knee injury help

AmyLRed

Hey all, i am not substituting a forum for a doctor, i have been to my doc and will return in January for a follow up.

Prior to adding in physical activity i had occasional knee pain in my left knee over the last 6 months or so, mostly if i squatted down or sometimes on the stairs. I wasnt very active, so it didnt bother me a ton. I was anxious about adding exercise because i dont want to make my knee worse, and i assumed most of the issue was that i am not a teenager anymore and i am overweight and my knees dont like it. I made a doc appt just to be sure, and went to see her, and of course it wasnt bothering me that bad. She said she could feel a little grinding or slippage in my knee, to keep an eye on it and we would re-check in a month. Great. Fast forward another 3 weeks and my knee is killing me. I do Zumba 1x per week and cardio kiclboxing2x week. Some days it bothers me a little during the workout, some days its pretty rough. Tonight its really acting up.

My question is for anyone who has knee pain during deep knee bends. Did it get worse? get better? Any thoughts? I have a follow up the second week in January with the doctor, who of course didnt seem to really know what was wrong with it anyhow. I may ask for a referral to a sports medicine doc or something.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can offer advice or knowledge!!

AmyLRed

BUMP.
Anyone??

jsteffen80

I have had similar troubles with my knees. I don't think anything short of surgery will clear mine up... But I can still do anything short of deep squats without too much trouble. Whenever I go past 90 degrees and try to push it gets extremely painful and sounds like I'm breaking twigs all the way back up.

I guess I don't have any real advice, but you are doing the right thing by seeing your physician.

pucenavel

I had pain that was sort of under the knee cap when I first started running. It was a combination of weakness in the muscles above my knee and tight IT bands. A few months of PT and strength training nipped it in the but. More recently, I had about 2 months of pain along the outside of my other knee. It started after a 1/2 marathon - turned out to be tendonitis and went away when I let it get some proper rest.

I have to say that although my doctor was correct in his diagnosis, it's hard to really get any long-term attention from doctors (I'm in the US & under our insurance system....). My PT was great. I not only was treated for the issue, but I got some good education on general fitness and a new way of thinking about training.

My advice? See your doctor to make sure nothing is seriously wrong - but ask about seeing a physical therapist.

AmyLRed

Thanks. I was thinking that asking for a physical therapist might be the way to go, doctors are so rush rush (do to the pressures put on them in the practice) and i think a PT would likely be ore knowledgeable and actually treat rather than guess and just tell me not to exercise. I am worried i will have to give up the kickboxing and i dont want to! Its a great mix of cardio and strength training, but the deep knee bends are awfully painful. I hope it just needs to be strengthened and that i dont have some type of tear.

Thanks!

Usbornegal

I am still rehabbing after knee problems this year. You might want to have her schedule an MRI to check on your meniscus. Sounds a bit like mine early on when I was having problems. After it got really bad after my last half marathon I ended up needing surgery.

Things to do to help it heal without needing to go to surgery:

After a workout, elevate - ice - rest.
Get an elastic knee brace to use for that knee during hard exercise periods.
Get a trainer at the gym to work with you on strengthening the muscles around your knee to give it more stability.
Give it a day of rest between heavy workouts or if it is extra sore/swollen.

If you can't work out your legs because of your knee, you can work on core strength and upper body strength. Best wishes for a good recovery. Friend me if you wish.

leenites

KT Tape worked miracles for me.

http://www.kttape.com

I used knee braces (chopat-type), the typical ACE knee sleeves, etc... Nothing helped.
Finally with the combination of physical therapy for 2 weeks and KT Tape, I am ok.

These days, I use KT Tape on my knees before I do HIIT. A balanced strength between my quad and hamstring helps too with the landing impact.

DBRobinson13

First, I'm not a doctor. But I have had 6 knee surgeries over the last 30 years. Here are the things you can do before your next appointment. These will help your doctor in determining what the best protocol will be.
1. What activities aggravates your knee?
2. Does it swell? After all activity or only certain activity.
3. Do you get relief after taking an anti inflammatory (Motrin, Aleve, etc). How long did it take to relieve the pain?
4. Are you icing it after activity? Does that give relief, or reduce the pain?
5. Is the pain isolated or does it radiate around the knee? Toward the front? back?
6.. How does it feel when you wake up each morning, after "normal activity", not zumba, or heavy workouts?

A good fitness trainer can help you with modified movements to reduce the knee strain. Moves that may require pivots, such as zumba and step aerobics may not be the best idea right now. I would not do squats, but if you feel like you must do them, do not go deep. Flex your glutes and let your glutes and hamstrings get a good burn. You must be able to see your toes at all times.

Anything you can do to strenghten your quadraceps is good. It is a large muscle that provides tremendous stability to the knee. You can accomplish this with straight leg lifts (add a 3 - 5 lb weight for extra resistance. ) Recumbent bikes are good, along with swimming. Walking is good, but avoid the pounding of a run for now.

Be diligent about documenting your activity, pain level, how you get relief, etc. It wll really help your doctor.
Hope this helps. Feel free to message me if you need more info.

FYI - even after all my knee surgeries, I am active, healthy and fit. I can run a 5k with no pain. Don't allow it to be a reason that you say "I can't." Instead, say "Yes, I can!"
Good Luck
Dee

AmyLRed

Thank you! Right now most of my pain is only during the aggravating activity, with some residual aching the day after, but only sometimes. I want to start the C25K program in the spring (once its not dark at 4pm anymore!) and really want this knee strengthener/repaired and ready go by then.

gentlygently

All sounds great advice - I am searching around on the Mfp site for knee strengthening ideas sobglad to come across this. The only other issue that may be worth thinking about is flat feet - you may need to strengthen your feet too...(or arch supports but presumably having better arches is better )