Anyone experiencing knee pain while Sim Racing.

[Azfalt Raser]

I gave up golf because of damaged Rotator cuff and frozen shoulder syndrome. Who woulda thought I'd have knee issues from sim racing!?

After 10 minutes, my knee caps feel like they're going to pop off - like a clamp is being tightened around both knees........among other less flattering descriptions. The pain is excruciating.
Needed to find out why.......... I came across a paper written by a physician. Of all things...He was describing injuries suffered by a sim racing patient.

Sometimes, you can have pain in one or both knees. It's called...........IT band syndrome
http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/tight-it-band-3-simple-exercises-to-fix-it-now
FYI

 

[Jeff Huber]

Get your meniscus checked out. Almost bet that is exactly what you're feeling....as I get it too , to some extent. 35yrs of racing MX ( Still do ) , my meniscus is wasted in my left knee. Right knee is bad , but not as bad as the left knee. Won't bother me at all in every day life unless I squat down just right....then it's like an ice pick right through the knee cap. Usually takes a good 2 - 3 days before it starts feeling better.

I use a two pedal setup here at home , and after a 30- 60 min race , my left knee can bother me pretty bad at times. Putting in 4 - 6 20 min moto's out on the track can sometimes bug my knee as well. I need to have surgery , but that will take me off my feet for a good 4 weeks. So I've just dealt with it.

 

[ouvert]

yep I got those too now and than, in my case it hurts on the sides so maybe completely different issue .. even in real cars where ergonomics is not that great, specialy for 193 cm tall guy (VW Sharan, Opel Astra, VW Passat ...) .. i think it is the possition of pedals and me rotating or angeling my leg when pushing it .. putting more space between throttle and brake helped , also making my right leg (throttle leg) is in more or less in line with throttle pedal as that is the leg I`m using most. I have my setup made so my leg are more strechhed (GT style sitting, not office chair/van sitting) and that helps too ... and of course walking/excersize brakes

 

[Frank]

I got it on my left knee, also very annoying when driving my road car. I have to stretch it every 5 minutes so it pops loose in some way.

 

[ouvert]

i need to drive for few hours tll it happens .. deppends on car ... in some cars I can be 20 hours and I`m fine

 

[skidmark33]

My problem is pain in the fingers from all the gear changes - around a 100 per lap. Had to switch to automatic which feels like a soft option.

Knees are fine.

 

[4 8 15 16 23 42 108]

Interesting to see others got the same problems. I occasionally had my knees hurting two years ago or so. And problem was my muscles keeping the knee disc plate in place were trained differently somehow (I am a sportive person but this was weird).

 

[Apatride]

Not during but after. I think it is due to my wheel stand having a pole in the middle (Wheelstand pro) and pedals being too close to each other. When I stand up after a driving session, the inside of my knees is a bit sore and uncomfortable. It only lasts for a few minutes.

 

[Kenny Paton]

Interesting to see others got the same problems. I occasionally had my knees hurting two years ago or so. And problem was my muscles keeping the knee disc plate in place were trained differently somehow (I am a sportive person but this was weird).

I remember when I was a sporty person, after the doctor made me give up running due to my arthritis it took him another 6 years to stop me playing badminton and squash now I pay the price, but I still really miss them and that's over 10 years ago. Virtua Tennis anyone

 

[Insert Coin]

Yup, left knee problem when simracing for the first 20 minutes, then it gets less and less. I have lowered the clutch spring tension because of this problem, but still it hurts.
Why can't we sim this too? Then I can press Delete.

 

[PicoBp]

I had a similar feeling after one of the Mini Friday races - H-Shifter, clutch, heel 'n' toe... Turned out to be the seating position I used. Had to move the seat back one click, adjust the seat angle a bit, and everything fell in place. Though it was strange at first, but my legs are now in a more natural position, less strained, and no such pain since. Not even after the 2 hour Mini @ Bathurst endurance we had yesterday.

 

[Dan Costa]

Hello gents

Even young guys can have knee pain if they are racing while seated like this:

Firstly, the knee is unlocked (bent) and the force being made on the pedals is originating mostly from the glutes and femoral biceps, behind the knee joint, pushing the entire leg down (putting even more strain on the unlocked knee joint).

Because your knee is in an unlocked position when pushing down the pedals, the forces are all being absorbed at the knee joint. Suffice to say that if you have to push the entire leg down to press the pedal, you are using much much much more energy than you need to (energy being absorbed by the knee!).



One should race like this:

This way your knee is almost in a locked position. The forces are being absorbed by the entire leg/hip.
Also, by sitting this way, the forces being made on the pedals are originating mostly from you calves, bellow the knee joint!

To reduce even further the forces being put on the knee, you should wear grippy pool shoes. Specially on the brake foot!

I am very susceptible to knee joint pain. These tips make my issue non existent. I can race for hours.

My shoulders though, they are another story lol.

 

[Hal Burns]

Stretching, yoga etc. .....ITB problems are common due to tight muscles in many sports...and good seat position as described above....I drop my office chair to lowest position...I mostly get tight shoulders, but because of other problems, I stretch a lot.

 

[Azfalt Raser]

wow....I'm not getting any alerts telling me someone responded to this post.
But I get the alerts for the race notices.

I have a host of sports related injuries from my younger years. All starting to catch up to me now.

I figured I wasn't the only one with this type of pain. Seating position is the biggest culprit for me.
I noticed, more and more of the DTM/GT3 type of race cars are going to an angled seating position.
Seat bottom at about a 20* degree angle, with the legs extended forwards (rather than downwards) more. Sort of a not as severe modified F1 seating position. Just cant replicate that in an office chair.

**edit**
I removed 2 wheels from my office chair. Legs feel more extended rather than downward now. I'll give that a go.

 

[Azfalt Raser]

I remember when I was a sporty person, after the doctor made me give up running due to my arthritis it took him another 6 years to stop me playing badminton and squash now I pay the price, but I still really miss them and that's over 10 years ago. Virtua Tennis anyone

meet you at "Sticksports.com"

 

[Azfalt Raser]

Hello gents

Even young guys can have knee pain if they are racing while seated like this:

Firstly, the knee is unlocked (bent) and the force being made on the pedals is originating mostly from the glutes and femoral biceps, behind the knee joint, pushing the entire leg down (putting even more strain on the unlocked knee joint).

Because your knee is in an unlocked position when pushing down the pedals, the forces are all being absorbed at the knee joint. Suffice to say that if you have to push the entire leg down to press the pedal, you are using much much much more energy than you need to (energy being absorbed by the knee!).



One should race like this:

This way your knee is almost in a locked position. The forces are being absorbed by the entire leg/hip.
Also, by sitting this way, the forces being made on the pedals are originating mostly from you calves, bellow the knee joint!

To reduce even further the forces being put on the knee, you should wear grippy pool shoes. Specially on the brake foot!

I am very susceptible to knee joint pain. These tips make my issue non existent. I can race for hours.

My shoulders though, they are another story lol.

I bought some crappy wal-mart shoes and then realized the soles were soo thin and flexible, I could use them for sim racing instead - they surely werent walking worthy.

 

[Dan Costa]

For the accel pedal I recommend a smooth sock that slides easily To better control the throttle in tiny increments. For the brake pedal, the rubber shoes for sure! they stick on the pedal and much less force is required.

Also, If you can't lower the chair, raise the pedals up Put them on a box tilted to you

 

[Brandon Wright]

I was in a motorcycle accident 3-4 years ago and banged up my left knee pretty bad (among other body parts). Normally it doesn't bother me but occasionally during a racing session it will start hurting. Usually it's not quite bad enough to make me quite the session but it's always sore the rest of the evening. Sometimes it gets sore when the weather drastically changes or if I stand on a hard, flat surface for extended periods of time but normally it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Dark Cyphwe]

Interesting to see others got the same problems. I occasionally had my knees hurting two years ago or so. And problem was my muscles keeping the knee disc plate in place were trained differently somehow (I am a sportive person but this was weird).

I'm getting the same pain as you in my right knee. For years no pain then i modded my pedals with a stronger break spring. Following that i started using heal and toe technique and then my problem started. Hurts for a few days. I think the heal and toe plus heavy brake spring caused a strengthening of muscles in the left of my right knee causing pain.

I read a few things and have tried:
Stretching
Walking with my right foot slightly right (counter the strengthening)
Left foot braking (not as quick for me)

Might try goiing back to a soft spring.

 

[Andy_J]

Yeah I sympathize. I have numerous titanium pins and plates in my body and a few in my right foot and lower leg. All got from motorcycle crashes in one form or another. And if I do a stint longer than 30-40 minutes I get pain and throbbing. I also suffer from osteoarthritis in my right ankle and right clavicle.
So yes I know how bad it can be. It is one of the reasons I don't take part in the racing here on RD. Just one of them mind.