Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome & Physio Progress - 11th June 2013

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome & Physio Progress

Following on from the last blog post, I have had another visit to the physio (yesterday) and progress had been made.  I was given a task of completing a large amount of squats either 2 or 3 times per week, I took it upon myself to do at least 3 lots though to ensure maximum results, obviously while monitoring my fatigue levels in order to avoid over straining.

My knee was apparently "puffy" and rough around the knee cap upon previous examination but is now smooth and feel as "normal", which I was obviously delighted to hear.  I had completed 3 sets of squats over 3 different days as well as walking over 7 miles (with roughly 50%-60% up hill) on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday last week and on the Wednesday I opted to run the same route, so my quads were given a massive work out.  Oh, and Friday's now customary spin class was also completed.

I have to say I do feel fitter than I can remember so to receive the news that my knee wasn't really up to scratch was quite a blow but without anything physically preventing me from taking part in sport, mainly football, and running, I suppose the news wasn't too bad, in the short term anyway.  I was told to be open to the idea of wearing a knee support or taping the patella, I opted for the latter.  In football, especially at amateur level, a knee brace often becomes a target for the less mobile and more thug like players so you'll now understand why I went for the tape alternative.

I discussed taping with my physio and he explained things like this have been used for a while and depending what you believe and how it works for you personally, this is the only way of telling if something is right for you, so, I gave the Kinesio knee pre-cut tape a try tonight.

Quite a few of you will have probably seen the pro's wearing this stuff now, it's become a lot more widely used in sport over the past 6 months.  Gareth Bale is an avid user of the stuff and I found it brilliant personally.  As my physio said, it won't work for all people and some people would prefer the old fashioned knee brace.  For one it would be a lot cheaper as Kinesio tape costs around £6/£7 per cut if you buy it pre-cut so it's not exactly cheap for us amateurs!

Prior to the Kinesio tape I used Hypafix, which is stuck down to the bald skin, and then with a slight push of the knee cap, Zinc Oxide tape is stuck over it and this applies a hold on the knee cap to provide the correct alignment and therefore pain free physical activity, well in my case it proved pain free anyway!

I have also made progress with my own Physio prospects this week by successfully obtaining a place at College (again) to study Bio-Sciences.  I'll be starting in September through until June/July and then hopefully, providing I obtain the required grades, moving on to University to study the Honours degree in Physiotherapy, something I'm looking forward to a lot.

As well as being booked on to the 2 first aid courses, one of which is next Wednesday, I have also booked on to a 2 hour seminar with Dr Leon Creaney which will focus on foot and ankle injuries in sports, particularly football.  The seminar was advised for Doctors & Therapists but I am keen to throw myself in at the deep end and gain some knowledge from the best, straight from the start, so hopefully this will give me a kick start.  I have also booked a place at the Therapy Expo in Manchester around mid September.  Most of the seminars and workshops I intend on attending are based around sports taping and Kinesiology as I also hope to complete KT1 & KT2 (Kinesio tape practitioner courses) within the next 12 months or so.