Common Running Injuries: Knee Pain
The knees experience pressure equal to approximately 3 times the body's weight when walking and approximately 5 times the body's weight when running. In other words, a person who weighs 150lbs puts about 750lbs of pressure on the knee when landing each running stride. Not surprisingly, the knee is the most frequently injured joint in runners and non-runners alike. Runner's knee: patellofemoral pain syndrome When people say they have "runner's knee," they are typically referring to patellofemoral pain syndrome. "Patella" means kneecap and "femur" means thighbone, so patellofemoral pain is pain that originates between the kneecap and thighbone. The pain is felt at the front of the knee, either under or around the edges of the kneecap. The root of patellofemoral pain can vary and may be difficult to identify. For example, the kneecap may not glide well along the groove in the femur (thighbone), or relatively weak hip muscles may ca...