Exercising with knee pain/problems

CarlaAnn15

Five plus years ago, I torn my ACL and had it repaired. Since then, I've had pain off and on then over the past 8 - 10 mths have had horrible pain. Walking up and down stairs was horrible, couldn't run/jog on it. Bending, squats, lunges, elliptical... was totally out of the question! On December 9th, I had arthiscopic surgery to removed arthritis, scar tissue and a 'cyclopes' which was causing the majority of the pain. I'm still unable to run/jog on it without pain and the doctor told me I will probably never really be able to run on it again... which is very discouraging for me because I love jogging! I've been using the treadmill to walk and sometimes lightly jog, the recumbent exercise bike and weather permitting, outside to walk! I've tried the elliptical but still too much pain on it. Stairs are getting better but still somewhat painful. Last night, I got out my Biggest Loser (Wii) and did an 18 minute light full body workout. It wasn't too bad other than the lunges. Squats are painful yet as well.

All of this being said, does anyone out there have advise on what exercises I can do to help strengthen the knee so maybe I won't have pain anymore? If you even know of a website that would have an exercise routine, please post if you can! I'm somewhat limited on equipment and the closest gym is about 35 minutes away from me and costly! I'm just getting discouraged and really need to get moving again to get the weight off!

Thanks in advance for any help/advise you may have!!
Carla

binkxo3

I am no help at all, but would love to hear the answers! I tore my ACL years ago and have had arthro. On both knees. I just started working out and I have been having to do 1 mile at a time in between runs/rides because my knee hurts so bad! I have been doing a Mile, then my arm work ours, then another mile then my crunches, then another mile…. (You get the idea)

estjames

My mom has been riding a typical stationary bike (not spinning one) and she says that helps her. One thing you have to make sure of is that your knees/thighs are parallel to the bikes frame because if not it can cause knee pain (personal experiences from spin class) and your muscles will not develop as quickly.

Also, I am assuming you went to a trainer for rehab after the surgery, so call them up for a chat or make an appointment. They are professionally trained and can help you to find exercises that are for you. You could also take a few sessions with a personal trainer at a gym or one that comes to your home since they can find the best thing for you.

Roni_M

Swimming would be fabulous if you have access to a pool. What I did was searched YouTube for strength exercises for arthritis (I have psoriatic arthritis). There are a whole series of strength training and although they may seem "easy" I have found differences in my strength from one side to the other (and surprisingly it varies depending on the joint). They are helping improve the weaker side which in turn helps the stability of the joints. I also use the treadmill as opposed to walking outside. The "cusion" feature meant for runners helps arthritic joints when walking. Good luck!

shano25

If you go to the Yoga Journal website, they have a feature where you can choose which body part you want to focus on and then it shows which poses are good for that. I have chronic knee problems so I use the poses they recommend to strengthen my quads and my hips, which affect my knees. It's not cardio, but it will help strengthen your muscles.

brismom070897

Your situation sounds very much like mine. Torn miniscus. Two ortho surgeries. Did not get better til I went through 6 weeks of Physical Therapy. Joined medical supervised gym and now I am 70% better. Did you do PT after surgery? If not you may want to talk to your Dr. about that. I had lost nearly all muscle tissue in that leg over a period of 1.5 years due to limping, etc. Leg was so weak .