Pain Behind the Kneecap

Damn, the "injuries" section of this site is getting long! I should call it "Limping & Whining Fitness". Anyway, in the interest of sharing every little thing, I am quite prone to pain behind the kneecaps, a condition that worsens the more often and vigorously I exercise. I've generally been able to control it with diligent icing, but lately it's been getting worse. Doing that thing I do, some quick Googling turned up a likely candidate "Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome". I realize this is a fancy way of saying "it hurts behind the kneecap" so wasn't too optimistic about finding a cut-and-dried cure. This review by Mark S. Juhn for the American Academy of Family Physicians was very interesting nonetheless. I'm going to choose to believe it's this rather than chondromalacia ("actual fraying and damage to the underlying patellar cartilage"). Still a bummer though, as it's impossible to get a good lower-body workout without lots of knee flexion.

Ah yes, the vaguely defined condition and treatment. Just like my other bugaboo, shin splints. It's probably the same biomechanical problem (whatever it is) hitting me two different ways.