I received a question recently from a runner who was having knee pain:
“Hey Ed, I’m a long distance runner and I’m having some knee pain but I don’t want to stop running. What types of things do PT’s look at during an evaluation? Thanks,
Signed “must keep running”
Hi “must keep running”,
I applaud your commitment to running and besides the occasionally needed “activity modification” there are a few important things we need to evaluate first:
1. Lower extremity flexibility of the hips, hamstrings, psoas, calves and ankle range of motion. Can you full squat?
2. Strength of the hip abductors (gluteus medius)
3. Potential leg length differences
4. Strength of the gastroc/soleus complex
5. Overall ability of the body to absorb compressive forces, basically the “spring” of the legs and thoracic spine.
After all the above are addressed, we should have a good idea of why your knee hurts with running,
Hope that helps ~ Ed