Worried marathon runner

[Dennis5514]

Hi all,
Great site you have!
I have a question.  I’m training for the Pikes Peak Marathon and hope to race in Aug, but my right inner knee in the meniscus area (hope I got that right) has been hurting since Feb.  I have no swelling, stability or locking issues and I can do leg exercises in the gym pain free.  The 2+ hrs on my bike are also painless.  But when I run uphill, that’s when the pain starts and I need that for 14,110ft Pikes Peak.  There is no pain running down hill.  When the pain flares up, I can plant my right foot and swing my left leg around to the right and I can duplicate the uphill pain with that twist.

My military doc mentioned the meniscus, but just gives me Motrin and sends me out the door.  I tried ice and Motrin after a workout and ended up with a sore cold knee. 

My question:  Are there any meniscus specific exercises I can do to hopefully end this pain?  I tried the wall stand a few times, but all I got was tired quads.  Any suggestions?

Sorry for the wordy post!
Thanks in advance.

[Nettan]

The doc you have seen is no OS (orthopedic surgeon) right ?
Maybe you should try go see one before doing any damage to your knee.
Running is hard on knees. Exercises you do is only to strenghten the muscles.
I have no idea why they doc has diagnosed you with a meniscus injury based on so little, could also be some kind of overuse injury.
I would look for more opinions if this is a big worry for you.

[jathib]

You need to get this diagnosed before you run up Pikes Peak. If you do have a torn meniscus it will not heal on its own. If you have some kind of overuse injury it's going to get worse if you keep running on it. If it hurts when you run uphill you'll be in a world of hurt if you even make it to the top. Odds are you won't make it but if you do you could do some serious damage on the way up.

[Dennis5514]

Thanks for the responses. 
Guess we all are thinking along the same lines.  I will see a sports related doctor next week, not an overworked flight surgeon on an Air Force Base.

[jathib]

Sounds like a good idea. I gotta tell you, I drove up Pikes Peak once and I was totally exhausted when I got to the top. I don't know how you could run up that thing.

[willp]

Hi Dennis,

Welcome to the site - there's a lot of help to be found here, but be aware that you can find a lot of people who will greet any description of a knee problem from a runner with "you have to give up running!"

As a runner who has been through the mill of orthopedic surgery (starting with an op I never needed), I would say that you should definitely see a specialised knee OS, and preferably one who is a runner himself/herself. I have no idea what's causing your problem, but it doesn't sound like it's that serious. You may find that the old trick of Ice/elevation/compression/rest helps.

No meniscus problem can be conclusively proved without an MRI. If you find you do have a tear that requires surgery, it's always worth asking if that tear is in an area with enough blood supply for it to be repaired rather than removed. A repair takes longer to recover from, but leaves your knee in much better shape and at much less risk of arthritis long term.

One final piece of advice. If at all possible, avoid any surgery. And please get at least a second opinion before going under the knife. There are a lot of OS's out there who will get as many patients into the operating theatre as they can for $$ reasons. I discovered this to my cost.

Good luck with the problem, and with the race.

Will

[Dennis5514]

Will,
Great minds think alike. 
 I don't want surgery of any type!

The first flight surgeon never looked at my knee.  He just said not to run. 

Thanks for the advice.