Category Archives: patellofemoral pain

Am I wrong? I survey some recent patellofemoral pain science in search of embarrassment

By Paul Ingraham | Published: July 6, 2010
Recently a reader wrote to me to point out that, in his opinion, recent scientific evidence has begun to support the “conventional wisdom” about chronic anterior knee pain (a.k.a. patellofemoral pain syndrome, or PFPS). That would make my e-book on the topic look bad. I pretty much roll my eyes at the conventional wisdom from [...]
Also posted in debunkery, exercise, gait retraining, hip weakness, patellar alignment and tracking, structuralism, treatment | Leave a comment

Steroid injections are powerful medicine, but where would you put the needle to treat patellofemoral pain syndrome?

By Paul Ingraham | Published: June 30, 2010
Corticosteroids are hormones that are produced by your adrenalin glands. (Not adrenalin itself — that comes from another part of the adrenal glands, and it’s a catecholamine. Quiz later!) Broadly speaking, these hormones suppress immune function, dancing and balancing constantly and intricately with other hormones that stimulate immune function. And inflammation is a product of [...]
Also posted in corticosteroids, therapy | Leave a comment

More hip weakness hype

By Paul Ingraham | Published: April 12, 2010
Are weak hips a major factor in running injuries like IT band syndrome? It’s unlikely, despite the gushing of running magazines over the theory. From time to time I like to point out that hype about hip strengthening — it will save your knees, it will find your lost socks! — continues unabated in the absence [...]
Also posted in debunkery, hip weakness, it band, patellar alignment and tracking, research, shin splints | Leave a comment

Are elliptical machines okay for knees with patellofemoral pain syndrome?

By Paul Ingraham | Published: April 6, 2010
My patellofemoral pain syndrome tutorial has been out “in the wild” for a few years now, and questions from readers have been slowing down to a trickle (because the tutorial now has answers to just about anything else you could possibly want to know about that condition). But a question about elliptical machines kept coming, [...]
Also posted in exercise, resting | Leave a comment

Platelet-rich plasma injection “no more effective than saltwater”

By Paul Ingraham | Published: January 14, 2010
Well, this was probably inevitable. Last summer a reader asked me what I think of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections — the injection of a concentrated preparation of your own blood into irritated tissue, usually a tendinitis or similar condition like iliotibial band syndrome or plantar fasciitis — to stimulate healing. I replied quite optimistically at the [...]
Also posted in debunkery, it band, osteoarthritis, pain, plantar fasciitis, research, treatment | Leave a comment

Ultrasound probably does not help most knee pain and arthritis

By Paul Ingraham | Published: December 4, 2009
As promised in the last post, only an hour ago, here’s some more ultrasound information. This time I’m zooming in on one of SaveYourself.ca’s most important topics: knee pain, especially patellofemoral (kneecap) pain. Does ultrasound help knee pain? No, it probably does not. As described in detail in my last post, ultrasound is generally understudied, for [...]
Also posted in debunkery, osteoarthritis, treatment, ultrasound | Leave a comment