Dicky knee and exercise and fitness

littlemcbird

I'm 29 years old I'm 5 foot 1 and weigh 76 kilo was normally a very small build and hardly needed to watch my food or exercise. But I started taking anti anxiety medication and bam with in 9 months I had gain 20 kilo. I have always had a hyper existences knee joint which would lead to dislocation regular ( even my simply taking a step ) I had a full knee recon about 4 years ago and all has healed well. No dislocations anymore... but mentally I still favour my right knee with I guess the ingrained fear of my leftknee popping out. I can't run because I never put that much pressure on that knee.... has anyone ever been through something similar and have any advice to make my instincts stop favouring my right knee ??

cityruss

Speak to your surgeon or possibly a physio with specialist knowledge of this.

Not worth random internet advice borking your knee.

sijomial

I had three months on crutches after my knee was "modified" by an errant car driver - lost a ligament and 90% of a meniscus along with huge muscle loss.

I had to make a real conscious effort over many months not to favour my good leg. Here's some examples:

Every time I came to stairs or step I told myself to lead with my bad leg. And I always took stairs when I could - very good for improving knee stability and quad strength. Quad strength is very, very important to help stabilise a knee joint.

Consciously checked how I was standing as would tend to flex my bad knee and put all my weight through my good leg (caused hip and back issues from standing lop-sided). Also asked friends and family to remind me. Look in the mirror (or shop windows) to check and recheck you are balanced.

Wearing a well designed and injury specific knee brace for sport helped enormously as it took away the fear of causing further injury. Took hours of drills to make myself stop and push off with my weak side.

Something else many people find good exercise when your knees are sub-standard......
I cycle a lot, very controlled range of movement and no impact. Cleated shoes also help keep all your joints in line. I use a power meter equipped bike which tells me the percentage of power each leg contributes, taken a lot of time to get it close to 50/50.

Lastly - losing weight really helps.

jgnatca

OK I take back my advice on the other thread. Don't run. Cycle instead.

LeoT0917

I've had reconstructive knee surgery and it has taken many years to adapt to and strengthen my "bad@ leg. Great advice from above. I'd also recommend swimming and maybe rowing while gradually working exercises that put more pressure on that leg, with guidance from your Orthopedic Doctor.

GoldBikiniGoals

sijomial wrote: »

I had three months on crutches after my knee was "modified" by an errant car driver - lost a ligament and 90% of a meniscus along with huge muscle loss.

I had to make a real conscious effort over many months not to favour my good leg. Here's some examples:

Every time I came to stairs or step I told myself to lead with my bad leg. And I always took stairs when I could - very good for improving knee stability and quad strength. Quad strength is very, very important to help stabilise a knee joint.

Consciously checked how I was standing as would tend to flex my bad knee and put all my weight through my good leg (caused hip and back issues from standing lop-sided). Also asked friends and family to remind me. Look in the mirror (or shop windows) to check and recheck you are balanced.

Wearing a well designed and injury specific knee brace for sport helped enormously as it took away the fear of causing further injury. Took hours of drills to make myself stop and push off with my weak side.

Something else many people find good exercise when your knees are sub-standard......
I cycle a lot, very controlled range of movement and no impact. Cleated shoes also help keep all your joints in line. I use a power meter equipped bike which tells me the percentage of power each leg contributes, taken a lot of time to get it close to 50/50.

Lastly - losing weight really helps.

These are all exceptional tips.

I've had surgery to fix issues with both of my knees, but I still favour my right over my left just due to the extent of the injury. Physiotherapy was a big help for me in building my confidence to use my knee to it's full extent and having a safe place to determine and then push boundaries. After surgery I was told that running would be off the table entirely but now I can run, but I do have to carefully track my mileage and have a range that it's not advised I exceed. Right now I'm working towards being able to run longer distances (5k+) without my brace to help with improving the strength of the muscles around my knee.

I don't regularly do physio anymore, but I still pop in every 2-3 months for a quick assessment to make sure I'm on the right track and not developing any bad habits. I also work 40+ hours a week on my feet, so I often have to recheck my stance and make sure I'm standing balanced and not favouring like the above poster said.

Really, it all comes down to you. You need to create that safe environment for yourself and find out (likely from a medical professional) what the real boundaries are, rather than the ones you've mentally put on yourself. There's a good chance that you can do more than you are, but you'll certainly need to ease your way in both for your physical and emotional health. You can do this.