Hello doctor, I recently started running (treadmill), but after a week or so, I found that my knees were really hurting. I continued thinking it was muscular, but it got to the point at which I was in a lot of pain. I stopped running and it has taken three weeks for my knees to feel almost normal. I had extreme pain behind the outside of my right knee, making it difficult to bend, and pain on the inside of both knees, which still feel bruised to touch, as well as at the top of both the calf. I have long legs and my feet lean inwards. Could this be what caused the problems? My concern is that if I start running again, the same thing will happen. I do not want to train for two weeks and then have to take three weeks off due to being almost unable to walk. I wondered if perhaps some people just really really should not run, and that there is alternative cardio I should do? Just as a note, I have been doing resistance training for a year and so I assumed that my leg muscles were quite strong.
Hello. The pain what you described could be due to an iliotibial band (ITB) friction caused due to tight gluteus muscles. Because of running, no proper warming up or fatigue. Please do not worry, it is a commonly encountered situation in runners and is completely solvable. I would recommend you to do icing frequently over the painful area. Stretch your gluteus, calf, and hamstrings. Roll an iced bottle over the outer side of your thigh and over the butt, the outer part of your hamstrings, and calf. Kindly revert back after two days to let me know the status of the pain. Do proper warming up before running. Good footwear will help to reduce such issues.