Help with knee pain - Seeking recommendations

Hi, fitness pals. Been hitting the gym regularly for Zumba and some other high-impact classes and I have some resulting soreness in my knees. Went to the ortho who said to get good shoes, good insoles, try a joint formula and lose some more weight. Well, I have the shoe and insole part done. The weight I'm working on....

If anyone else is dealing with this issue successfully, can you recommend a specific brand of a joint formula (msm + chondroitin) that you've had success with?

Or your results with any natural substance? Someone recommended turmeric supplements. Someone else recommended simply applying cold packs after a class for 15-20 minutes.

I've been taking Advil, but that will damage the stomach over time.

Any suggestions welcomed!

Trade off low-impact & high impact days......after you've lost a few pounds, try adding back impact. Maybe your knees just need a break once in awhile. As I've gotten older, I require more and more low impact days.

.

I started experiencing minor knee pain late last year. A friend who is knowledgeable on this analyzed my gait and did some manipulations and suggested I try inserts too. I was lazy and never went that route but about a two months ago I got back on my regular supplement routine which includes glucosamine, chondotrine and MSN and, knock on wood, I haven't been noticing any problems lately. And I do a ton of plyometrics , running, and sprint work. I also have friends that swear by http://www.wellesse.com/our-supplements/joint_movement_glucosamine/ so I am going to try that when I run out of what I'm currently on since that would be one dose liquid versus three separate pills.

ETA: The glucosamine, chondotrine and MSN that I currently take are just the Trader Joe's brand.

So all the ortho said was get new shoes?
Did they give you any other info?

I'm curious because you didn't give a lot of info about where it hurt, how it hurt, etc.

I have patellofermoral syndrome in both knees - I have unevenly shape kneecaps and the pressure wasn't distributed evenly due to PF. My kneecaps were being pulled to the outside of the knees due to the tendon running off to the side and a muscle imbalance in the quads (outer being stronger than inner).

If it's just soreness from all your high-impact stuff, new shoes, icing, and switching up the routine to include lower impact workouts is perfect. But it could be something more...

I've taken glucosamine from BJ's and I'm taking the one from Wal-mart now (Spring Valley is the brand)
I think my current brand is a lower dosage than the BJ's ones.
When you look into the pills, some of them require you to take 2-3 large pills to get the dosage.
So factor that in because it's not cheap to get this supplement

Due to being very active in sports starting young (running, martial arts, etc), I developed osteoarthritis in my joints in my 30's. I was eating Tylenol (most recommended at the time) by the handfuls, & some mornings when I went to get out of bed my legs would actually collapse under me from the pain. Then I heard about glucosamine/chondroitin, asked an Army Special Forces (Green Beret) doc about it. He said he wished he could prescribe it, because so many of the guys were on it & getting great results. I researched it & at the time, only 2 brands were recommended by the experts as having what they should have in them...the GNC brand, and Osteo-Bi-Flex. There may be more acceptable ones by now, but the only people I've known who didn't get relief w/the products were people who used the cheap store brands. You can get Osteo-Bi-Flex at almost any grocery or drug store. Watch for the sales, they have Buy One Get One Free sales about every 3 months or so, that's when I stock up. For me I remember waking up after 3 weeks of taking it and NOT being in pain. Some people have to take it longer to notice results, so I recommend taking it for at least 6 months, because if it hasn't worked by then, it's not going to. But you do have to continue taking it, it's a maintenance product. When I had a little breakthrough discomfort, I added 1000 mg of MSM. Also, it IS very important to have good shoes. After a knee surgery (ACL) I can always tell when I need new shoes, because my knee starts bothering me. Make sure they're a name brand shoe that is very cushiony & comfortable to start with. You can go to this link to read more about the Osteo-Bi-Flex. It's probably the cheapest brand (especially during the BOGO sales) of the ones that work. Good luck.

www.osteobiflex.com

BTW, I'm 54 now don't have joint discomfort to speak of, run, bike, do weights, & martial arts. Also, glucoamine/chondroitin ARE natural ingredients. Your body makes them naturally, the supplements just give you more of them. One lubricates joints, the other helps build them up.

Feel your pain....literally :-(

Saw the Ortho a few weeks ago....he said I wasn't 18 any more.......lol

Before I lost weight my knees hurt all the time. So keep on track with your body weight goals. I too agree with using Glucosimine and fish oil. I never found Motrin/Aleve to help me any, but for some it might.

I found using Biofreze (icy-hot) prior to my runs to help. I also found comfort in wearing a compression type sleeve. Not a brace or wrap, just a pull on snug fitting sleeve. In the winter I wore compression tights for warmth, but felt the support was also a benefit.

An x-ray might be worth while. Mine showed advanced development of arthritis (bone spurs all over my knees). Being in my early 40's that was hard to hear.......but knowledge is power and I will move forward. Since the "structure" of my knee is sound weight training doesn't hurt near what running does. Building/maintaining core strength is well worth consideration.

Keep on keeping on!!!