Last week as I was preparing for a 10K I began noticing some tight pain in my knee. However I wanted to rock this race this year so I kept training and playing Ultimate throughout the week. Now, three days after running the race (and earning a new PR) I’m still quite sore and walking with a little limp. It is frustrating, disappointing, and painful to say the least as I really had wanted to begin training for my first marathon this coming February. I’m still not quite sure how this problem developed but after a little research online I feel pretty confident that the problem is called Chondromalacia.
The symptoms of chondromalacia patella are generally a vague discomfort of the inner knee area, aggravated by activity (running, jumping, climbing or descending stairs) or by prolonged sitting with knees in a moderately bent position (the so called “theater sign” of pain upon arising from a desk or theater seat). Some patients may also have a vague sense of “tightness” or “fullness” in the knee area. Occasionally, if chronic symptoms are ignored, the associated loss of quadriceps (thigh) muscle strength may cause the leg to “give out.” Besides an obvious reduction in quadriceps muscle mass, mild swelling of the knee area may occur.
The web sites all say that the only treatment for this condition, besides surgery(!), is resting for several weeks – which I simply don’t want to do. However, this is my first real encounter with leg problems so I should probably take it easy for a little while. I’m hoping this condition is temporary and is resolved quickly. Any advice from more experienced runners in the audience?
