Knee pain........

......quite a common complaint these days I gather.

I wondered if any one had come across any good cures /remedies?

I saw a nurse ( Doctor) a few months ago, when I told her I am in my early 40s she basically said " what do you expect?".

Didn't have it 2-3 years ago, when I was running regularly (but moderaley).

An oesteopath is one option but a dear last resort.


any ideas?









David

 

knee pain often comes along for a couple of reasons...one may be that you have roughening of the patella behind the knee cap. which usually requires "sanding" ie washing out and scraping....the other main cause is an imbalance from running, which mainly strengthens the hamstrings and ignores the quadriceps...the quads are responsible for keepimg the knee in the femoral groove to ensure it tracks smoothly..the best remedy for this is weight training exercises for the quads...especially the last 30 degrees of motion on the seated leg press...I found this worked well for me and am not a doctor! so only my opinion....where is the knee pain? it could of course be cartillage, which would need an operation....osteopaths are great for muscular issues, but not great with joints in my experience...you need a good physio...no offence meant osteopaths

 

theres also a great method of strapping the knee, which good physios use...complicated to explain and worrks if the pain is on the outside of the kneecap only

 

Having had problems myself, I'd recommend at least one visit to a Physio. They can diagnose and also point you in the direction of a recovery program.

If it's an injury, people often lose 'awareness of their muscles in space'- (I forget the word for it) This can be demonstrated by putting your right arm straight up in the air behind your head and touching the elbow with your left hand. You should be able to do this easily. When you get an injury, you often find this, or it's equivalent harder. I think you can refer to it as muscle memory.

So it's not that something is weaker per se. just that you're not using it correctly and this exacerbates the problem.

Otherwise, a bag of frozen peas after exercising helped me.

Cycling helps to build up the muscle around the knee to protect it too - that might help.

 

now this is interesting....you sound like you know what i you are talking about..

i 'll do thi sis note form;

1) i kept my initial note simple.....the pain became noticeable when my shifts at work turned from 8 hrs to 12.

My work entails some physical lifting...but not excessive.

Temp....just above freezing (!)

2) i have ben using muscle supports the last week or so ....+initially seemd good) but last shift my left knee got really bad......was much better without the support! There seems to be sensitive place right at the top of the knee cap/part nearest the my body.

3) I did last week that when bending my knees REGULARLY during work.... the pain eased! It didn't go entirely but did ease. Guess because the muscles had warmed up which they don't usually get chance to do....when just bending occasionally.

4) I have also had back problems in the last few years. I was encourage to look up when lifting (to keep the back straight), a basic lifting tecnnique but now seem to exaserbate the knee issue......

pity the muscle supports now lok iffy....i thought i was onto something there...



thanks








David

 

Squats and leg extensions as supersets in the gym.
Go to a reputable running shop (with camera gait analysis), and get shoes that support you in the right way (depends if you supinate/pronate)
Dont rule out the fact that the knee is the effect - the cause may be somewhere else! Back/hip/shoulders??? Assess your body not just your knee.

 

yes , I could prob do worse than go back to the Oesteopath, see what he says.

 

I would recommend that you visit a qualified practitioner of The Feldenkrais Method. The approach is extremely gentle, highly effective and in line with lamboy's philosophy to "assess your body not just your knee".

 

Right - for what it's worth.

When lifting correctly (by taking the load on the knees) try to avoid too deep a stoop if possible.

If a bag of frozen peas is used, you can put them in a thin tea towel, to avoid discomfort and tie around the knee - tightish.

You're basically getting the swelling to go down, so would be best used after work, or when it starts to ache.

Conversely, you'll probably need to warm it up in the first place too - cycling is particularly good for this.

The other advice looks good, but you know what your limits are, and until you've got professional advice (no personal experience of osteopaths - or physio's) I wouldn't do anything that involves too much impact.

If you swim - only do front crawl, or backstroke - no breaststroke.

Once it's assessed - you can start the work to improve muscle memory as part of a structured program.

One final recommendation - try Glucosamine and chonodroitin. (Holland & Barrrett often have it in a sale - I get mine from Goldshield online).

On top of fish oil it's effective at protecting joints as the years wear them away - but it's long term and not immediate.

 

Addendum:

Instead of using a dedicated knee support - use a large tubigrip doubled over.

It should be long, and not too tight. It's more effective in supporting the whole leg and allows more blood to the affected area generally. That was the advice a nurse gave me.

 

Yes, i know all about the bag of peas scenario...the idea is to get the (lactic?) acid out of the muscles. i ahve used it many a time onmy back. This along with stretching excercises....I wish I had simuilar ones for my knees.

The warm up, idea is probably very valid; the line i work on uses lifts....a mixed blessing as the leg musles go cold, until when they are occassionally asked to work, when they rebell!

(More regul;er bending IS better....but far from right)

The Glucosamine sounds a good (veyr +ve feed back)recommendation and place to start, along with some more comfortable steel toe capped boots (any recommendation here?)

Thanks





D.

 

I'll look into this.

I'm not sure why the left one gave me such jip sunday. Keeping the muscles warm srely should be half the battle.

 

Go private, preferably American (as someone said the other day, no one would choose to go to Europe for medical treatment), and take up swimming. HTH

Joel

 

Do it gently. My knees are to ache quite badly after swimming breast stroke for a few lengths, (say 400m). Jogging for more than about 10 minutes has similar affect.

 

Something that has helped me over the years (not that many) is every night elevate my knees (on the sofa, me on the floor) and let the blood drain and them go numb. Then stand up and let the blood flow back. Do this every day and in a few months it may help.

I have been doing it due to the extra strain i put on my knees due to a martial art i do. This was recommended by several people high up independently.

 

interetsing thought

 

can't get on with swimming, tedious!!

HTH??

 

Hope This Helps

 

ah!

thanks!

It will I'm sure.






D.

 

Just been to the doc....

he encouraged me to take th e chondroitin/glucosamine combo

also to exercise the "quad" with a bucket of sand on my leg!!

...+ suggested a pysio if things don't improve

I would say, I was in there no more than 10 mins, nice enough Doc but after 10 (no more) mins he turned back to his desk....it was clear the interview was over....

in fairness he did tell me to come back in 6 wks time

thanks again for all the input



ps forgot ...he prescribed cuprofen to take down the inflammation