Knee surgery

[OakLeaf]

Glad the healing is going well! Now don't tempt WindingRoad into overdoing it.

[Catrin]

Glad the healing is going well! Now don't tempt Winding Road into overdoing it.

We focus on not allowing the other to over-do things - we seem to be about the same place as far as what our bodies will tolerate so we are are well matched for hiking together. I'm amazed at how much she can do only 2 weeks out - she has actually been walking far longer (time-wise) than I've been.

[emily_in_nc]

Winding Road and I just hiked for a little over 3 miles Knee feels great, though of course I do wear a brace for hiking. We didn't do too badly considering we are both recovering from surgery!

Yay! Happy dance!

[Catrin]

To be honest, we weren't planning on going that far, it just worked out that way. She could have gone longer, my knee called an end to things.

I want to do much more hiking this year. I've still most of my thermal riding clothes and mixed with some good winter hiking boots it should be fine. Hoping for a cold dry winter rather than lots of snow but we will see.

[Crankin]

Ha, Ha, if there's lots of snow, than you will get snow shoes. Of course, you don't want to put too much strain on that knee, so you will get state of the art, light weight ones.
There's always some temptation.

[Catrin]

Ha, Ha, if there's lots of snow, than you will get snow shoes. Of course, you don't want to put too much strain on that knee, so you will get state of the art, light weight ones.
There's always some temptation.

Yes there is that being admitted, snow shoes aren't a temptation for me. New hiking boots ARE! I've some great hiking boots already so I will wait and see how things go. If it doesn't get that cold and I've lovely wool hiking socks then my current boots might be fine. At some point I will head inside for the winter so am not in a hurry to get more hiking footwear for my arthritic feet until I see if they will be used.

Today's hike was more challenging than expected, but the trail is a little more difficult. Normally I would consider it a very easy trail but this isn't a normal time for me. No knee buckling but there were several places where my quad/knee had problems working out what to do on the combination of uneven ground and downhill incline. I just took my time in those places and did what felt most safe even if that meant standing frozen in place while my body worked it out. Very thankful for my hiking stick, don't think I could have done it without it. A whopping 1.3 miles in 38 minutes but I'm pretty happy with that, all things considered.

[Catrin]

I've been released from formal PT to a home program - I see my Ortho in another 4 weeks. He says I'm doing great, though it may be another couple months until I've fully recovered (or recovered as much as is going to happen). He likes the kettlebells and hiking and wants me to continue with both. This is good...as I wasn't planning on stopping either. We did discuss how to increase my strength to handle down-hill hiking but he is still happy with things. I asked about using 2 sticks as some I've seen do but he very strongly told me to just use one. Good news, I will take it!

[emily_in_nc]

I asked about using 2 sticks as some I've seen do but he very strongly told me to just use one. Good news, I will take it!

Curious as to his reasoning. We have long used two hiking poles when hiking on hilly terrain and find them very helpful. Not sure why one would be better than two?

[Catrin]

My current problem is quad strength, he thinks it will take longer for me to get it back if I use two...I need to think about this. Perhaps two of them would make my leg work less and be too much of a crutch? He wants me to walk on hilly pavement during the week and hit the woods on the weekend.

I do also wonder if he is really thinking I might go to overly aggressive trails with two poles and get myself in trouble? Right now that can be quite easily done, Saturday proved that. Then again, how can I gain strength in that leg if I don't push the boundaries a bit?

[Pax]

I was curious about that as well, I can see overdoing it if you used both, but I really like the balance aspect on uneven terrain.

[Catrin]

I was curious about that as well, I can see overdoing it if you used both, but I really like the balance aspect on uneven terrain.

I'm still thinking about this one. If my quad strength is the problem when I get on a slight decline with uneven terrain, wouldn't two be better than one for support? I don't need excuses to overdo things, the number of sticks won't make any difference. I AM doing all I can on leg strength but it is slow coming.

I am also thinking my hands might prefer the smaller trekking poles than my thick hiking stick. I won't decide right away but it is food for thought.

[OakLeaf]

You might ask your doctor specifically what he had in mind??

Instinctively I can see it, having spent most of my college years with doctors telling me to "just stay off" my knee rather than rehab it, which in those days was pretty much unheard of. On a narrow staircase (two hand support) I could go up and down to my fourth-floor dorm room without ever putting weight on my bad knee. Single sided support (wider staircases) meant both legs got at least some use. With two poles, you almost have to use them for support, unweighting both legs - the alternative is to carry the poles sideways! With one, you'll switch it hand to hand, for balance only.

Glad you're continuing to heal.

[emily_in_nc]

Catrin, after reading this, I am wondering if your doctor is just not very knowledgeable about hiking poles? Sounds like using just one might cause more harm than good:

http://adventurebuddies.net/blog/201...-than-one-yes/

That's just one link of many I found from googling...you can do further research, of course, but this article was very convincing.

[Catrin]

Hiked 2.2 miles today in 50 minutes. That isn't bad! I was on a trail that has SOME personality - not much but some. Things have improved since last Saturday - though this was a less aggressive trail than what I attempted last weekend. What uneven terrain there was presented no problem, there was only a couple places with a decline (not enough to call it a down-hill) where I had to slow down. At no point did I need to freeze and give my body a chance to figure it out There were a couple times when the knee was right at the edge of feeling like it wanted to give out, but it never did and I will take that!

For now I will stick with the one hiking stick - while I want to help my body out I also don't want to make it TOO easy for that right leg. It needs to work to get stronger...My current trails are very easy, but I will revisit this decision next year when I can hopefully progress to more advanced trails.

[WindingRoad]

Did you hike at EC today? I'm glad you knee held up today