Sprained Knee - Help!

msamcoates

Hi all,
So about 3 weeks ago, I injured my knee. For about 2 weeks, I have been continuing to do zumba and/or "just dance" about 4x a week. Needless to say, my knee hasn't gotten any better. So today I went to the doctor and he said it could be sprained and was given pain killers and muscle relaxers and was told not to exercise on it for the next 2 weeks until my follow-up appointment.

My questions are, how can I maintain my diet and also are there any low impact exercises I can do??

I got really discouraged after hearing the news today so I wanted to look here for some encouragement.

Thanks all!

AZKristi

At my gym they have an "arm bike" that people in wheel chairs can use for cardio exercise. Best to let your injury heal and reduce calorie intake for a few weeks. If you make the injury worse you may end up out of the gym a lot longer.

ronda_gettinghealthy

chair dancing-- richard simmons even has a wheelchair sweatin to the oldies-- wt lifting- some pilates-some yoga- situps- I had to improvise when I was laid up with a torn achilles. Good Luck

GaveUp

I got a groin pull 3 weeks ago so I started focusing more on food, logging daily. I am eating low carb and still losing even though I can't workout. Remember losing weight is 80% diet.

knittnponder

That would have been a good question for the doctor. Swimming might be doable if you're careful but even that you don't want to aggravate the knee. Sit ups/crunches, pull ups and that type of stuff might be ok but again, be careful. I know it's frustrating but it's better to give the knee a short healing time and be able to get back to work than it is to try to work through it when you shouldn't and end up injuring yourself worse. Just remember, recovering from surgery will set you back a whole lot longer than just a sprain!

tjsusong

Other than the Arm Bike like suggested above, your best bet is to lay off. I just went through 3 months of physical therapy only to end up having orthoscopic surgery on my knee. It turned out to be a torn meniscus and a sprained ACL. BUT, I didnt go to the doctor for about 3 weeks after it happened and because of that, I only made it worse. I ended up being completely off exercise for over a month. Trust assured, listen to what your doc says. If I would have gone sooner, I could have probably prevented that much down time:(

nicothepotato

Swimming. Those arm bikes don't do quite the burn. I was out of commission for 3 months with a knee injury and all I could do is swim. My dog got really fat because I could barely walk so she didn't get to walk. Poor doggie is back to normal weight now and I'm back to biking and skating.

This also depends on the severity of your injury, if it's just a sprain, swimming should be ok. If you tore something then lay off until the Dr. says it's ok. If you don't know yet, then chill out and just watch your calories.

ahweber

I have had SEVERAL knee injuries over the years and the best thing you can do is swim if you have access to a pool. Not only is it beyond low impact, you actually can burn a ton of calories because you tend to work every muscle in your body including the ones you didn't know existed. People who have had surgery on their knees or hips do physical therapy in a pool because you are not adding additional stress to the injury. Once you are finished swimming make sure to go home and do 15 minutes of ice on your knee, and 15 minutes off. Do this for about an hour and your knee will be better in no time. If you have any questions just friend me!

brendansmithptatc

Muscle relaxers and pain killers are not appropriate for a knee sprain, may be for a back injury. Find a sports medicine doctor who can determine with an accurate exam if ligaments or the meniscus are damaged and may prescribe anti-inflammatory medication and possible physical therapy. The wait and see approach will slow you down. I have 15 years experience in sports medicine and feel you could be receiving better care.

msamcoates

Thank you all for the help. I think I'm going to lay off it and watch my calorie/carb intake while only doing upper body strength training. I tend to get very very very very very lazy if I do absolutely nothing.