Steve seeks advice post a cartilage tear
- Related Injuries: Knees
April 22, 2016
Hi, I had an arthroscopy for a cartilage tear in my right knee at the end of last year. As I hadn’t had a sudden injury, the surgeon was unclear as to the cause of the injury other than wear and tear. I had noticed though that over the past year or so, when I land on my right foot my right knee turns inwards. My left knee doesn’t do this.
I thought maybe it had always done this and I just hadn’t noticed but soon afterwards I started getting pain which then resulted in the surgery. I have had orthotics made but this hasn’t made any difference as I tend to land on my forefoot when I land.
Whilst I am getting no pain at the moment I am concerned that if I continue to run with this action I am going to do further damage to my knee. As a result I have stopped running and am using the gym for fitness which I hate!!!
Interestingly, it happens much less if I run on grass but as soon as I Â return to harder surfaces it starts again.
I would be grateful for any advice.
Thanks
Steve
April 22, 2016
Hi Steve
You’ve essentially got a loading issue and any form of passive treatment, be it surgery or orthotics just won’t cut the long term mustard.
You need active control (hence the differing running surface) of what you’re hip/pelvis and foot/ankle does – your knee is just the victim of what happens above and below.
Running isn’t the issue – but how you run maybe is. Gym is not the answer but getting better control of your gluts, entire lower limb and foot is – whether this is gym based or not isn’t the issue but how you do it, is.
I think I’d start having a look at some of these videos. You need to start to build up your load gradually and positively – but if you do too much too soon, your knee will suffer. It’s all about your load management.
Have a start here https://www.sixphysio.com/video/running
Let me know how it goes.
The Guru
