Knee pain can slow you down and break your momentum with your running goals. If you experience runner's knee, you need to know how to best help your body overcome it. Exercises that strengthen your thigh muscles can help with knee pain from running. However, it is also important to take a break when necessary, rather than risk a more serious injury.
Background
A runner may experience chronic pain in his knees, called runner's knee. With runner's knee you may feel a dull pain where your kneecap connects with the bottom of your femur. Runner's knee hurts the most when you bend your knee, such as when you go up or down stairs or kneel. Runner's knee can have an acute cause such as an injury but often crops up over time due to other causes.
Causes
Your kneecap slides up and down while you run, as your knee bends repeatedly. The cartilage under your kneecap helps it slide along your femur and knee joint. If you run too often or if your kneecap does not slide properly, the cartilage becomes irritated and can begin to cause pain. A number of things can prevent your knee cap from moving properly when you run. You may have poor form or run on uneven ground. The muscles in your thigh may be imbalanced. You may also over-train and not give the cartilage in your knee enough time to heal.
Solution
You can help improve the way your kneecap slides in its joint by strengthening your thigh muscles. The vastus medialis stabilizes your kneecap while you run, so strengthening your vastus medialis may help with your knee pain. However, follow the advice of Dr. Stephen Pribut: do not bend your knee too much when exercising. Bending your knee all the way puts too much pressure on your kneecap and can worsen your pain.
Straight Leg Lifts
Strengthen your vastus medialis at home with simple straight leg lifts. Lie down on your back, ideally on a cushioned mat. Keep your right leg straight and bend your left knee slightly. Raise your right leg to 90 degrees then lower it without bending your right knee. Do this five times with your right leg, before switching to your left leg. Begin with five sets of 10 per leg, then increase your number of sets to 10 as your legs get stronger.
Leg Extensions and Leg Press
You can also strengthen your vastus medialis muscle using the leg extension and leg press machines at the gym. The important thing is to remember not to do full extensions, because bending your knee all the way may put too much pressure on your kneecap. Begin each exercise with your knee bent at 20 degrees. Leg extension and leg press machines have pins that you can put in place so that the weight will not give resistance beyond 20 degrees.
Considerations
While exercises can help you get over or prevent runner's knee, your first step to dealing with runner's knee should be to decrease or cease your running until the pain goes away. Pushing yourself too hard with a lot of running may further irritate your knee which will worsen your pain or prevent your knee from healing.
