Runner's knee
Many runners, whether 5k's to marathoners contact our office in
a panic because they have developed knee pain or "runner's knee"
(patellofemoral pain syndrome or chondromalacia patella).
Definition of runner’s knee: The
patella, or kneecap, is covered on its back side with the
thickest layer of
articular cartilage of all the joints in the body. Runner’s
knee or
Chondromalacia patella occurs when this cartilage
deteriorates or erodes. The softening or wearing away and
cracking of the cartilage under the kneecap, results in pain and
degeneration. The cartilage becomes rough and causes the kneecap
not to glide smoothly over the knee.
Causes of runner’s knee:
Injury and/or overuse: Knee pain from running is one of the most
commonly seen overuse injuries. About half of overuse injuries
affect the knee joint in some way. Runner’s knee is one of the
most common overuse injuries that we see among runners, but also
among other athletes participating in sports requiring a lot of
running, such as soccer, football, lacrosse, or tennis. The
patella, or kneecap, is covered on its back side with the
thickest layer of articular cartilage of all the joints in the
body. Runner’s knee or
chondromalacia patellae occurs when this cartilage
deteriorates or erodes. An abnormal alignment between the
patellae and the femur can result, which leads to a
clicking or crunching in the joint when it is fully
extended. Runner’s knee or chondromalacia patella affects one
out of every 5,000 people. The good news is that cartilage can
be regenerated with
Prolotherapy
treatments!
Malalignment:
If your bones are not tracking completely
correctly, then the stress to the knees from running will not be
distributed properly. The good news is that tracking problems
can be alleviated with
Prolotherapy
injections.
Weak thigh muscles or hamstring muscles. Working to strengthen
these areas is somewhat helpful, but often
Prolotherapy is
needed to actually cure the problem.
Old shoes:
if a runner has been running without pain, but all of
a sudden develops a new knee pain, it's often time to change
shoes. Most runners know that the life of a pair of running
shoes is typically only about 300 miles.
Foot problem/weak feet or ankles.
Pronation, supination, or
other foot problems may also contribute to runner’s knee.
Sometimes correcting the underlying foot/knee problem is what
needs to be addressed first.
Symptoms of runner's knee:
Runners may experience pain behind or
around the patella (knee cap), especially where the thigh and
the knee meet; the runner may also experience pain when he/she
bends - such as with walking, squatting, kneeling, running, or
even sitting; pain going down hill or down stairs is often more
painful than flat/upward; runners may experience swelling,
popping, and/or grinding as well.
Traditional treatment for runner's knee usually involves
RICE -
rest, ice, compression and elevation.
Standard treatment
typically includes leg extensions and stretching exercises to
help strengthen the thigh muscle so the patellae, or kneecaps,
track better on the femur. Unfortunately, this does nothing to
repair the deteriorated cartilage in the patellae and thus, does
not alleviate the chronic pain that people with this condition
experience. Another common practice is to inject steroids into
the knee or to prescribe anti-inflammatory medications such as
Motrin, Aleve, Advil, and other similar products. In the long
run, these treatments do more harm than good.
Cortisone shots
and anti-inflammatory drugs produce short-term pain relief but
long term loss of function and even more chronic pain by
actually inhibiting the healing process of soft tissues and
accelerating the cartilage degeneration. It doesn’t make sense,
we know. But that’s standard practice. Long term use of these
types of drugs can lead to other problems such as leaky gut
syndrome and allergies. When all else fails, these runners are
referred to orthopedic surgeons. Unfortunately surgery often
makes the problem worse. Surgeons will use x-ray technology to
remove cartilage tissue and this will most assuredly result in
arthritis down the road.
Runners are also often told to stop running or drastically
reduce their running miles and avoid running on hills. Runners
may need to do this for a short time, but often the runner who
sees a Prolotherapy doctor, can get back to running much more
quickly that just "waiting for it to heal."
Alternative treatment for Runner’s Knee at Caring Medical:
We recommend MEAT - which stands for Movement, Exercise,
Analgesia (natural pain medications), and treatment (such as
Prolotherapy). Prolotherapy stimulates the body to repair the
injury – in this case, the knee cartilage and surrounding
knee ligaments. Malalignment problems can also be corrected with
Prolotherapy. We also prescribe proper exercise regimes, analyze
gait/running style, and also discuss proper
nutrition/supplements for maximum healing.
Prolotherapy Research:
Ross
Hauser, M.D. have published a number of
Prolotherapy research papers on curing knee
pain, like that of runner’s knee. In the Journal of Prolotherapy.
2009;1:11-21, in an article entitled, A Retrospective Study on
Dextrose Prolotherapy for Unresolved Knee Pain at an Outpatient
Charity Clinic in Rural IL, the results of this study showed
that patients had a statistically significant decline in their
levels of pain, stiffness, crunching sensation, and improvement
in their range of motion with Prolotherapy. More than 82% showed
improvements in walking ability, medication usage, athletic
ability, anxiety, depression, and overall disability with
Prolotherapy. Ninety-six percent of patients felt Prolotherapy
treatments
improved their life overall. Conclusion: In this study, patients
with unresolved knee pain, treated with dextrose Prolotherapy,
showed improvements in many clinically relevant parameters and
overall quality of life.
