Sore knees

Monisfit4life

My left knee consistently bothers me during workouts of any kind. Does anyone have any natural remedies or supplements that they have taken to strengthen their knees, besides icing them?

kristinegift

I have pretty bad/weak knees, but I've been doing a lot of squats and stuff through the 30 Day Shred and that's helped strengthen my knees/muscles around my knees quite a bit. When my knee hurts before I even workout, however, I bike instead of run, and that helps a lot too.

pa_jorg

I know this will sound strange, but work on your hips muscles and your knees will most likely feel better (assuming there is no medical problem with them). Having stronger hip muscles will take excess pressure off the knees. It's worked for me at least!

breezymom81

Try wearing a brace to support them, ice em and get them stronger! I have bad knees but have pushed through and they are finally starting to feel better

Captain_Tightpants

If your knee is structurally weak then there might not be much you can do other than wearing knee support braces and/or considering surgery. Glucosamine supplements help some - they're one of the few supplements I actually do believe have beneficial effects above and beyond placebo level and I've heard more than one orthopedic surgeon recommend them.

If it's just a case of needing to strengthen your leg muscles and improve your weight distribution, I would strongly recommend 24 form Yang Tai Chi.

amiscci

I have two bad knees too. Weak/uneven strength quad muscles and loose kneecaps apparently, bones grind when they are stressed. The worst for me is stairs (mostly down, or turning in bed, or jolting exercize like mountain climbers). Dr said the bones are just grinding at the joint and without strengthening it will be painful. The right excerize helps.

Day to day: I also found that good arch supports (sneakers with high arch support, or Dr. Scholl's inserts) really helped realign my legs and helped minimize the grinding for 80% of my day. As noted, if your legs are out of alignment everything's a wreck upward through the body. It made a huge difference in my phamtom hip aches too.
Good luck!

eclipse05

When my knees and hips (the inside of the joints) were bothering me, my doctor suggeted that I use capsaicin supplements. She said I was likely suffering from inflammation and that the supplement would help w/ that. I also used glucosamin chondrotin.

knittingbandmom

Try wearing a brace to support them, ice em and get them stronger! I have bad knees but have pushed through and they are finally starting to feel better

Do you mind if I ask how long it took for them to start feeling better? I have a situation right now with my left knee. After years of inactivity I decided to start a jazzercise class and like a fool I went every night even after the knee started hurting me. I went to my doctor who thinks it might be an mcl issue because it's towards the inside and inner top of my kneecap and suggested I stay off of it, and ice, etc. The other option was to go in for an mri (aka spending the big bucks). From everything I've read online about mcl issues they stem from a blunt blow to the outside of the knee and I've not had that. Tendonitis of the kneecap and quad. muscle fits more like what I am feeling from too much too fast and overuse. This past week I finally gave up and have stopped working out on it but I miss my workouts terribly. I know as I lose weight it will help but it's depressing. I am hoping after a week or 2 max I will be able to return to my workout on a slower schedule to start with, say 3x per week instead of 6.

LaundryJo

My knees were so bad I had to use sticks to get around, I was 38 when they started hurting. I'm 41 now. No one could figure out what was wrong, I have been to physio etc etc, x-rays, knees look normal. I worked on yachts so never wore shoes, so my arches fell and my knees turned in. Now I can run! This is what I did, take Glaucosamine every day, wear shoe inserts to give arch support and exercise. My knees still bother me sometimes, so when working out, i modify it to suit me, miss out squats sometimes and no kneeling on my knees ( I can't do Jillian Michael DVD's) I do Tae Bo kick boxing, which does not hurt my knees at all surprisingly. The only trouble I have with them mainly is walking down stairs.
I hope this helps, modify your work outs, do it your pace, but be careful!

breezymom81

Try wearing a brace to support them, ice em and get them stronger! I have bad knees but have pushed through and they are finally starting to feel better

Do you mind if I ask how long it took for them to start feeling better? I have a situation right now with my left knee. After years of inactivity I decided to start a jazzercise class and like a fool I went every night even after the knee started hurting me. I went to my doctor who thinks it might be an mcl issue because it's towards the inside and inner top of my kneecap and suggested I stay off of it, and ice, etc. The other option was to go in for an mri (aka spending the big bucks). From everything I've read online about mcl issues they stem from a blunt blow to the outside of the knee and I've not had that. Tendonitis of the kneecap and quad. muscle fits more like what I am feeling from too much too fast and overuse. This past week I finally gave up and have stopped working out on it but I miss my workouts terribly. I know as I lose weight it will help but it's depressing. I am hoping after a week or 2 max I will be able to return to my workout on a slower schedule to start with, say 3x per week instead of 6.

I had to learn to modify- make sure you keep your knee behind the toe on all lunges and sqauts. It took me almost 2 1/2 months to start feeling better! They feel much better now- most of the time! My pain stems from years of dance and horse back riding.

knittingbandmom

Thank you. I've been at it since the end of April so I'm hopeful. I am very careful with form especially in lunges and I am making sure both of my feet stay on the ground even though I really want to put some air under them.

Thanks LaundryJo too for the info. Today I picked up Triple Strength Osteo Bi-Flex which has the glucosamine in it AND Flexall to rub on the knee. I've also added Omega Fish Oil which is supposed to have healing properties as well. As far as going anything on the knees goes that is exactly how I landed myself in this place to begin with. My knees were sore, I kept at it and they got better. Then I fell and my left knee started hurting again. I kept at it and in a few weeks it got better. THEN I did a floor routine on my knees and it has been screwed up ever since. Live and learn I guess.

Monisha thank you for posting this. Sorry to ask questions under your post but I've learned a lot from this thread.