This can be a vital question to answer if you experience inner knee pain during a run. Just how likely are you to experience running-related knee pain? More likely than you might think. 

One study reports that about half of the 6.6 million knee injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms between 1999 and 2008 happened during sports or recreational activities like running. Yet this information doesn’t help explain the why behind running and knee pain. Physical therapists can help establish the cause of your pain. They can even help you find effective treatment for your inner knee pain while running.

Three reasons running may be causing you inner knee pain

The inner, or medial, part of your knee contains many structures that must work together when you walk or run. This complexity is part of what allows you to run in the first place. But it also offers more opportunities for problems that can cause inner knee pain while running. 

Some of the reasons that you may feel medial knee pain during a run include: 

1. Gait issues — How your legs move while you’re walking or running is called your gait. Running with an unsteady or abnormal gait can lead to pain in the inner knee. For instance, some people may have feet that roll too far inward when they run. This is called overpronation, and it can increase stress on the medial knee every time you run. Over time, the increased stress can cause painful issues like bursitis or meniscus tears. 

2. Muscle imbalances — There are muscles in your outer and inner thigh that help keep your knee stable when you run. Pain can develop when the muscles on one side are stronger than the other. For people feeling medial knee pain, this typically means your outer thigh muscles are stronger than your inner thigh muscles. 

3. Running too far — It’s important to train your body to run for longer distances. If you try to go too far too fast, you’re more likely to develop a painful running injury. An example is people who develop pes anserine bursitis. 

This type of bursitis occurs in the bursa located between the shinbone and hamstring muscle tendons in the inner knee. Running too far can easily irritate this bursa and cause it to become painful. 

Treat inner knee pain while running with help from Continuum Wellness

Are you looking for effective treatment for inner knee pain while running? Our specialists at Continuum Wellness are ready and willing to help you address your pain. We can do a free screening on your knee to pinpoint the cause of your pain. Our physical therapists will then build you a therapy plan that’s unique to your needs and that may contain therapy methods like: 

• Joint mobilization
• Therapeutic exercises
• Cupping
• Dry needling
• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)
• At-home care
• Virtual therapy

Contact our team today for more information about ways we can treat your knee pain or to schedule an initial appointment.