Knees knees knees

[Kathi]

[QUOTE=SadieKate]Yikes! Lunges and squats! No way, Jose. Not for me. Let me say that again.

Prescription orthotics. Worn them since 1976 for chronic chondromalacia and I don't leave home without 'em.


I also wear prescription orthotics, shoes, ski boots, cycling.

And yes, squats and lunges. My first bout (when the ortho told me to quit exercising) with this the therapy was mostly straight leg raises with ankle weights. I did them until I was "blue in the face". But, I still had pain. I had been doing step aerobics, which I gave up, but had an instructor who was very strict about proper form (knee over toe) when doing squats and lunges.

One day, I decided my knees were going to hurt anyway so I started doing squats and lunges again. My knees felt so much better! A year or 2 later I tore my rotator cuff and for some reason got off the leg training. During that time I went hiking and jumped down an embankment and that started the right knee off again.

The ortho I saw said "no lunges or squats" but my therapist disagreed, most of my therapy was straight leg raises, again to ad nausum, weight machines and lunges and squats. To make a long story short I ended up working with an athletic trainer at my gym who set up a program using the weight machines. I followed her program for quite a long time.

When I moved here to the Denver area I didn't have a gym membership so, for ski conditioning, I started doing lunges and squats again. No problems. After I joined a gym I mixed the weight machines with lunges and squats.

Then every skiers fear, the dreaded ACL tear. Before my 1st therapy session for my torn acl/mcl I thought I was so smart because I just knew I'd have to do zillions of straight leg raises. Initially there were leg raises but the protocol is so different from what I did before. Strengthening was done on the pilates reformer, all leg muscles ( hip, core, etc.) were included. Many floor exercises were pilates based. Around 4 weeks I started doing single leg squats. Then I had acl surgery and started the protocol all over again. Around 6 weeks post op I began lunges, walking, sumo and side to side,l squats against a wall or fit ball. I also do the step down in front of a mirror that knottedyet spoke of.

The therapy this time around is much more "whole body" based and functional. Every exercise I do incorporates a variety of muscles, including my upper body. When I finish formal PT next week, I will start a "maintance program" at the physical therapist office, so there will be continual guidance with the knees.

I still have a lot of work to do to bring back the muscles in the injured leg but I've learned so much about keeping my knees strong. I guess that's the positive side of this acl tear.

[run it, ride it]

Oh boy, so I crashed my bike early Sunday morning. Aside from a monstrous black bruise on my thigh, I was fine--I did 75 minutes on the elliptical at its highest ramp setting later that day, and spent a good ten minutes crouched down brushing mud off my horse's legs after that. No problem.

Skip to Monday afternoon; my right knee is tracking a little funny. Monday night, if I try to straighten it after it's been bent more than ninety degrees it sticks, sticks, sticks, CRACKS into place and sets me off cursing in pain.

Tuesday morning, the whole inside of the knee is tender where I must have hit it in the crash, and any un-bending procedure involves me relaxing the leg completely and carefully manually manipulating the patella to minimize that jolt of pain.

I have bad knee genetics--shallow patellofemoral grooves, pronation. I took an impact to the other knee when I was fourteen and it never recovered. I've seen every sort of specialist and heard everything from "patellofemoral syndrome" to "bone bruise" to "huh.. pretty crunchy cartiledge there, eh? (to the nurse) FEEL this!" to "it would have happened on its own later anyway." I was advised to use orthotics in all my shoes (not just my running trainers), and to wear a brace for any activity.

Of course, the brace didn't last long. I preferred to build up my muscle and NOT have a weaker, more dependent leg. When it gets sore, rather than favour it I push it harder, push it through, and most of the time I work through the pain. I've managed the injury well, but its unpredictable incapacitating moments are what ultimately ended my running career and got me into cycling.

Well, now my old injury seems a walk in the park compared to what my right knee is up to! I just tossed the ole brace on it and already feel a difference, but UGH, what an awful feeling when it grinds out of place.

In less than an hour I have an opportunity to go mountain biking for the first time EVER. I can scarcely walk on my right leg, but I'm brought back to track races where I was too injured to walk and still got the adrenaline up enough for something resembling a dynamic warmup, staggered to the line and waited for the gun not knowing if my legs would support me. They miraculously worked every time.

So um... here's hoping that technique works again! I've got the ice pack handy, and the guy taking me on this trip has already insisted we're not going to do more than a few roots given the state I'm in (says he just can't stand the thought of the extra weight of the spatula he'd have to bring along to scrape me off the trail otherwise). YAY MTBING!

[run it, ride it]

w00 still in one piece! Knee started tracking fine once I was on the bike. I have switched over to the dark side and am in love with MTBing.

[carolp]

If there's a way to fix it without surgery I would think that's the way to go. Every time you have surgery you get scar tissue which in the end can cause so many problems.
I have a new left knee-- it will be a year old in another month== and it's the best thing I could have done. I'm doing the ALC AIDS ride in June. But without a good physical therapist, I would never have been able to.

[surgtech1956]

I have patella chondromalacia, grade III(right knee). Mine is from a fall at work - May 2006, my OS said it is like a 'dashboard injury' and can take up to 2 years for the pain to go away. My real job is standing 99.9% of the time, I've been on 'seated work restrictions' since the injury. I just had a scope done in January now in PT(my 3rd time since 5/06). I'm still not working. I see my OS on 4/30. My OS is talking about a possible Faulkerson's Procedure or Patella Femoral Joint Replacement. Anyone been through either or these procedures????? My pain is anterior - behind the patella and medial pain. The pain is definitely getting old. I just bought a new bike - to try to get in shape. I have the seat up. Biking is suppose to be good - building up the quads too. I'm not suppose to do any kneeling, no squats. I can relate.

[run it, ride it]

Okay, day three and this tracking thing is not letting up. If I brace the patella in tight and go through some pain it will track alright on the bike, but I can't bend it to walk up stairs, and lord knows without the brace I'm no good on a bicycle either (I just pedaled up the big hill to school -on one leg,- and you know I was really hurtin' 'cause I was late for a final and still couldn't push the injury!)

Has anyone had trouble tracking after an impact to the inside of the knee, and will it really go away in a few days like I've been led to believe? Ahh well, at least my 'bad' knee is getting some serious muscle built compensating, but I'm tired of the embarassment of trying to walk up a flight of stairs in public and yelling out in pain, falling against the railing and cursing up a storm when my kneecap CRACKS into place!

[ace]

Yikes, sorry to hear about your accident. I slipped an fell on some water at the gym in November, impact was on the inside edge of my kneecap. I was on crutches for a month, and am still dealing with pain and knee tracking issues. I'd been told that I had chondromalacia before that, but it hadn't ever bothered me much.

What's helped me has been getting adjustments from my chiropracter, plus some good physical therapy that worked on loosening my IT band- when that gets tight, my kneecap almost points sideways. Also taping my knee is really helpful as far as pain goes.

It really sounds like you need to try to stay off it, take anti-inflammatories, and ice it for the next couple of days. You are really pushing yourself, and that's risky.

Also, if you had an impact injury and have swelling under your knee cap, I hope you're not using a compression brace. You shouldn't be putting any pressure on your knee cap while it's swollen.


Good luck!

[run it, ride it]

Ouch, that slipping accident sounds painful and frustrating!

As for staying off my injuries... but, but, the weather JUST started getting road-bike worthy, and the MTB trails JUST dried up, and I gotta move back to a flat ole place with nowhere to ride next week!

No worries, my brace collection is all open-patella and intended to aid tracking. I got the black brace with extra straps, the summery Tensor sleeve (all open patella, ow-ow), and of course, the under-the-knee strap. Oh, I am fully equipped and have the residual tan lines to prove it!

I should probably switch the kneely-stool for the yoga ball (chair? What is chair?)... and I guess (-GUESS-) stay off my feet so a) the good-but-worse-for-now knee can heal and b) the bad-but-better-than-the-usually-good knee doesn't recess into any of its old habits.

Can't afford the chiro anymore--horse's chiro bit into those funds and he's worse off than me. Always wearing the orthotics and running/cycling have helped the correct muscles develop, though. I haven't ever regressed back to the state I was in when I first started seeing the chiro.

Thank you for the advice--I am about to start a hot date with some Ibuprofen and an ice pack

[Wahine]

It is really helpful to stretch all the muscles that join in and around the knee, for this type of problem. You won't be able to stretch your quads for awhile (too much flexion and too much pressure on the patella). But you should start with calves and IT band complex stretches right away. Hams helps too.

Try these:

http://www.dcdoctor.com/pages/rightp...k_st_calf.html

http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/h_TFL_StrSt.htm

And I like this one for the hammies:

[Wahine]

Oh, I forgot to mention that it helps to squeeze something, (a ball about 6 inches in diameter will work), between your knees whiel you're lying on your back with the knees bent comfortably. This starts to strengthen the inner thigh (adductors and part of the quad - VMO), in a nice gentle way. I tell my clients to squeeze for 5 seconds and do 3 sets of 10 to 30 depending on how it feels.

[run it, ride it]

yep, those are all the stretches my physiotherapist had me doing when I wrecked the first knee! I love stretches! Thanks for the refresher

[run it, ride it]

This morning it's really swollen and I've lost a lot of mobility. I can't even walk without a limp.

Starting to get a little worried. Why is it getting worse?

[ace]

Layperson speaking, but I think that can happen with inflammation. When I had my fall, I was almost fine that day, slighly worse the next day, and on crutches by day 3. Not sure why it took a while to swell up, but it did. I'd strongly advise really taking care of yourself and limiting activity and seeing if that kicks it into healing mode.

I would say do ice and anti-inflammatories religiously for a few days, no biking, no KNEE CHAIR, elevate it, try to stay off it, and see if that helps. If not, maybe it's go to the doctor time, kiddo.

Hope you feel better- let us knoe how you're doing.

-Amy