VMO Cycling Knee Pain - A cry for help

[@b_gumm]

Medial Plica Removal Surgery fixed my knee issue. Im currently 3 weeks out of arthroscopic removal of the medial plica and I can already tell it solved the problem. I will be doing a full deep dive including the release of my pain journal, a blog post, and lastly a video on the solution and my journey to get there. 11/Nov/2022 07:47 PM[Friday]

[@willdavid989]

How did you figure out this was a Plica issue? Suffering from very similar symptoms, and MRI showed nothing.

[@b_gumm]

@@willdavid989 send your MRI to proscan dn request Richard J Rolfes. He is the best reader in the country for knees. He spotted my medial plica thickening over the span of a yr between 2 MRIs. Dr Noyes (most cited knee surgery world wide) claims he is the best in the country at Knee MRIs

[@kristinastorlie7909]

What was the injury? Do you move your bike position around to see if there is something that doesn’t hurt? It sounds like a bone bruise that is getting aggravated with motion and pressure.

[@craigruddick]

Did you find a solution as I’m having similar issue in right vmo and had it for a year now

[@b_gumm]

I had surgery to remove medial plica. 1yr out from surgery. Knee still isn't perfect. But is much better than it was. You can find more information in my comments below.

[@elliottnewby601]

Have you managed to return to cycling post surgery? I've had similar pain in my right VMO for over 2 years now having tried lots of stretching and strengthening exercises with no improvement.

[@b_gumm]

It helped for a few months but ultimately it never fully resolved. It was kinda okay this summer after I came out of 6+ months of PT strength training... But I never was able to get ride time above 1.5 hours. I took a few months off and now pain is pretty much what it was prior to PT and surgery... I'm considering it a failure and wrong diagnosis....makes sense as a medical case study suggested medial plica is the direct cause of ~1% of cycling issues.... I think it was a symptom not the cause... I consider myself unable to ride still... this next summer I'll meet with a bike fitter or see if there is a bio-mechanic that was missed. Possibly look into Q-Angle (in the context of cycling, not orthopedics. Peddle distance from crank). I'm sorry to hear about your injury. It has robbed me of my mental health for yrs... I empathize with you Email me to talk about more? See my KZbin about me page?

[@GinaDrysol-bj8mk]

I have a very similar issue and knees over toes also didn't help me either. I've also spent over $1000 trying to fix it and the only thing that kind of helped was step downs but it's not a permanent fix. It's like blood rushes into the area and gives me some pain relief then comes back later. i usually just try to ride less than 30 minutes every other day to manage it, but it sounds like you might not be able to do that.

[@b_gumm]

I had surgery for removal of the medial plica. Significantly better ,but still working to get to 100%

[@b_gumm]

Ive spent about 12k to get this partially resolved. Around 40k if you include insurance

[@GinaDrysol-bj8mk]

Wow that's a lot. At least you're feeling better. I'll have to look into the plica. IDK much about it.

[@davidclancy7008]

From a fellow chronic knee pain sufferer (age 21). I just had two thoughts which may be dumb. 1. Could you get a 2nd opinion with a knee and maybe hip mri 2. have you tried biking backwards Like I said just two thoughts that came to my mind. Wish I could be of more help

[@cathychoi6959]

my left knee was told need a surgery, but I took glucosamine fore 3 months. EVERY DAY 4 pills x3, plus walling. its recovered, not perfect but I can run again.

[@b_gumm]

I'll give it a look. Thank you for the comment

[@royal_kira7184]

Maybe contact and speak to the people at Precision Movement and Upright Health. They both have a KZbin channel so you can find their info to get in touch with them.

[@realbillnye]

Hey Brandon, did you figure this out? I have a very similar pain but nothing in the vmo. Have you tried atg split squats? They really helped me strengthen my vmo, which lowered my pain. Kneesovertoes made this pain worse for me, wbu?

[@realbillnye]

Also, check Neal Hallinan and check if you have lateral pelvic tilt. This can lead to knee pain

[@b_gumm]

I'm pretty confident it is a thickened medial Plica with partial impingement. Having surgery next month to remove the medial plica. I could do all the ATG stuff fine. But knee pain was getting worse despite being able to do the exercises pain free. Deep knee flexion with no pain, In line with medial plica syndrome. Medial plica does not respond to PT. Also enlarged infrapettallar fat pad in both knees. Likely from either patella maltracking or infrapettallar plica injury (edema in the fat pad is in exact spot as that plica). Thanks for the thoughts will do an update post surgery. I never saw any improvement with the KOT program. 5 months of it. 4 failed rounds of PT as well.

[@realbillnye]

@@b_gumm have you looked into lateral pelvic tilt? Best wishes for the surgery

[@b_gumm]

@@realbillnye going to look into it tonight. Thank you for the replies. I will update you and this post with findings and surgery outcome. Best wish with your knee. Feel free to contact via email in future (see channel info)