Inner knee/hamstrings pain when telemarking?

[Lubega6]

On the same theme as fisheater...

I have been alpine skiing since I was 3 (21 years ago) and now, it's been 2 wonderful years since I discovered the realm of telemark turns. I really felt in love with the sport, going out 3-4 times a week and always looking for steeper slopes.

However, more recently, I started to develop pain in the inner part of my right knee. It now hurts a bit every time I walk (can't run for long) and I can't climb up/down stairs fast. It does get worse after xcD sessions. Therefore, I immediately suspected telemark as the culprit, since it requires quite a bit of leg twisting and bending. If it's the case, it really is a shame, because when you get good at telemark, it makes parallel/alpine touring skiing soooooo boring (from my point of view). I feel absolutely no excitement in going back to my old, burly, challengeless, over-technological alpine skiing gear, which basically skis by itself.

So has anyone ever felt such inner knee pain from telemark? If so, did you solve the problem? How? For general information, I'm a "fit" male in his twenties, skiing a pair of Rossignol BC80s with Alpina Alaska NNNBC leather boots (waiting on my knew Ingstads to arrive).

Appointement with my phy$iotherapi$t is booked on friday.

Thanks!

[Mattafix]

Struggling with knee problems after two seasons of telemark, I purchased an orthopedic knee brace for each knee. I was suffering from pain in the inner part of both knees.
I have been alpine skiing for all my life without any sign of damage of this body abusing activity since the age of 3 and switched to telemark when I was 35.
I was getting frustrated - crouching down to lace up shoes for example was almost impossible. I had baker‘s cysts on the back of my knees. I did not want to have to go back to alpine skiing and to quit telemark.
The braces are made of soft material with joints on each side to stabilize and guide the knee‘s movements. They are almost invisible under my hardshell pants.
I skate on nordic skate skis and tour on lighter telemark equipment without them (the braces, not the pants.) As soon as I go with turning in mind I wear them. Even my heaviest setup (188 Sidestash/Targa Ascents/T1) has been a pure joy this way. I am 5.8/160.
For 15 years I have been a happy telemark skier now.
First of all: Physiotherapist is a very good idea!
Good luck. I hope you can soon return to enjoy skiing.
Matt

[Lubega6]

OK Matt,

Your testimony is exactly, exactly-exactly-exactly what is happening to me now (we have a very similar ski-life evolution too). And seeing that you found a way to deal with it gives me great hope. Any chance you could show a picture or a link towards the kind of knee braces you are wearing? I would be greatly interested. Looks like a life saver.

Thank you very much!

[Mattafix]

https://www.bauerfeind.com/b2c/Products ... K_GENUTR_S

https://www.shockdoctor.com/products/ul ... 1697907884

I wear the Genu Train. There are various brands to choose from with similar products.
Your physiotherapist might give good advice and analysis.
All the best for you!
Matt

[joeatomictoad]

So has anyone ever felt such inner knee pain from telemark? If so, did you solve the problem? How?

Never had the problem. However, depending on the burliness of the boots you use, may want to look at tweaking canting angle, boot board angle, etc.

I would start with ensuring at least a good 3rd party footbed for your foot shape. A good bootfitter can watch your gait for a microsecond, and can immediately tell if you pronate/supinate, flat-footed, high-arched, etc... and recommend where to go from there.

Often times minor misalignments from extremeties get magnified as the forces creep further into the skeletal system.

Good luck. Hope you can keep feeding your passion for tele... it _is_ a lot of fun!

[Montana St Alum]

I had developed pain under and on the inside (toward the other leg) of my kneecap after 30+ days of skiing last year. I started sitting with my leg straight out and relaxed and tried moving my kneecap back and forth. Initially, it moved very little but after a few days of gently trying to increase the range of motion in all directions, that range became greater. That seems to have solved my problem.
Also, sometimes stretching not only muscle groups that hurt, but also their opposing muscle groups can be helpful if it's muscles or tendons that are the problem.

[Inspiredcapers]

Telemarking doesn’t seem to cause me pain but afterwards is when the ouchfest begins.

Discovered I’m dealing with patellar tendinitis now on the leg I broke last year. This year+ long recovery thing is getting to be a major drag. I’d been doing (and still do) the kneecap moving thing that M.S.A. mentioned which gives a small sense of but now I’m dealing with another issue. Range of motion feels normal but the feeling of a hot iron being poked below the kneecap is kinda annoying.

Been contemplating a brace for that leg as it sometimes feels like its got amnesia strength-wise (very short term) bit I don’t know if that’s gonna help much. Pretty hard to slow down when all you wanna do is go…



Stoopid aging BS!

[CMS]

One of the worst things for your knees is a boot that is canted forward when you are on a flat or low angle slope. Common with most plastic boots.

Also sitting back when you ski.

[Mattafix]

Learn how to stretch your upper leg frontside. Quadriceps muscles. It’s really worth it! Pain around your patella is common when using them a lot in sports. Your knee joint gets unbalanced because muscles shorten when the gain in strength. You don’t have to stop. Just learn how to stretch.

[Inspiredcapers]

CMS- completely agree. Other than ski boots my footwear is all zero drop, minimalist, and bare foot when the seasons allow. I just put in a new insole into the Pros today that felt pretty good, hopefully it helps. Also agree about weighting back as much as possible.

Mattafic- been applying exercises I’ve found from the Knees over toes guy that are making a bit of difference. I’m fortunate that I walk to work and have the opportunity to walk backwards quite a bit.