knee pain and weight loss?

I lost weight about three years ago, and I think at about 35-40 pounds down and the pain magically went away. I'm sure this is different for everyone, but that's how it went for me. My knee pain came from a family game of softball 3-4 years ago where I hit the ball and got so surprised my body turned to run and my left knee didn't. It used to, and still gets tired and achy from overuse. I gained all the weight back, and eventually the knee pain came back with it. In my case tylenol/advil/aleve doesn't touch it when it aches, but when I saw the doctor she gave me some light pain meds which I still occasionally take when it gets awful enough to keep me up/ can't walk without pain. Also "technically" nothing is wrong with my knee other than the occasional swelling, but she told me that my patellas fishtail, meaning my quads weren't strong enough to keep them aligned. So although it got aggravated by an injury, it's my weight that made them weak. The doctor also gave me some isometric exercises and recommended walking. I definitely think it is something you can reverse, especially if you never had it prior to weight gain. Sorry this is so long. Good luck to you!

I dropped about 35 pounds and got to about 150 and my knees stopped hurting and my feet also improved.

Monica

I have lost over 80 lbs, but still have knee issues....I think I just over do it...that is my problem. Some people are just not meant to do too much....seems that I get on a roll, then I get a sore knee...I won't stop though! I won't let it stop me at all! I will keep going!!

I had a fairly bad knee injury playing soccer in Mexico as a teen. I lived there for 8th and 9th grade because my family was sent there to work. The medical care down there is... different. I should have had surgery at the time, ended up getting it 6 years later. For me the best exercise for the knee is the bike. I pop in an audiobook and pedal away for an hour. Difficulty doesn't matter so much as keeping it moving. Just enough resistance to give you a little challenge. Now I crank up the difficulty and get my cardio in that was as running wouldn't be good until I lose another 50-60 lbs at least

My main problem was I broke my knee cap in half and it healed out of alignment, along with some ligament damage and soft tissue stuff too, it was one of those horrible looking knee accidents, bent the wrong way... you know the ones. Well it doesn't help that I'm 6'5" 330lbs. So what my wonky kneecap would do is scrape against the femur and cause all sorts of trouble. Lots of people have the same problem from just not having strong enough muscles to keep everything in the right "track" so to speak. I can't do squats to this day, but I would recommend doing the leg extension machine with your toes pointed up, out, then in so you work the different parts of your quads, do the leg curls and leg press if you can't squat. Lunges would be good as well but be careful to keep you knee from going past your toes. Most of all spend time on the bike, start easy and take your time. Increase the difficulty when you can. Push yourself but not so hard that you hurt yourself. I'd expect soreness at first. Use ice for pain (some people respond better to heat)

Before I lost 30lbs my knees and lower back would KILL me constantly. I always said "it hurts too much to do that workout". But there's always ways around it. First off, you need to strengthen your leg muscles to better support your knee (an actual suggestion from my doctor), so go for walks if possible. Also, wear a well-fitting knee brace. Nothing crazy, just something to help stabilize. I bought mine at RiteAid. Not the best, but it was in my price range. Also, swimming in great for sore joints and an elliptical can be a great alternative to running/walking. Just make sure you use one that fits your stride correctly. (if it doesn't you'll be able to tell if your knee hurts) That's about the only suggestion I can think of. But don't give up just because stuff hurts and you're sore. Baby steps will eventually get you to where you want to be.

Two things I would suggest are a recumbent bike if you have access, and swimming. They are both low impact, and can be high calorie burners. I don't like recumbent bikes because I can never tell if I have it at the right length for me, but swimming is my new favorite choice for exercise. Just a couple ideas. I would like to believe that my knee problems will go away as I lose the weight, but I'll have to wait and see.

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