Knee Pain Recovery: When to Return to the Sport You Loved?

Someone left this question recently (edited for brevity):

My side question to you is, how/when did you decide cycling was reasonable to try again? It has been 2+ years since I have been on the bike. My knee pain/symptoms have improved. I can now go on 2 mile walks, use a rowing machine for 15 min, even do gardening & housework. Of course if I overdo it, my knees will remind me and I can have a setback. So day to day life is so much better than two years ago, so I don't want to risk losing that. ... What was your indication that gave you confidence to try cycling again?

Viewed narrowly, this is a question about cycling. When can someone return to cycling after a bout with knee pain? But I think it’s a question that could be asked more broadly: During your recovery from knee pain, when is it appropriate to return to your favorite sport, “x”? (Here’s more musing on that question by the way.)

Answering this should force you to confront an unpleasant question: Was sport x somehow involved in your developing knee pain? Chances are it was. And when that’s the case, you might have to be even more careful about returning to that activity.

For me, cycling was something I really loved. I loved the intensity of the workouts, climbing hills and pushing myself to the limit, trying to set personal records on courses. I also knew I was a pretty good rider – nowhere near good enough to ride with the best, but competitive on a local level.

After developing knee pain, I had a tough time giving up riding my bike. A few times, when my knees felt a little better, I would get back on the bike, thinking, “Maybe, just maybe, they’re fine now.” Of course they weren’t, and a few minutes later I would get off the bicycle, miserable, wondering if my knees would ever heal.

Finally, I reluctantly gave up cycling. I said, “I just can’t do this and get better.”

For me, getting better was partly about accepting a grim truth: I might never be able to ride my bike again. In fact, I think it’s almost easier if you manage to convince yourself that that part of your life is history. When you accept that, you’re not always trying to climb back on your bike on the first day you have pain-free knees.

But at some point, I did of course.

It was after I returned to America from Hong Kong. I knew my recovery was well in hand, and I felt confident it was just a matter of time before my knees were normal again.

I can’t tell you I reached this decision about returning to cycling after x weeks of no pain from my knees, or after two months of being able to do x. Heck, I don’t even remember now.

What I do recall about the decision: As I said, I had pretty much given up on cycling, after failing on multiple occasions to ride without triggering the burning in my knees. Instead, I was just focusing on getting better. And, at some point, when I felt like my knees were really stronger, and that I wasn’t at risk of backsliding, I rolled the bike out, took a deep breath, and went on a very, very slow ride. And my knees were fine.