No pain when running, but during walking I got pain on right kneecap, left side of kneecap

JørgenG

Barefooters
Sep 23, 2014
15
15
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Hello,

When I am finished with a run of barefoot or minimalist shoes, I get a pain on the actual kneecap itself. It hurts during walking and when I move it from bent to straight and vice versa. Has anyone experienced something like this?

I have had a bit of knee issues when running before I started barefoot / minimalist, but that was painful during running. Now it's kind of inverted.

I have maybe ran like 30-40 km in the last four weeks. 4-5 km is completely barefoot, rest is with vivo barefoot evo pure.

All other parts feel good, and running feels good!

Anyone have an idea of what it might be, or what I am doing wrong?
 
Your knee cap could be tracking wrong. That is commonly caused by dysfunction in the foot and in the big arch of your foot. More specifically, if your big toe is a little inverted towards the second toe, maybe from years of wearing narrower shoes, then that compromises your arch, causing more pronation. As you pronate your shin rotates medially. As your shin rotates, it tugs on the knee cap. That tugging can actually cause the knee cap to slide a little diagonally which causes it to become irritated. Just having a stiff 1st metatarsal, or a big toe that doesn't plantar flex with each step very well, or dysfunction in other joints along the arch can compromise the arch's ability to work, too. Groin dysfunction can cause knee issues, too. To figure it out, do you have pain/tightness in your inner shin, or in your inner thigh?
 
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Thanks a lot for the reply. I do think my toes is a bit inverted as you mention. I don't feel any particular pain or tightness in either shin or thigh.

Do you hqve any suggestions as to how I should proceed? Would continued running cause any permanent damage? I really appreciate your response.
 

Probably not permanent damage (few things really cause permanently debilitating damage, unless ignored, or "muscled through" for a long long time), but not fixing the root cause will cause the issue to persist and maybe flare up more, leading to more "muscling through" (viscous cycle). Correct Toes (google it) would maybe help and being able to master what this guy teaches in this video will help, especially being able to isolate and flex the big toe up and down, while moving the other toes in the opposite direction. Toe alignment, strength, and coordination can't be overstated. Part of that dynamic is to have good overall foot/ankle strength and flexibility. Hope this helps
 
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A little update:

First of all, thank you so much SI! Based on the changes and latest development I am confident that you nailed the issue.
As you said, my toes were very inactive and started pointing towards the other toes, not being straight.

1. Activate Toes
2. Use my girlfriends pedicure toe spacer to help recalibrate the position.
3. Walk while "forcing" a straight forward direction on the toes, and generally activating them through shock absorption.
4. Success

The first day after I started walking while activating my toes, the pain went away. Yesterday, I ran around 6 km, and guess what, no pain!

Amazing how fast that turned around. But anyways, I am super stoked and happy. Your advice was amazing! :)