Forums >Health and Nutrition>Inner Knee Pain Below Knee - Sartorius, Gracilis, Semitendinosus Tendons
Hello,
I am re-entering the world of running after 4 years in the office chair, and after one 1-mile run I've been experiencing inner lower knee pain, where the 4 tendons of the sartorius, gracilis, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus connect to the tibia. I've stretched before the run, and ran in brand new shoes that were professionally selected by a running-only store staff. I have neutral feet and was recommended Asics Nimbus 16. I've ran about a quarter mile in these shoes at the store and there was no pain the next 3 days. On day 4 I went out for the 1-mile run and afterwards the pain described below developed. The pain is only at the connection to the tibia, the muscles themselves are not sore and the pain does not radiate. In the morning walking on flat surfaces and down stairs hurts enough to be more than annoying. On a bike ride to work there is no pain. Walking around the office is painful similar to when waking up in the morning.
Running instantly hurts from the impulse of the foot strike. Walking also hurts. Since I cannot run, I've been doing 5K walks 6 times over the last 8 days. The pain is not decreasing. I continue to stretch and found that only Aleve reduces the pain, not Advil or Tylenol.
I am 5' 8", 170 lbs, 32 year old male, capable of olympic distance triathlons 4 years ago. For the last 4 years, I've been commuter-biking, not no running. I would appreciate any advice on what you did when encountering this kind of pain. Thank you very much!
DK
Chief Endurance Dork
DK, you're sure no discomfort is coming from the joint line? Because occasionally joint/meniscus pain can refer down to where those tendons insert.
Those tendon insertions as a group are called the pes anserinus (goose's foot if memory serves me correctly - because the "footprint" [no pun intended] of the tendon looks like the footprint from the water fowl). There's a bursa underneath them, called the pes anserine bursa which may be the source of your discomfort.
No guarantees, of course, but some massage/soft tissue work can be helpful to move any fluid that's accumulating in and around the tendons and bursa which can help it heal. Occasionally have had good luck with capsacin (comes from chili peppers) cream because the structures in and around the front of the knee my be superficial enough to benefit. There was a study a few years back that showed good results for patellar tendon inflammation. Ice and heat may help in equal measure - I'm not 100% sold on one over the other anymore in regards to managing inflammation that's been around for more than a few days/weeks.
There's not much downside to trying these as long as you're not allergic to the capsacin. If pain persists or worsens it would definitely be worth getting checked out in person by an ortho or a PT because the meniscus issue isn't one to mess around with.
Hope this helps....
endurancenerd.com
Any luck solving this issue? I'm trying to find someone who has gotten through SMT tendonopathy - if that what what you ended up having.