Pain Behind The Knee

[Rockpup]

Ok, everyone knows the obvious pains we might experience when wearing heels in your feet and lower legs, but I've been feeling a nerve pain on the outside lower edge of the back of my knee joint. First felt it when driving to a party in 5" heels, and have been feeling it more and more often as I've been wearing heels quite a bit more often. Am curious if anyone things I should take a break from heels to let things settle back in? Have also been pondering getting back into jogging/skating, and I guess will mention here if I get any relief from that.

[hoverfly]

Overextending your walk or keeping your knees locked may be the issue.

[Marion]

Jogging is quite known to be bad for the knees and the back... especially if you are overweighted.

[Rockpup]

The pain popped up recently. Have not been jogging in months. As said, the pain was first spotted wearing heels. Am wearing heels a lot more recently, and the pain is becoming more common. Am thinking exercise might help. Might go jogging in the morning. Will let you know if it starts to help.

[Mike Hinch]

Could be but I would defenatly give the heels a rest. Another thing is as soon as I get a place to unpack some of my stuff I plan to get back to my ballet heel project. So if anyone should decide to give the heels a rest better not rest more than three days. Anyway to learn to walk in six inch heels is a good thing and to still keep the ability to go flat is good also.

[pebblesf]

Does the pain occur only with a specific pair of heels/boots? If so, perhaps it is a fit issue that might be causing a pinched nerve or something like that...Perhaps just lowering heel height temporarily might help alleviate the pain...

[Sly Fox]

It's a bit difficult to diagnose with what you've written there. You may have strained your lateral collateral ligament, or it may be that your ilio-tibial band (which runs down the outer aspect of your leg) is rather tight - although that tends to be a bit more exercise related (runners get it, and mine sometimes plays up when I go horse-riding). Is it sore anywhere to touch/press ? If it were "nerve-pain" the most common culprit would be your sciatic nerve, which travels down through your buttock down the back of your leg, and the pain follows that distribution. I'm not entirely convinced that what you've written sounds like that. If it's either of the last two, there are exercises to help out (although sciatica may well need more than just exercises, mind) If it is exacerbated by wearing the heels, I would try giving them a break for a while to allow any inflammation to settle down, and I certainly wouldn't advise choosing a time when you're having trouble with your knee to take up an activity which will put additional strain on your joint. If it persists go to see your family doctor (GP in this country ?family physician in the US - not sure!!) so that you can get someone to actually look at and examine it, rather than people hazarding a guess. Hope it clears up soon, though and keep us posted.

[Rockpup]

Sly: I took a break from the taller (beyond 4"/10cm) heels and have not had an issue with that pain. As said, it was only an issue when wearing 5"+ heels, so might either need to take more time adjusting to longer term wear of higher heels, or might have found my limit due to previous knee injuries that present themselves elsewhere, and in a different way, such as riding a motorcycle for a while, or flying in an airplane where my knee's are bent a certain way for a long enough period. Those present as a very different type of pain though.

[Rockpup]

After a bit of time I think I figured out the key. Wearing very high heels and driving do not mix for me. I can drive fine, but the motion of using the pedals near the end of my ankles range of motion results in pain. So, gotta avoid mixing the two.