Hi,
I think I’ve mentioned that I’m the repetitive strain injury expert on AllExperts.com for many years. I’m so glad to be there because it helps to spread the word that muscles can be treated and pain eliminated, otherwise so many more people would be thinking they needed to have cortisone injections, pain killers, muscle relaxers, or other drugs to stop the pain they are having. Or worse, they would give up the sports they love because they think there isn’t an answer.
Today a young athlete wrote to me about a posterior knee pain she’s having. Here’s her message, maybe you can relate to her discomfort:
I’ve been in track for a while, but the back of my knee started hurting a few days ago when I sprinted. When I don’t lift my knee up as much while running, the pain lessens. Today, when I went down the stairs, it started hurting and it felt as if I twisted something. Then the pain disappeared. When I normally walk, I don’t feel it. I’ve tried icing it many times, but it doesn’t seem to get better. Do you know what is wrong with my knee?
Given that she had posted on a repetitive strain injury site I knew she was aware that her problem was an RSI.
…so I answered her:
As you are aware you have repetitively strained your muscles, in this case it’s not only your hamstrings but also a muscle called popliteus, and probably also your plantaris. If you do an internet search you can see both muscles so you’ll understand this better.
The nickname for the popliteus is “the key that unlocks the knee.” The reason is because when your leg is straight the popliteus is at its longest length, but for you to bend your knee the first thing that happens is your popliteus contracts and your femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) move so your knee can bend. If your popliteus goes into spasm it can’t release so your leg can easily become straight again.
Each time you take a step your popliteus contracts to initiate the movement, so you can see how running will easily repetitively strain this small muscle, and then it goes into a spasm. Fortunately this isn’t a difficult muscle to self-treat, it just takes a little moving around to find it properly and then hold the pressure as you slowly straighten your leg.
Unless a person asks me about my books or DVDs I don’t mention them on AllExperts, but I do send them to my website so they can read all about repetitive strain injuries and find out for themselves that there is a book and a DVD that teaches how to successfully self-treat.
If you ever feel pain in the back of your knee, or even feel a “click” as you go down the steps, this is probably what is happening to you. It’s one of the easiest treatments, but finding the exact spot is a bit tricky. In the book there is a picture to show you how to find and hold the muscle, and the DVD demonstrates the treatment.
Happy running!
Julie