I am having some pain in my left knee. I play basketball and ride. I have been fit by a professional also.
I am noticing what appears to be a bakers cyst on my left leg. I can train through the pain but a hard week of training will make even light riding hurt. So I have determined a need to take a few really light weeks and see if this will help solve my issue. I rode 3 hours Sunday and had minimal pain while riding, managed to have my best ride of the year numbers wise. But when I rode Monday my knee was sore when I went to bed.
Am I over reacting by shutting down for a few weeks?
With all the racing being pushed by, I figured getting this knee 100% would be the best decision.
If it is actually a Baker’s cyst there is likely a reason for that. Majority are caused by meniscus tears. With this down time you may want to get it checked. In case something needs to be addressed. You can take care of it during this time.
knees are crazy, I’d go see a doctor. if it’s a bakers they can drain it if need but or it goes away with rest; but, I’d see a professional and establish that relationship
I spoke to Ortho yesterday. Sounds like light duty for a few weeks. Ice after riding and take advil. If its still acting up in a few weeks told me to come in.
Called the fitter and he is going to review data to see if we are causing problems in that area
I can commiserate with you. A couple years ago I did my 1st outdoor ride in spring with a fair amount of climbing. I did experience a little bit of knee pain, but continued my cycle training indoors and also continued treadmill running. Aching continued intermittently, but a few weeks later I road on a Saturday and walked 18 holes of golf on Sunday. That Sunday night I ended up going to the ER due to acute pain and calf swelling. I was concerned about a deep vein thrombosis. Ultrasound showed a 9x7x1cm fluid filled mass in my calf— ruptured Baker’s cyst. Was off the bike for about 11/2 weeks, but have not stopped riding in the last almost 2 years. Unfortunately my running days are over for good. MRI showed almost no medial meniscus and other changes consistent with osteoarthritis. Orthopod told me to forego the lunges and he didn’t really have to tell me to stop running. I had already figured that out. He also indicated that at some point the next step would be a total knee replacement. The good news is very little discomfort related to riding or after a ride and I continue to do some weight lifting at the gym when I’m not quarantined. To my knowledge, I never had a previous knee injury… but I’m 67 and I guess the parts wear out.
My point: unless it’s you livelihood, dump the basketball. And by the way, recent studies have shown that intrarticular steroid injections may ease discomfort and swelling but also seem to accelerate the degeneration of the joint!
Enjoy the ride.
No basketball due to keeping distancing but I think im going to pump the brakes on it. I enjoy the games, but it causes nagging injuries.
I did a gym session on friday and my legs are sore, but over all my knee is feeling better from the week off. I am taking this week off the bike also. Just gym and walking the dog, ill increase the dog walking from 2 to 4 miles a day. No tightness when I went to bed last night, so thats a positive.
So sorry! Can be very upsetting. Hopefully if you have a medial meniscus tear, with continued down time things will quiet down and symptoms will abate soon.
Baker cysts are usually secondary to other knee pathology, degenerative meniscal tear, or osteoarthritis. Often with activity modification, short course of anti-inflammatory medications symptoms resolve. I have a Baker’s Cyst
due to old osteoarthritic knee, s/p prior knee surgeries. It does not cause me
any problems, occasional feeling of tightness behind knee, helped by stretching my hamstrings. Hope you get better, I am 66, and have lived my adult life with a bum knee.
I’ve recently been diagnosed with a baker’s cyst, and my doc doesn’t seem to be concerned about any underlying issue following an MRI. They recommended I back off the riding a bit and RICE to alleviate symptoms as needed.
It comes and goes in terms of irritation. If I do a hard ride and a lot of low gear pedaling it will get bothered, I will take an easy week and usually the swelling does down and can resume training the following week.
I too have a Bakers cyst, diagnosed by knee sugeon 30 years ago.
I ‘ve lived happily with it all this time ,competed in running and cycling races, ultra distance, 800 metres and everything in between.
It does not cause any pain in the knee.
I have damage and degeneration in the joint plus a torn medial ligament and a small ’ bean’ inside the bakers cyst, which ,a MRI scan showed was just a lump of tissue.
This occasionally causes a problem when I sprint(ha-ha) in running because it catches on the ligament giving a tying up feeling.
The surgeon says he will get rid og the bean, mend the ligament and clean out the knee.
This will help a bunch ,but eventually i will need a total resurfacing of that knee.
The OP mentions he plays basket ball. The nature of the sport would aggravate the knee more (in my opinion) than an in line sport like cycling or walking.
Orthopedic surgeons and GPs are always ultra conservative (in general) so I would also consult a sports physio.
Stopping cycling is not necessarily the cure.
It will probably come back when you start training again.
A sports physio will give you strengthening excersises for the knee and address any muscle imbalances.
ABG and ffffbbbb, where do you think the pain is coming from? Is it the cyst itself, or is it inside the knee joint/joint capsule? If there is no underlying issue following your MRI, then I would rock on and ride that bike, and manage it .
Thanks for sharing your experiences @Lydiagould and @ABG, they’re really insightful.
I would never describe mine as painful, rather uncomfortable. My symptoms are largely just tightness in the back of my knee, but I also feel like the contact point between my foot and the ground has shifted/rotated toward my smaller toes, which sometimes gives the feeling of instability.
I’ve been managing it for a few months now while going through the diagnosis & some PT, and things are largely ok, but I feel like I’m in a constant state of discomfort. It’s really frustrating having to mentally deal with the discomfort while cycling, even if I’m told it’s not causing harm.
I’m planning on following up with a specialist to see what treatment options I have beyond PT & RICE. I’d be very hesitant to consider any sort of surgical treatment, as I don’t want to introduce more problems, but I also just want to ride my bike comfortably again.
When I dropped down my hours of basketball I can still can get the knee pain. Low revs high force stuff messes me up pretty good.
My pain occurs when the cyst gets swollen and causes pain on the hamstring activation.
With that being said, taking proper assessment of the pain in the knee really dictates how my training goes. If I sense its swollen a little I will do an easy endurance week to get swelling down and will be usually ready to rock in 5-7 days.