Health & Fitness

4 Common Knee Injuries From Running

A lot of sports can be a cause of injuries. Running and knee pain also go hand in hand. Here are some very common knee injuries which can occur or become more severe and serious with running. You need to see an orthopedic doctor for knee pain if you notice the symptoms.

Runner’s Knee

Runner’s knee is a very common injury which occurs in most runners. It is basically the overuse and the irritation of the cartilage which is surrounding the knee. When you try to run or even bend, it causes a lot of pain in the knee. To treat this, you will need a lot of rest, painkillers and try to keep your knee elevated so that it can reduce blood flow to the irritated area. Using ice packs and having a massage will help a lot in the healing process.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

If you run too much and overuse your knee on a regular basis, then you might feel pain around the outer knee. This is because the tendon surrounding the kneecap is tightening over time, because of overuse, and everything around the tendon is becoming tighter. This will lead to a lot of pain, to the point where you are not able to walk without having pangs of pain in your knee. This is known as Iliotibial Band Syndrome.

To treat this injury, you will need to give a lot of rest to your knees and you will need anti-inflammatory medicine to help the tendon relax and for the pain, you can take regular pain killers. You can also try low impact exercises like swimming and a bit of stretching to keep the knee engaged but not putting too much stress on the tendon which has tightened.

Patellar Tendinitis

This is also a very commonly occurring knee injury. It is also known as Jumper’s knee. It happens when you overuse the knee a lot and the tendons thicken and become swollen too. This causes a lot of restrictions in movement and it also causes a lot of pain if you move your knee or leg a certain way, because the thickened tendon will poke in all the sensitive places and you will feel radiating pain in your leg and surrounding areas of your knees.

To help with Jumper’s knee, you can try to give your knee a rest until there is no more pain. Usually, this takes about 2 to 3 weeks to fully heal and for the tendon to come back to its original thickness. You can also use ice packs to compress the tendon and reduce the swelling. It also numbs the area and the pain is not felt a lot.

ACL Injuries

ACL and PCL injuries are very common with rigorous running sports. This is caused due to tearing of the ligaments inside the knee. It is felt with excruciating pain and the area can be very tender and swollen too.

Usually, it occurs when a runner suddenly stops moving or starts to abruptly move. This causes a very severe reaction to the knee and this can tear the delicate ligaments of the knee. This can be treated by having proper rest and cold and hot compresses. You will need to give your knee some rest before you can start activity again. If you don’t give your knee adequate time to heal, then it can lead to more severe injuries which will only become harder to treat.

You can also alleviate the pain using pain killers, either in the form of tablets or injections. Try not to rely too much on medication because this will create a tolerance in your body and you don’t want that. Try to get through the pain independently and if the pain becomes too much to handle, only then you should take a pain pill or two. Otherwise, the pain is mostly tolerable and it doesn’t hurt a lot as long as you keep activity to a minimum.

Conclusion

There you have it! These are the most commonly occurring injuries of the knee and their treatment. It’s always a good idea get the treatment from a knee injury doctor Woodbridge and give your knee a break from any type of strenuous activity if it is injured.

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