Pain Below knee (is only painful after a mile or 2 of running)

I am trying to train for soccer so three weeks ago I started training really hard. I should have started training earlier, so I felt as though I needed to push myself hard, which might have lead to over training.
In June I had been working out my legs and running about two times a week. then I went on vacation and only ran a few times in July, when I started training again in August, I did sprints and plyometrics during the day, then lifted(leg lifts), at night, then the next day I ran 3 miles, then I took a day off, then the next day I did interval training in morning and ran about three miles at night, this day I was feeling a burning feeling in the areas around my patella but I didn't think much of it. then the next day I ran again and it was hurting much worse, so I stopped. I took 3 days off, and then did sprints. The sprints didn't hurt my knee at all so I decided to run on the treadmill with a consistent speed. It felt fine at first but after about a mile and a half the pain came back, so I got on a bike instead, and it has been going on like this for the last two weeks. I can do a bunch of moving around, playing soccer and etc, but as soon as I do consistent running it starts hurting right below the knee(top of the tibia) after about 15 minutes or so, and my patella(knee cap) burns a little. I realize it's the area which usually hurts when you have osgood-schlatter, but I'm 20 years old(male)....advice please?

Hi,

There are a number of possible causes.

1. Joint problems
- these include patellofemoral joint dysfunction (but why is it sore?), mensicii damage (but why did it get overloaded?), Ligament or tendon overuse (why did it fail and not the other side?), fracture etc

2. Muscular system problems
- these include tears, strains, cramps, hypertonicity, etc but it is hard to guess from the above info

3. Neural system problems
- these include motor control patterning issues, nerve entrapment (saphenous nerve is a distinct possibility here), referred pain from back etc

4. Any blood flow issues - not likely to be honest

5. psychosocial reasons - probably not likely either.


If you can sort out those areas with a good physical therapist, then you are on the way to working out what is wrong with you...

Sorry i can be of more help :)

Cheers

Hi Tarkina,

I would recommend seeing a physiotherapist for accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. However based on your post, the following conditions would be some of the more likely causes of the symptoms you describe:

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
Patella Tendinopathy
Medial Meniscal Tear
Fat Pad Impingement

Hope that helps and good luck,