Running/jogging with bad knees?

I would love to know an answer to this too. I really would love to try to become a runner but have a bad knee. I do elliptical training and even that causes some pain I will work through the pain if anyone thinks the pain would subside with use... I'm grasping at straws here but really would like to do this.

I used bad knees as a crutch for the longest time as a reason to not run. I'm not saying everyone does this or even lots of people. It's very important to make sure you have medical clearance before you begin any kind of regiment that will stress your body. That being said, my muscle and knee endurance has improved immensely over the past 5 months. They key is to push yourself just outside of your comfort zone, know your limits, and go just slightly beyond them and work towards your goals. If you want to be able to run a mile, start out with jog/walk intervals, work up to run/walk intervals, then run/jog intervals, and finally, run your mile. Then increase your distance!

Everybody is different.

When I got diagnosed with a joint disease(RA) many moons ago...my doctor told me that I wouldn't be able to run again not alone to walk without a cane since I can't take meds to combat the disease.

I am probably the most active person I know, I'm usually mistaken for near half my age. I run every day. Sometimes back to back days half marathons, I've played catcher for baseball for 5-6 years, played semi pro football for into my early thirties. Hockey every week, tennis every other day in the summer, bike ride like crazy.

I might be the exception in most cases, but all my doctors have stopped telling me that I can't & now just laugh and ask what new things I can do.

The biggest thing if you ARE able to run is to take it very slow and don't try to do what you think is normal. Repeat~take it very slow, have "PROPER" running shoes fitted for you personally, and use proper form.

They surgery he suggested was going in and trimming my ligaments. Basically making a tighter fit since they are too loose. I am not sure how you tell all that by just feeling it and not doing an MRI but I suppose I didn't go to 8 years of medical school either

It's based on the "injury". If I elected to go for surgery, I'd basically have a choice between that or a full knee replacement.

I have awful knees. I've had a degenerative form of arthritis in my knees and back since I was very young (knees starting in elementary school, spine in high school), despite being at a pretty healthy weight/only very slightly overweight until I had my kids in the last 3-4 years. More often than not, I can't even stand up out of a chair without leaning on something and pausing to catch my breath due to pain. Only cure for me is joint replacement, which I'm not willing to undergo at my age.

I've just accepted the fact that I will never be a runner. It's just not in the cards for me. There are SO many other ways to be active that are more knee-friendly. I walk, I do a trampoline aerobics class, I use the elliptical. I would bike if I had any balance, lol. I roller skate. I swim whenever I can. I strength train like crazy. I feel like I more than satisfy my exercise needs and I'm in FAR less pain than the few times I've attempted to run/jog. I know that running can be an amazing thing, but you have to put your overall health first. If you feel that the benefits of running will outweigh the potential risks, then start slow and listen to your body and give it a go. If you believe that running will hurt your body more than it can help it (compared to other forms of exercise), then find something else you love to do and do it.

I have patellar subluxation, which sounds similar to what you have. Essentially, my kneecaps don't sit right (I can move them around) and will sometimes dislocate on a whim.

Yes!! This sounds exactly like mine. And oh my gosh, the pain. When it happens I immediately feel nausiated, break out in a cold sweat, get dizzy, etc. It is like my body is going into shock or something.

Thank you for the brace suggestion! Right now I have just a stretchy pull over my knee kind of brace. No straps or supports on the side. It has a hole where the patella is. I usually wear it when my knee "acts up". I don't know if you get this but sometimes my knee will randomly fill with liquid (I guess swell up) and my knee cap just feels unstable like it is going to go. So I put the knee brace on for the day as a preventative and usually by morning it is better. The one you have though looks way more stable!

Mine will occasionally swell a tad, but after a major dislocation they swell with blood :sick: I totally know what you mean, though! Definitely invest in something more stable. What you DON'T want to do is wear your brace all the time. Think of it this way: you want to train your quads and hamstrings to help support your patella. If you wear your brace all the time, your brace is the thing supporting it, not your muscles - just like having your arm in a cast. Because I've been in braces so much, I have some atrophy in my quads and they function at a much lower level than they should. So, only wear your brace when working out or if you really need it!

Have you considered water aerobics? It is really really low impact and a pretty decent work out.

You need to get specifics about whether running is ok from a doctor, or more likely a physical therapist (a good one). Is the surgery he's talking about for dislocations a patella realignment? I've had one (the first time I injured my right knee- repeated dislocations). It was a rough surgery, and the surgeon did a good job, but the results haven't been outstanding. I swore I would never do it with my left knee, and ten years of dislocations in my left knee haven't changed my mind.

My regular doctor can't really give me much information on my knee itself. I can try to go to another orthopedic doctor and see what they say. However, I'm not sure if I could get seen with my insurance since I don't have an acute injury at this time. At this point I don't go to the doctor at all when it pops out (and by popping out I mean my knee cap seems to dislocate. I can see it move away from where it is supposed to be and move back when I straighten my leg out. However, if I bend it again shortly after injury it will dislocate again).

They surgery he suggested was going in and trimming my ligaments. Basically making a tighter fit since they are too loose. I am not sure how you tell all that by just feeling it and not doing an MRI but I suppose I didn't go to 8 years of medical school either

Jen

That type of surgery is a mess. It's a reconstruction, so you're probably looking at about three months initial recovery and a year to full recovery if there are no complications. There is no way I would let them do that without an MRI, and your knee doesn't sound bad enough to take the risk.

I don't go to a doctor when my knee pops out either. Some doctors call it a dislocation, some a subluxation (means not completely dislocated), but it sucks either way.

Braces can help, but they can also make your joint weaker. For example, wearing one while doing an activity that frequently causes your knee to pop out helps prevent recurring injury. Wearing one all the time weakens all the supporting muscles and makes you more likely to be injured. So it's a catch 22.

I'm not a doctor or physical therapist, and you really need to get cleared with them. That said, it sounds like you really want to run, so it might be worth the risk for you IF you train properly to do that. That starts with walking a lot to start strengthening it and taking everything very slowly. If it hurts in a bad way (I'm guessing you know what I mean- the hurt that means you're getting injured, not the soreness from exercise) you need to stop and backtrack. After you've built up to quite a bit of walking (I'm sure others can help you with the amount), start alternating jogging with walking, and eventually progressing to running. Definitely wear good shoes- go to a running store where they analyze your gait. Shoes that compensate for your weaknesses help prevent injury. And like I said earlier, you might think about working on walking now and not progressing to running untl you've lost some weight. You already have knee issues, and extra weight stresses them more. Running just compounds that. But if you do lots of walking now, you'll be in much better shape if you decide to try running once you've lost some of that weight.

Don't forget to think in the long term. If you push too hard now, you may cause an injury that causes problems for years. If you take things slowly, you're more likely to be able to do activities that help keep you strong for years to come.

And if you give it your best shot and running causes your knee to have more problems, there are many other activities and exercises that you can do instead. Bad knees don't mean you can't be active.

Broken knee, bad other knee from it as well. Bad hips, bad feet, bad ankles........ I still run 10km a day.


It's only bad if you land bad. Other than that.... got for it. People always pull the "it's bad for your joints" when they are lazy & don't want to do it or anyone else to either.

I really think this depends on the person and the injury.

My knee and ankle both bruise and swell when I do anything with high impact. I definitely don't take that to mean I can't be active. I'm in the gym four or five times a week (strength training, arc trainer, swimming, and classes in the pool), and do some type of exercise every day. My personal limits are that I can't run, and I can't jog. That's just the way it is.

Running isn't always bad for your joints (even injured ones), and it can be good for them. But if you have known joint issues, it is always a good idea to have a good physical therapist's input on how to build up to running. Pushing too hard too fast can cause pointless injury, and a good physical therapist can help you figure out how much you can do when. (Note the "good" physical therapist. I've had some that sucked, and I've had some that have made my life a lot easier).