Knee Pain Recommendations

[justiner]

I'd bet on IT band issue too. I got terrible pain in my knee on my very first 14er, which laid me out for over a year! Booked a sports medicine appointment, get the knee checked out - muscle imbalance that pissed off the IT Band. I few monster walks and leg lifts later - boom! Back in action.

[gonefishing05]

Thank you all for the helpful responses. I’ve tried to be well balanced in my training by varying between stairs, biking, running and weight lifting (including squats) but the last couple people described my exact issue. Exterior knee pain during descent only. I’ll start trying to add more lunges and glut specific strength training. Thanks again.

[greenonion]

If it's the IT band, keeping that band stretched is important. Tight IT's are what flare up painfully on the outside of the knee for me. If kept loose from stretching they are no problem. There are several stretches that help, but the one where you lay on the floor and stretch each knee across the body (one at a time) works best for me. Difficult to explain the stretch precisely in a post, but at least am emphasizing to keep IT's stretched and loose!

[cedica]

(..) but the one where you lay on the floor and stretch each knee across the body (one at a time) works best for me.

Supine twist: https://www.verywellfit.com/supine-spin ... na-3567125

[mikefromcraig]

I haven't seen any replies about tracking poles yet. They help stabilize and on the descent help reduce impact.

[JChitwood]

How about that all you have to do for knee pain is go to superleaftgrinder.com and it’s solved.

[thebeave7]

More specifically I'd recommend not going to a Dr, but a physical therapist that specializes in functional movement and athletes. Dr are trained to diagnose ailments and diseases, not usually to do functional movement work (of course there are acceptions).
Knee braces just put a bandaid on a bleeding wound, they fix nothing and temp cover up the issue.

Lots of knee problems are caused by muscle imbalances in other groups (ie hips, glutes, quads) but none of us over the internet can tell this. Sometimes big weights and heavy lifting help, sometimes you need to do balance and stabilizer work to activate muscle groups that aren't working properly. Only a proper in person functional assessment will tell this.

Eric

[vegabond]

Do you wear the same shoes as during the other activities? I also have a known bad knee, the best I can do for it is keeping strong legs! Its an amazing change from lower activity winter months to high activity summer months. Good luck!

[Istoodupthere]

I was developing knee and hip issues a number of years ago. Many class 1 and 2 14ers later, my legs are stronger and no more issues. Use poles

[HikerGuy]

Very likely not the issue, but could be a factor for others...track the mileage on your shoes. I used to get 400 to 500 miles on my shoes. Started having pain in left knee and some foot pain, new shoes cleared up the problem. Old shoes only had 350 miles on them. I'm also a big proponent of trekking poles. But yeah, don't seek advice from internet, see a doctor or PT.

[Ericds84]

Purely anecdotal, but I've also experienced increasing knee pain, particularly after WFH inactivity that set in during Covid lockdowns. It tended to be worse descending, and generally improved with use and activity, only to tighten up days afterward. I started doing an online PT program my health insurance offered. No MRIs, scans, or other inputs other than electing the "knee pain" program. I came to notice that my quads had remained strong, but glutes/hips/hamstrings/calves had all grown weaker. Glute exercises have helped me the most--leg lifts, clamshells, donkey kicks, etc. using resistance bands. Have also been focused more on walking on the balls of my feet instead of the heels. Squats in my case seem to exaggerate the muscle imbalance, so I've been laying off those to some degree.

Climbed Wetterhorn and then backpacked in and got Snowmass all over Labor Day weekend without any pain whatsoever.