Osteopathy for Runner’s Knee

What is a runner’s knee?

Runner’s knee is a pain syndrome caused by overexposure. It’s typically affects the outside of the knee joint. Mostly, the patient complains of pain during the run, which becomes increasingly stronger under the strain. After the end of the run, the pain usually disappears quickly and no longer occurs during everyday activities.

What are the causes of runner’s knee?

Runner’s knee is also called iliotibial band syndrome, after the structure that is responsible for the pain.

The iliotibial band runs laterally, coming from the hip, across the thigh and knee to the tibial plateau. Due to the position of the iliotibial band, the tendon plate repeatedly rubs against the outer bony prominence of the thigh bone when running and can thus become severely irritated when overloaded and/or incorrectly loaded.

In addition to a unbalanced posturology, runner knee’s are also caused by too much training units, muscular imbalances, malalignment of the leg axes, foot malalignment, poor running style and/or the wrong running shoes.

How to prevent?

With runners’ knee, the basic rule is: perceive pain as a limit. Only run as long as you are pain-free. Do not run into the pain! .

Osteopathy

Your osteopath can help you to recognise and correct muscular imbalances, to achieve the best possible range of motion for your joint and to restore the natural pattern of movement.

Weight training

Weight training of the core and hip muscles is a very important first step in counteracting runners knee. Functional training optimises the movement sequence during running and prevents the hip from dropping on the opposite side of the body. In addition, you should also integrate exercises to strengthen the gluteal muscles into your training. Because strong gluteal muscles are important so that you can sufficiently extend your hips when running and thus avoid incorrect stresses.

Running style and shoes

It is also important to optimise your running style and footwear to minimise unnecessary stress on your body. It is best to seek advice from an expert. .