Advice and guidance from Dr. Kevin Vincent, MD, PhD, FACSM, CAQSM about Runner’s Knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome) was recently featured on Health.com. Dr. Vincent describes the basic causes of knee pain in this small excerpt from the article:
“Unlike many other bones, your kneecap floats freely, moving back and forth as you bend your leg. In a perfect world, it would travel in a straight line along the groove at the end of your thighbone, or femur.
But several factors–including muscle weakness, tightness, and imbalances–can throw off your alignment, driving the kneecap off track. The kneecap then rubs against the thighbone, causing knee pain and swelling that often worsens with activity.
Runners have a high rate of patellofemoral pain syndrome, in part because the motion of running involves bending the knee so many times. Essentially, running is a series of around 1,700 one-legged squats per mile. If you’re out of alignment, that’s a lot of bone-on-bone contact.“
For more information about runner’s knee, including how to avoid the pain – be sure to read the full Health.com article: