As I mentioned in my last post, I was nearly done with physical therapy. Well, now I am—at least for now. The result of that last appointment was that my physical therapist suggested I try running 2 miles, every other day, for two weeks. If that worked out, I was to then run 3 miles, every other day, through the end of the year. So far I’ve completed one week (3 of those 2 mile runs), and I’ve had soreness with each run.
This past Monday, I went to the doctor for the 2nd follow-up. He thinks that we’ve allowed enough time, done the right rehab, not pushed too hard, and that we should have made more progress by now. When I mentioned that I was still having soreness when running just a short distance, and that the soreness lingered beyond the run and was typically worse when going downstairs, he started to think it might be more than just ITBS.
He mentioned that it could just be inflammation or wear and tear in the knee itself, perhaps caused by the kneecap not tracking properly, or that something could be getting pinched. Something important to note is that the soreness or pain is always on the outside of the knee, and that my knee can be pretty creaky.
Anyway, he offered another cortisone injection, this time into the knee joint itself, or to scope the knee. I also asked about an MRI, and if that would be a less invasive alternative to getting it scoped. He agreed that we could definitely do the MRI, but in his experience, he didn’t think the MRI would necessarily show anything, at least not like he’d be able to see if he scoped it. In the end, I took the cortisone injection, and agreed to give that 4-6 weeks to work, before deciding on the next steps.
The hope is that something was going on inside the joint itself that the cortisone injection will reduce the inflammation there, perhaps allowing things to get back to normal. As I mentioned, my pain/soreness is always on the outside of my knee, so I am not 100% convinced that it is an issue with the kneecap tracking. However, I did read that it can end up causing issues with the tensor fascia lata (due to the wrong muscles being used), which of course is connected to the IT Band, so I am going to be doing leg extensions religiously, along with everything else I got from PT.
This whole thing was already pretty frustrating, with me missing the half marathon—now I am missing the Jingle Bell Run tomorrow, which last year, if you remember, was my first official 5K race. I am volunteering instead, so that’s something, but all I really want is to run. I miss everything about it, and it’s been so long since I’ve been able to run regularly, that I am starting to feel like a non-runner posing as a runner. I long for the early morning runs of summer—easy 4 and 5 mile runs, speed work, tempo runs, and long runs…
OK, that’s enough of the poor me attitude. Time to go to the gym and work on strength and maintaining some form of fitness.