A knee injury to a cyclist can cause severe pain and has caused some individuals to give up the sport, however, this is often unnecessary as proper diagnosis and treatment can have you cycling better than before.
When it comes to cycling, in general there are not many knee injuries sustained that cannot be fixed. This article will guide you roughly through a holistic approach to rehabilitating your knee injury, assuming that it is not caused by a fall or impact. This approach is to be considered for tendonitis or other inflammations. Basically it incorporates a chiropractor, a physiotherapist and homeopathic treatments.
A cycling injury, especially to the knee, is susceptible to further damage by repeated stress as a result of continuous pedalling. For this reason try not to ride on an inflamed knee, rather ice it and take a day off. If it still plays up after you have iced it, consider visiting a physiotherapist.
If you have come to the point of visiting a physiotherapist it is worthwhile to check the setup of your cycling equipment, including your saddle height, cycling shoes and the alignment of your cleats. Cleats with the allowance of "float" are kinder to the knee, allowing a degree of correction by your body. A good cycling shop should be able to help you with these problems; alternatively you can ask the advice of experienced cyclists at your cycling club.
Next, it is advisable to get a chiropractor to check your skeletal alignment, as a misaligned back or pelvis can impede the correct functioning of your muscles, possibly stressing ligaments and
tendons into pulling your knee out of its correct path, and over repeated use this can result in injury. The combined treatment from a chiropractor and a physiotherapist will assure muscular and skeletal alignment returns to a neutral position. It is worthwhile discussing treatment with your physiotherapist and chiropractor so as to maximize the degree of incorporation of the two treatments. Get your physiotherapist to check your back and legs for irregular stiffness or levels of strain, as this may also have an effect on the injured knee.
Once you are under the care of a chiropractor and physiotherapist, you should be able to get back on the bike. Depending on the severity of the injury your cycling training intensity may need to be reduced, and your cycling route adjusted so as to exclude steep hills which will put unwanted strain on damaged tendons. Indoor cycling provides a controlled environment for training, worth considering in the initial stages of recuperation.
Finally the added benefit of homeopathic treatment of inflammation and cartilage repair comes in the form of tablets available from your pharmacy. The anti-inflammatory treatment (homeopathic) is especially important in enabling you to train during the treatment phase. And the rebuilding of damaged cartilage requires the help of homeopathic treatment over 3-6 months, as there are not sufficient blood vessels in the cartilage to enable sufficient natural healing.
Learn more about Cycling Knee Injuries
Written By: Marius Bezuidenhout
