Pain Pain and more Pain

[SteveC]

I'm not getting older. I've been 29 for along time and will try my damndest to keep it that way........
I'm experiencing some pain/discomfort just below my kneecap lately. Mostly one leg, sometimes the other. I know I had issues with seat height--taking the seatpost off and replacing the saddle with the same model, and not getting it exactly right again.....I havent changed shoes or cleats/pedals.....
If its seat height, well, I'll keep meddling with it.......
Then there's the tennis elbow, wrist pain, and the hard fall on my upper arm yesterday. I slipped sideways in a rut and all my weight fell on the side of my arm. Heard a CRACK! and it hurt right away, but I rode out and cant find anything 'broken'. Just cant lift my arm from off the desk to top of my head. Any movement above and below those points, fairly pain-free.....dont know what went crack, but it might have been my helmet or something, too....maybe I'll have it xrayed anyways.(doh!, not my helmet silly...) My Ted Wojcik's fine, it just keeps throwing me off.......
I'm a mess! Or maybe just a wuss!??
Any medical and/or homeopathic advice will be sincerely appreciated!!
Either way, (one more plug) seeya at the Blue Hills Sunday for the toys ride???!!!!
SteveC

[EMTDPF]

This may sound dumb, but try a nice hot bath, or hottub, and a couple glasses of your favorite beverage. Will loosen up some muscles, and the heat will relax them.

Anything having to do with the upper body will usually take a longer time to heal, cause you use them all the time.

And like you said, if you heard a "crack", just for safety sake, you may want to go for an xray, just to ease your mind.

[Ben-O]

Yikes, I'd see a doctor. It could be anything and knowing what it is might prevent the injury from getting worse.

Is the pain in your shoulder or arm?

[SteveC]

Its my arm, seems to be muscular, below my shoulder. I talked to my hmo and they said to do the usual--ibuprofen, Aleve, heat/ice.......I've tried moving my shoulder/arm in every direction, doesnt seem to be anything loose. I can lift it through the painful range but it aint easy. Its not my collarbone, thankfully.
Steve

[MissJean]

Ouch! I agree w/emtdpf, muscles usually don't crack, so you might want an xray.

[hammerhead]

On the knee thing, two things that have seemed to work for me. Warmth while riding - knee warmers or tights even if you don't think you are/will be cold. Cleat alignment - small changes seem to have more impact than seat height. I used to always have problems with knee pain just below and toward the outside of the knee cap. Except when I ride below 55 with shorts only this never happens any more. Ligaments do not like cold. Cold will also exacerbate tennis elbow pain.

[jerseygirl]

Steve,

I fell the same way -- x-rays were negative, but I didn't have the "crack" thing happening. I'd get it checked out to rule out any kind of fracture first. I had the same problem with range of motion and pain as you describe. I'm doing physical therapy now using exercises and heat and ibuprofin to reduce inflamation. They say it's a rotator cuff injury. Ironically, it doesn't hurt when I ride -- it hurts when I'm driving or at the computer for any length of time. They said to try and keep it supported when doing those kind of activities. Good luck.

[TA]

I had sharp pain just below the knee cap that eventually turned into a sort of clicking when I walk.I went to an ortho. surgeon and he said it was a common problem with(older) bikers due to muscle imbalance which leads to un even pressure on your knee cap and in my case I wore out the cartilage behind my knee cap. The surgeon sent me to P.T. which was nothing more than supervised weight training as well as stretching out your hamstrings a few times a day and before and after rides, this all seems to help along with the Glucosamine (sp) he also told me to take to try to rebuild the cartilage.

[matts5517]

I had pain in my knees awhile back it wouldnt hurt when i rode but when i walked i changed seat height and it went away

[SteveC]

Well I went for the X-Ray, fearing the worst....
No breaks! Only 'soft tissue' i.e. muscle, as I first expected.
I guess the crack I heard was my helmet strap or something else ( havent thoroughly checked out my steed).
Back to the anti-imflammatories, ice, and the Jug.
Thanks for all your help and concerns!!
Nite Nite
Steve

[SteveC]

I am happy to announce that for the first time in a long time I am relatively pain-free! I give my physical therapist a lot of credit for getting me started in the right direction, and the rest is personal, daily follow-up of PT advice. ( ya gotta follow the program....)It was mostly a matter of stretching and building up of muscle around the injury that finally relieved my pains. And probably this long damn winter that kept me from going riding and further injuring myself.

That said, it's time to ride again!! maybe just on the road for now, the trails are gonna be wet for a while, but still......for once the forcast for the week doesnt predict ANY precipitation......
Steve

[MTBME]

What was the source of the pain just below the kneecap? I've been feeling that now for the last 3 months or so. This weekend I checked the seat height on my road bike using the LeMond method. (inseam X .883) I was too high by an inch and a half. Dropped that down and had to slide the seat forward also. Now it's wait and see.

[SteveC]

What was the source of the pain just below the kneecap? I've been feeling that now for the last 3 months or so.

I forgot all about the knee thing a long time ago! I guess I never really figured that one out. I have had muscle tightness in the past, especially in winter when I ride the trainer indoors on my skinny bike, which keeps my position more locked on than my fatty. That was alleviated by proper stretching before and after.....On the trail bike I have a USE post which, in my theory, seems to keep the knees, hips and legs happier since the seat height is always changing +/- .5 inch either way. The muscle and stuff is never 'locked' in, so should be more flexible and supple. like I said, in my theory...... I USEd to have back problems, too and as soon as I started USEing the posts, I was able to work them out. That and my daily lifetime back maintenance plan.......