Bad Knees

bump--I have the exact same problem.

Do youuse a knee brace? Maybe that would help? I have one knee that's slightly bad, but not horrible.

I strongly suggest you go see an orthopedic doctor to determine what the best course of action is. Your issue will only get worse and ignoring it will not help (sounds like osteoarthritis). My wife had a similar issue and her orthopedic doctor gave her injections in her knees that helped lubricate the joints. After she lost weight, she no longer needed any further treatment and her knee pain was gone. Good luck!

I have used knee pain as an excuse for a while and am working through it. I am takin mega men joint, concentrating on core strengthening. Also check your shoes. I need a wide sole because of the way my feet turn in. The old shoes I was using was causing my weight to come over the side of the sole and putting extra strain on my knee.

I hurt my medial collateral ligiment in my left knee about 20 years ago. I reinjured that knee about 16 months ago. I did PT and the idea was to strengten the muscles around the knee, calf, thight, core, etc.

So far I am having more soreness in my left knee then other places but so far it is just soreness, not chronic pain. I don;t have anything in the way of advice other than my experience, but I would consider a visit to an orthopedist, maybe some PT to figure what is causing the problem and how you can work around or through it. If it is soreness work through it, if it is chronic pain that gets worse then self diagnosing could make it worse.

Swimming seems like good advice.

Stretch your legs EVERY day. It has done a world of good for me. I am 224 lbs and 46 years old and play about two hours of high level tennis a day.

I was scared when my knees became very sore for a period of time, one of them became swollen and I hobbled up and down stairs. Everyone said go get an operation. I spoke with a few physiotherapists to understand the structure of the knee and learned a lot. I came to understand that the muscles above the knee and below the knee were pulling together and the knee was feeling lots of pressure. If you have excess weight on, it puts even more pressure on it.

I started stretching and am in the process of losing weight and my knee problems have all but disappeared. I was so pleased that I stopped stretching for a while and guess what, the pain came back! I am now stretching my legs for just 5 minutes every day, but it makes all the difference. Now if I can get down to 205...

The stretches I do: 1) touch your toes (hamstring) 2) heel to butt (quads) 3) heel on floor, toes on wall, while facing the wall, lean leg forward (calf). Don't stretch to pain but you should feel it, you will see progress for how far you can stretch every month or two.

bump me too.

I do partial squats, my knees can't handle a full squat.

My kneecaps are both tilted laterally (to the outside), and my knees sound like they're 70 yrs old (I'm only 35).

I do leg raises on a weight bench. It involves my knees going from 90* angle to extended, but I'm only pushing up whatever weight I put on the machine - I'm not trying to raise my entire body weight.

I also use my elliptical machine 2 to 3 times a week.

I do partial squats, my knees can't handle a full squat.

:facepalm:

partial squats are WAY worse for your knees than a full, below-parallel squat.

You should see an orthopedist. You do not "work through" knee pain. The knee is a complex joint, and muscle and imbalances can contribute. Women often have more problems than men.

My fear with getting my knees checked is that I will lose motivation to work out. At one point I lost over 25 pounds. I gained all but 6 of that back due to some major life issues the past six+ months. I REALLY want to get this weight off once and for all. I'm afraid if surgery is required I will gain it all back and then some!

I would think the fear of screwing up your knees worse by NOT seeing a specialist would be more of a concern.

Suck it up and go to a doctor.

I have had one knee replaced and am scheduling the other for some time in the fall. I know what you are saying. Having said that....one thing that will help your knees is getting the muscles that support the joint stronger. Leg extensioins are good but only through the upper third of the motion. Do NOT go all the way down on the leg extention machine because that puts too much pressure on the knee - you still strengthen the quad doing partial reps. Flexability was an issue with me on the hamstring oriented machines so I opted for deadlifts (straight leg).

Don't be afraid to go see the doctor - if your knees are grinding that is not good. There are many non surgical things that can be done. But I do know that if you need replacement you should find a good personal trainer that specializes in bad knees and get those muscles strong before the operation. Makes a HUGE difference. Good luck, but don't stop exercising. One more thing - if your gym has an arc machine use that over the eliptical and don't do a recumbant bike. My physical therapist told me that that is the worst thing someone with bad knees can use.

I love weightlifting and love being strong. I still do squats and do use a knee wrap on the bad knee. It seems to help.

Knees are such complex joints you simply must get a diagnosis!
Until you know what's wrong how will you ever know what you can and can't do? Or maybe more importantly the longer term prognosis.
I've had three major knee injuries and never met anyone with exactly the same ones as me.

Sure you could try each exercise and see what hurts but that's not the smartest option. It could be you need physio, surgery, rehab exercises a brace etc. etc.

I have had knee pain above and below my knee for three weeks. Ice, Alleve, ice, Alleve, more pain, try cross-training (Jillian and her squats are NOT helping the knees, though everything else would be fine otherwise...how do these overweight contestants handle all the squats and lunges, prey tell?) In asking myself this question, I remember reading that the contestants had personal massages.

I decided to check out youtube. Here is an example or two that have helped pain for me today even though two ice sessions and Celebrex didn't have me "all there" (I'll keep doing them per my doctor's instructions):

Self Massage Helped: (I used some lotion) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyLdBti9j48
Also, another video I can't find that showed rubbing over muscles with a flat surface to get rid of "gritty" muscle that can be bound, causing pain to other ligaments and tendons. I used a long foot file, on it's side, with lotion.

Trials, but I'm trying. And this is the first hour all day I've not been in pain. I could probably do my circuit training at this moment with some modifications.

Also, bought knee straps this week at Wal*Mart, they seem to alleviate some pain while running. Didn't help with forward deepn knee lunges much. Seems like working up to lunges is always more difficult than it seems it should be.

I hate to tell you this, but if you think post knee replacement involves just sitting around, you are in for a surprise. You will be told to walk on the knee as much as you can stand, they get you out of bed the next day in the hospital. physical therapy is 3 times a week. It hurts a lot at first, but I had my first knee done a while ago and my doc said there have been huge advances since then. But a better faster recovery is an active recovery. You don't want to let the new joint get stiff from scar tissue, not moving the joint etc. Additionally, I lost weight post surgery and someone has since told me that post surgery your metabolism actually ramps up a bit to get on with the work of healing. Don't know if that is true or not, but I lost a small amount of weight. Good luck with the surgeries.