Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

So I think this is what has been bothering me: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. I went to the chiropractor after work yesterday for my first treatment. While he was hooking up these weird electrode looking things to my knee and quad, he told me what he thought the problem was. I was so focused on the scary electrode thingies that I didn't really process what he said and I don't think I remember correctly what it was. I tried looking it up online and what I found was information about Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and that seems to match we he said was going on.


Diagnosis: Dr. Morganstein said that there might be some instability in my foot that causes it to roll inwards, pulling part of my knee in one direction. On the other hand, the outside of my quads are very tight while the inside is very weak, so that creates an imbalance and pulls another part of my knee in the opposite direction. Result: Friction. Sometimes this problem is called Runner's Knee, but luckily it isn't causing me any pain WHILE I run, although it probably adds to the friction. From what I read on the website "Once the syndrome has developed, even prolonged sitting can be painful ("movie-goer's sign") because of the extra pressure between the patella and the femur during knee flexion." Bingo, that's exactly what the problem for me has been!!



So after some stimulation to my quads from the electrode things, Dr. Morganstein did a little deep tissue work on the outside of my quad. OUCH! Things must have been super tight in there because that little "massage" really hurt. He gave me a little break at one point and then started in again before wrapping up the session with a few adjustments. Ahhh, that part I loved! He also showed me some ways to stretch out my glutes, quads, and especially outer quads on the foam roller and then some strength building exercises for my inner quads. His suggestion is that I alternate between chiropractic treatments and deep tissue massage (oh goodie) until my race, or until things start feeling better. Doing that, along with stretches and strengthening at home, should hopefully remedy situation.


I was feeling a little silly for going in to see him in the first place since I didn't really have a serious problem or major pain. But putting a name to it, and knowing there is a reason it's been bugging me, makes me feel better about going to someone who can help me "fix" this. Now I hope that it actually DOES help!!

After the appointment I met up with Pam for our run. I brought Lindsay with me since she's getting back into training and we wanted to catch up after her trip to Europe. Since we had gotten together last minute on Wednesday night for dinner and drinks at Maria Maria, we didn't have any more catching up to do but the three of us had fun chatting as we ran. We picked up the pace again last night... by the end of our run our average pace was 10:34! Wow! Monday night I could feel how much we were pushing the pace, but last night it seemed very comfortable and I was surprised to see how fast our pace was. I won't be doing any running this weekend since I'll be in Napa with Amy but I'll be back on track next week!