Patella Femoral Syndrome

Do you run? As you probably know, that condition is best known as Runner's Knee, and most of the current and former runners here have dealt with it to some degree in that context. I don't know of many people who incurred it backpacking, but it must happen. The best way to avoid it is to build up your mileage gradually. It is typically caused by too large of an increase all at once, which is sustained over some period. It usually happens most often to new runners after the first couple months. Initially they are limited by their cardiovascular capacity, which prevents them from running far enough to really hurt themselves. However cardiovascular capacity improves more quickly than the connective tissue, and that's when the overuse injuries kick in. The mind is stronger than the body, and it's not hard to push yourself beyond the body's rate of adaptation. Regular training with gradual increase is the key. The standard rule of thumb for runners is not to increase total mileage by more than 10% in any given week. That can probably be relaxed a bit for backpacking because the motion is closer to walking, but there's still a limit.