Stop running now. It's not worth it.

A PT needs to become your new personal trainer and for a long long time.

Best of luck!

MikeL wrote:Yes, strengthening the muscles around the knee is the way to go.

This. PFS is often caused by an imbalance in the quad muscles - usually specifically that a Tight ITB and stronger "outer" (lateral) muscles kneecap out of alignment so it tracks wrong. You need to teach the smaller muscles on the inside of your knee/ thigh to activate and help keep things in check. The exercises don't involve a lot of weight - an easy one is to roll a towel, put it under your knee and just lift your lower leg. add weight over time. Skaters are also a great exercise, once you're more pain free.

The pain is kind of normal - there's not a lot of space for inflammation in a knee. Ice, rest, elevation. If you can afford PT, ultrasound or infrared may help. Talk to your doc about an appropriate NSAID to help with the short term / acute inflammation.

I'm not a big fan of braces, myself, because they usually don't correct the underlying issue and can create a false sense of "correction". They are great to get over a hump, but too many people use them for too long and end up with other issues further down the road.

misaligned kneecap almost always means pain everywhere but the kneecap. Your symptoms sound spot on for misalignment. Having dealt with this in both knees for decades, he's what I suggest:

STOP RUNNING. Do not run again until you are 100% pain free for a week.
Advil and ice are your friend. You've got to get the inflammation under control.
Go to PT. Find one that is used to working with active people.

Avoid surgery at all costs. I had it (lateral release) because nothing else worked, but dear god, the recovery and rehab was miserable. Yes, my life is so much better without waking up in screaming amounts of pain several times a week, but do everything in your power to avoid it. Absolutely option of last resort.

Yes, strengthening the muscles around the knee is the way to go.

Ugh, I'm not a runner but I've had patellofemoral pain since I dislocated my kneecap in my teens and it blows. I went to physical therapy where they told me I needed surgery, the orthopaedist told me I needed PT. In my case, the pain was from my loosey goosey knee cap floating over and grinding on the cartilage beneath, causing blistering in the cartilage. It literally sounded like popping bubble wrap when I would bend my knee.

The only thing that helped was working with a personal trainer for a couple years who spent lots of time focusing on getting the muscles around my knee strengthened. The stronger muscles helped to make up for the weakness in the tendons and ligaments that were leading to the pain. Since getting those muscles good and strong, my knee pain has seriously decreased and no more bubble wrap noises when I bend my leg!

Bursitis? I had it in my hip and it extended to my knee and the pain was most severe at night. I had to take 2 Alleve every night. I got a cortisone shot and it solved the problem.

I hurt my foot this summer. Like a dumb running junkie, I continued to run on it (it didn't hurt much in running shoes, really just in my work shoes/heels.) After a few months of limping around, I started to have knee pain in the same leg. Of course, I kept running but finally went to the dr. He did xrays (no MRI) and diagnosed me with patellofemoral pain. (I might have spelled that wrong.) He gave me a knee brace to wear while running and said I should consider PT.

I'm wearing the brace while running but not feeling any difference. The thing is, my knee KILLS me when I am in bed overnight. I wake up several times in the night in agony. It doesn't really hurt while running or walking around. It hurts while I'm sitting at my desk, or in the car (sometimes) but it hurts really badly while kneeling, squatting, and sleeping - so much pain. My dr. thinks it's a misalignment in my kneecap, but my pain isn't squarely in the kneecap area - it's all around my knee, and maybe more lateral than anything. I can't describe it well, which is part of the problem.

Anyone experience something like this? What was it? I don't feel like I have the right diagnosis but I'm not sure what it could be. Help me, wise DCUMs!