Highly unlikely!
The knee is the largest joint in the body and is able withstand load. At the top of the shin bone there is a large table top ledge (Tibial Plateau for those of you interested) and which supports the huge Femur (thigh bone). You think, on a daily basis, year upon year, our knees are carrying us around without too many complaints. They do an amazing job right?
Surely, If it was so bad for your knees then every runner would have knee pain? Is this making sense?
So, rather than stop running, If you are experiencing knee pain when running, we have to find out why it’s hurting. It could be down to tissue tolerance and training overload or usually, there is a restriction elsewhere in the body causing the knee to overload.
The site of the symptom is not always the cause. Read that again 🙂
We need to think more laterally & explore other areas of the body that may not moving so well. It could be a running posture, even the position of your head. It could be coming from the lumbar spine, hip, ankle or foot.
For example, If you think, your feet have 33 joints each (66 in total) that equals 1/4 of the joints in the body. Any restriction in the foot (from footwear or joint restriction) can impact the knee as the body will find a compensatory path, next stop is the knee.
Here at the clinic we offer a ‘Running Remedy’ assessment which can be really helpful in identifying areas that aren’t moving so well.
This includes actual running assessment, passive assessment and examination to identify areas of weakness In the legs or torso.
This article was written by Sharon who has a keen interest in running biomechanics. We would recommend her as your go to practitioner.
Contact the clinic or book online for an appointment.
