Exercising makes you feel great. Some exercises cause you to overuse your legs, however. Running, jogging and walking often result in overuse injuries to the knees. The two most common overuse conditions in the legs are patellofemoral pain syndrome and iliotibial band syndrome. Luckily, you can usually rehab your legs and get back to your exercise routines in a few weeks or months.
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
Patellofemoral pain syndrome is the name for the condition when the patella, or kneecap, no longer tracks properly on the groove in your femur, the bone in your thigh. This syndrome is considered an overuse injury and results from the constant flexing of the knee. The pain feels like it is coming from behind the knee cap or around the knee cap. It is especially painful when you are going up or down hills because you're placing more pressure on the knee.
Treating Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
To treat patellofemoral pain syndrome, your doctor will advise you to first reduce pain and swelling in the knee. This means you'll have to rest your knee, elevate it, ice it for 20 minutes at a time and possibly take anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. Once the pain and swelling subside, you'll have to rehabilitate the knee with physical therapy. Your physical therapist will train you to strengthen the four muscles in your thigh that stabilize the kneecap, called the quadriceps. Once you strengthen these muscles, they'll help keep the kneecap on its track, and they'll also absorb the pressure you place on the knee joint. If rehab fails, you might need surgery to resurface the underside of the kneecap.
Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Iliotibial band syndrome is another common overuse injury. It happens when the iliotibial band becomes irritated from too much flexing of the knee joint. The iliotibial band is made of thick fibrous tissue. It starts at your hip, travels down your leg and crosses right over your knee cap. When overuse causes this to become irritated and inflamed, you'll see swelling and feel a lateral pain across your kneecap. This pain will also feel more intense when you go up or down a hill.
Treating Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Treating iliotibial band syndrome is considered challenging. Again, your doctor will first advise you to rest and elevate the knee, ice it for 20 minutes at a time and maybe take anti-inflammatory drugs. If the pain and swelling don't go away after a few days, you might need a cortisone shot. Once the pain and swelling subside, you'll be ready to rehabilitate your knee. This will involve working with a physical therapist to stretch the iliotibial band and to strengthen the gluteus medias muscle that supports the iliotibial band. The rehab is not always successful, and sometimes results in surgery. In that case, an orthopedic surgeon will snip the iliotibial band where it crosses the knee cap.
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