Hello TR I understand that it is hard to diagnose an issue online and to seek professional medical advice, which I am in the earlier process of with an orthopedic
But looking for feedback if anyone has had common issue with top outer portion of knee: having issues regarding tendon or ligament catching, popping over knee when bending fully of on pedal stroke at 10 o’clock. You can physically see popping or flutter through the skin when bending leg. Not sure if it is related to IT band or Quadricep tendon, or a knee cap bone spur.
Problem occurred after a bike fit 3 weeks ago: raising saddle height and positioning backwards, with some cleat adjustments. I had two brief times where there was a sharp knee pain while on the trainer and the next day knee was inflamed and notice the awful catching friction rubbing syndrome. Fitter is being unresponsive and co workers that answer the phone are saying w/e just stretch it band : |
Orthopedic recommend starting PT next week and anti-inflammatory but has no actual pin point diagnosis until a MRI. So I have been doing common stretching found online along with r.i.c.e. For the last week with no progress.
Has anyone dealt or treated a common issue? Any experience on how they solved this.
If you didn’t have that issue with your previous fit can you go back to that?
Sounds like a fit by numbers fitter, and probably should be avoided.
I’ve had an IT band issue over the last couple of years. Mostly due to running (being one of those dirty triathletes) - I found foam rolling helped, and doing glute exercises often and limiting my milage jumps helped. I got one of those massage guns recently and that’s been the biggest help with that. Doing ~20mins a night on my quads to loosen them helped massively, rather than building on the tightness
Ive had a similar issue over the past few months. Using a voodoo floss band and rolling out with a foam roller or a stick have helped tremendously.
The main thing I learned was that the problem was actually lovated down in my calf on the outside and it wasnt so much that I needed to floss my knee but free things up down there in that calf.
Random floss band video. Do more research on your own.
You can’t stretch tendons, so focus on strengthening the kinetic chain and breaking up any adhesions between the muscles and tendons (foam rolling).
IT band issues are often the result of weak glutes, so that is a good place to start. Lots of good posts on the board re: glute exercises. Amber made some great posts on the subject, too.
But remember the leg is one long kinetic chain so the issue could be in other areas.
Look for any knots in your (outer) quads towards your hips. Foam roll all the way up to the hip joint to find them. If I have knee pain this is almost always the cause. Not saying it’s this but give it a try first.
its either your quad tendon “popping” from poor patella tracking, vastus lateralus or ITB. Unfortunately, none of these should really be popping. Unless you had a massive position change from your fit, I cant think of a good reason youd see any of these start popping compared to before. My money is its #1.
Unless theres weakness or mechanical symptoms, MRI isnt going to tell you anything. Its done static. Start with PT for quad strengthening and a new fit or even just going back to previous position and see what happens.
Echo what Power13 said. You can’t stretch your ITB, but you can mobilize the tissue, which usually gets stuck to the lateral quad muscle. Foam rolling is ok, but aggressive soft tissue mobs like Active Release Technique (ART) or Myofascial Release (MFR) are more effective. Definitely strength glute med/min. Also, did the fitter adjust your cleats? A misaligned cleat can irritate your ITB
I’ve had ITB issues for years that can be brought on from running and biking. Focus on glute muscle strengthening. Since symptoms may occur after a bike fit it is important to consider saddle height. I have found that I can’t tolerate saddle heights as high as numerous fitters have recommended for me… For ITB issues from riding Andy Pruitt recommends lowering saddle height by 6 mm as a first step. If you haven’t tried it give it a go, particularly if you feel that your saddle height is aggressively high. Nothing bad can really happen unless saddle is REALLY low. Old school concerns that lower saddle height robs you of power have not panned out when tested. I have found my saddle is best set about 10-15 mm lower than numerous reliable sources have suggested for me. When set lower I have never had any ITB issues even with big volume increases.
