Frozen pea bag - cold therapy for Runner's knee

Although the pain on the inner side of the right knee (actually, the medial side of the right leg) has bothered me from time to time, I still on my bike to almost everywhere. I did research over the web and found that cold therapy is a common treatment of the pain around knee. The pain I am experiencing is located around the end of femur around the end of possibly vastus medialis (a component of Quadricep femoris) or satoris. Well, I am just guessing. According to this Q&A "My Knee Aches" at RunnerWorld.com, it seems that I may experiencing Patello-femoral Pain Syndrome, a.k.a. Runner's knee or Jumper's knee (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runner%27s_knee). Causes of this syndrome include "a tight iliotibial band, neuromas, bursitis, overuse, malalignment, core instability, to name but a few." However, I think that in my case iliotibial band is less likely to be involved in. I probably need to focus on Quadricep femoris muscles. However, the pain area is very close to the medial ligament. Maybe my medial collateral ligament is sprained.

Also, it is possible that the pain is one of the collective symtons of "Shin Splints" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints or http://www.watfxc.com/TF/TF%20Education/shin_splints.htm. The pain is around the medial side of the right leg and a bit lower than the knee cap. Running down hill or excessive pronation can cause this. I did run down hill in Taroko Marathon, but how about "excessive pronation?" http://www.selfsource.com/footflex/shin.html. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-pronation.htm

According to www.runnerplanet.come, applying cold to the injured area 5 times a day for about 15 minutes a time is a recommendation for almost similar injuries. Cold reduces flow of fluid resulted from tearing and thus reduces inflammatory at the area. Two simplest ways to apply the cold are 1) Ice bags and 2) Ice massage. The skin during the cold application will go through 4 stages of sensations from first Cold to Burning to Aching and Numbness. It is suggested to stop this therapy once the skin feels numb, which is at around 15 minutes of application (http://jointhealing.com/pages/productpages/cryotherapy.html). Then, I need to go to get a frozen vegie bag from supermarket (a frozen pea bag will do) or a polyfoam transportation ice bag from the wet lab.