Knee pain and exercise

NOLA_Meg

Hi friends,

I have recently been feeling some pain in my left knee. I don't have a history of knee problems, but I do have a history of short/tight tendons and bursa. I have been working out, but I don't think I am over-doing it- I usually walk for 45-60minutes (3 times a week) at 3.8 MPH with some 10 minute jogs at 4.2 and I also do the elliptical (once or twice a week on days I don't walk/run). I do strength-training, but have been focusing on arms and thighs.
Anyone have any suggestions for stretches or exercises for the knee? Anyone suggest wearing a brace during or after a work-out? I am carefully watching it so I won't create a problem that will cause long-term damage and I will go to the doctor if it gets worse, just didn't know if anyone with a history of problems had any suggestions or preventative ideas?

miqisha

My knee usually bothers me when I did Insanity with all the jumping....or in the past when I did The Firm with the high box.

I found that for me when I stopped them and just walked it made my knee not hurt anymore

Wearing a brace might help...my daughter dances and I had to buy her a knee brace and she hasnt complained as much since

But continue watching it as you have been....make sure you are stretching properly before and after each workout

Hope you feel better soon

cdavis1126

When i started trying out the incline on the treadmill, my knee rebelled. i was also told not to run on the treadmill, it's too much of a strain on your knees. This came from the personal trainer at the gym. He said jogging outside is better for you. i also started taking glucosamine for healthy joint revival and i have no more pain in the knee.

mommyhof3

I wear a brace and baby the bad knee a little. I also modify certain exercises to fit my knee. I am doing P90x and Plyo is one I have to skip the high jumping and just step it.

whitneykhowe

When I first started running about a year ago, I had quite a few ailments to work through (knee pain being one of them). I started doing the cross training instead of running (same basic motion/effect, MUCH less impact on the joint). In addition, some strength training of your quadriceps muscles will help strengthen your knee, reduce the pain you're feeling now, and make injury less likely when doing more high impact exercises. The leg raise machine at the gym can help with that. I was told (my a PT) to raise the weights up, lower only a little, raise up again.. repeat repeat, rather than lowering it all the way down and back up again.

Hopefully some of this will help! Knee pain is no fun.

dbhagat

If you have knee pain, rest , Ice pack and Antiinflammatory ( Aleeve caplets 2 twice a day x 5 days) shoul;d do it

Destined

For me it is my right knee. I started walking 5 miles a day since the beginning of April and It hurts especially when I go downhill. I use Epsom salt bath to relieve the pain. It usually works.

ChavezCurse

http://rojofitness.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-knee-hurts-and-i-runwhat-could-it-be.html

shanerylee

argh, going thru this myself lately, but in both knees, from running on treadmill. ITs been a week, ouch

megamom

Treadmills always kill my knees. Even riding my bike has been bothering them lately. I usually wear my brace at night and ice as soon as I can after walking. That and motrin and glucosamine keep it tolerable. both knees crunch more then corn flakes.

Azdak

Before using a brace, you should seek professional help to determine the cause of the knee pain and to get some exercises that can treat the problem. A brace should either be a "last resort" --i.e. something you turn to when the structural damage is too great and cannot be repaired-- or as a temporary intervention that allows you to continue to exercise while undergoing treatment and rehab. When and how this might be appropriate will be different depending on the problem and its cause.

Indiscriminate use of braces can make the problem worse in the long run or, at the very least, delay achieving a more permanent solution. But there is so much variety, there is no way to give useful advice without a firm diagnosis.

shanerylee

oh my god. I am hearing a little crunching too. Yikes! I will try the glucosamine. What kind do you use? My PT friend also told me that rolling/massaging your knees with a tennis ball really helps as well. Ive been doing this at work. I just worked out low resistance on the bike, have a little pain, but not too bad. MY friend also said if you have pain while excercise to stop immmediately. Pain afterwards is okay.

Mom2Emery_Liam

Going through the same thing right now, although my pain isn't slight, it's major! I started C25K two weeks ago and at first it was just soreness. Towards the end of last week it got worse...my knees felt very stiff while running and got worse over the weekend even though I was resting them. Today I pushed myself and did C25K again. My knees didn't hurt so much while running but now I can barely get up and down without being in major pain. Which isn't fun with a 2 year old's diapers to change!
I'm trying to take it easy, use ice and taking advil. They feel like they're throbbing almost, it is no fun.
Definitely take a rest or see a dr before it gets any worse. I'm going to steer clear of high impact workouts this week and hope it clears up on it's own.

shanerylee

Mom2Emery, I had same thing, Its going on two weeks but the pain is subsiding finally. If you have pain while excercising you should do something else. I stopped the treadmill for a week and doing incumbant bike and still burning the same or more calories.. in addition soaking in the tub really helped me and also moist heat. I had to walk down steps backwards the other day it hurt so bad. Not realizing too while I was walking I was making little noises, squeaks and my kids where like Mommy whats wrong with you. I hope you feel better. Its no fun.

redbedhead

I have horrible knees! Arthritis in both for the last 17 years, 3 surgeries on each, no cartilage, tons of "crunching," wating on insurrance to decide to do total knee replacements (they have a minimum age requirement for TKR's)

Although your situation is most likely different from mine, I think the following recomendations from my Drs. can be adapted to fit your situation as you recover.

My Rheumatologist and Orthopedic surgeon both say the same thing when it comes to exercise: 1) on BAD pain days Do non-impact exercises like walking in the pool or swiming, avoid weight training on these days. 2) on Moderate pain days, do non-impact or low- impact, full range of motion exercises the eliptical or recumbant bike are good low impact full range of motion exercises, do weight training on these days but take it easy don't do as many reps or don't use as much weight. 3) on Good or low pain days, do low-impact or medium impact exercises (treadmill at speeds lower than 3 mph is considered a medium impact exercise) do weight training at the weight and reps that you can handle. After exercising be sure to use ice or heat (wichever feels better) and be sure to rest at least 24 hours between each workout to provide maximum healing recovery time. If necessary take an NSAID such as Advil or Aleve, following dosing instructions on bottle..

However the best thing you can do is go to the Dr and find out why you are having knee pain, it could be as simple as a pulled muscle or as bad as a torn miniscus or torn tendon. Each of these situations would have different rehab recomendations,

janclarkrae

Re total knee replacement.

I had TNR at the age of 45. If you press the doctors and tell them that a sedentary lifestyle is dangerous to your health, they usually can be turned around. It took about 20 months for me to recover and to be able to exercise without pain, but it was worth it. Good luck to you.

Motleybird

Tai Chi, if done correctly can help with knees. The hard part is finding a good teacher. If you see them put their knees past their toes when they're doing the form, keep walking. My own Sifu has had knee surgery and years later went on to win second place in a push competition in China. So he really knows his knees.

Tai Chi helps in two ways, by teaching you how to stand and move with correct alignments, and by opening up the body. Flexibility in the hips means that your hips take the turning motions, not your knees. We also work on lengthening the connective tissues, like tendons.

I used to have tendinitis and carpal tunnel before I started Tai Chi. I don't have those any more.

If you can't find a good Tai Chi instructor, maybe a physical therapist would work? But you need someone to stand there and look at what you're doing and help correct your alignments.

pfenixa

I was having alot of knee pain not long ago and I realized it was all from bad form. Almost 100% of my exercise until recently was jogging/walking around my block for a few miles and my knee pain was getting progressively worse. I decided it must have been my ancient shoes, so while I was looking for running shoe stores I saw stuff about running form and realized my problem: when I would run I would land on my heels, which causes a huge amount of impact on the knees. So for the last two weeks I've focused on running on the mid-part of my foot and it's sooo much better. I know you're not just doing running, but with any exercise form is important, like keeping your knees behind your toes when doing squats.