion they generally lacked complete answers to my more specific questions: how do I truly fix this, is their permanent damage, and when will it go away.

I was fortunate enough to find Mr. DeHart抯 website. After initial contact through e-mail Mr. DeHart and I spoke over the phone and continued to discuss my many running problems and rehabilitation over the course of the next year. I should also mention that upon my separation from the Army I moved with my wife to China for academic pursuits and as such had limited access to equipment and a 15 hour time difference with New Mexico. Despite this Mr. DeHart was always willing to speak with me early in his morning and often at length to ensure I fully understood everything involved and to share some of his broader knowledge of training. I have received the help of fellow runners in the recreational running community in the past but have yet to meet someone as dedicated as Mr. DeHart to helping others to the end.

Through Mr. DeHart抯 suggestions and motivation I was able to start running again and a bit over a year later I am running almost every day without that initial serious pain described. I am still in China and not running ultras just yet but definitely enjoying the fact that I can go for a four mile run at a sub eight minute mile pace essentially pain free. We continue to converse on my ITB tightness but have moved through my major issues and feel I have made excellent progress from zero running to quality runs about as often as I like.

Again, I hope the above is able to help a few fellow runners through their injuries and also depict the sincere support Mr. DeHart has provided for over a year now.

Thank you again Mr. DeHart for all the help and motivation!

Sincerely,

Robert Johnston