Question for runners or anyone with bad knees...

Hi all! So, I used to be a runner. I loved it. I would run around 3 miles a day and I *really, really, really* miss running outside. But now I have two bad knees (arthritis) and have had 2 knee surgeries. The last time I saw my knee doc (which was about 11/2-2 years ago), he told me never to run again. He didn't even want me walking long distances. I was in a lot of pain at that point and getting Orthovisc injections in both knees to help with the pain.

Fast forward to last year. I bought a rebounder/mini trampoline on the recommendation of my mom who had one and swore that it helped her knees feel better. I thought I'd give it a try.

Fast forward to today. I have virtually no pain in either knee any given day, without taking any medications/injections at all. Haven't had any pain (maybe a 2 on a scale of 10 sometimes, but that's about it) for like 6 months now. Sure, I can tell if it's going to rain, but other than that, I feel like a new person.

I've got an appt with my knee doc later this week, so I'll ask him what he thinks, but I thought I'd get some opinions on here in the mean time.

Question: is it easier on your knees for you to run on grass? Like in a park? What about trails? There is a park with huge soccer fields down from my house, as well as about 10 miles of trails. I think I'm going to ask my doc if I can jog one of those places, maybe once a week....

Hi

I'm a clinical Exercise Specialist and conditions like arthritis are my specialty. I hope I can help somehow!


YAY that your knee pain has gone!! Doctors are in the business of getting people out of pain. They are GREAT at what they do but don't necessarily have the mindset of "Maintain a lifestyle". He once told a 40 year old client of mine that he should never be doing squats because he was middle-aged.....how silly...that would mean you could never sit down to use the bathroom or get in a car again!


Anyway, first, "arthritis" means joint (arth) inflammation (itis). It's a REALLY generic term. Inflammation in the knees is usually caused in runners from bad running form or progressive weakening of one set of muscles because of repetitive motion...

what do I mean by the second one?

Pretend your job is to shovel dirt. You spend three years shoveling dirt over your left shoulder ONLY. Eventualy, you will become very, very strong on one side of your body and very weak on the other. Your hips and spine will come out of alignment and you will be in SERIOUS pain....that's what happens with your knees.

If a trampoline fixed your knees, you most likely strengthened the muscles you had not been using, causing balance to return to your legs and VOILA!


You would be shocked at the amount of people I have "treated" with knee pain. they went through round after round of injections, steroid, ibuprofen and all It really took was 10 minutes of me helping release their spasmed muscles and them paying a couple weeks of attention to strengthening the right way.

I would also suggest getting on something like MSM, glucosamine and Hydroluronic acid (sp on the last one)

by the way, providing your knees are feeling much better now, you should do trail running. it will keep your muscles around your knee strong from many angles and keep you from getting unbalanced!


let me know if you need some more info



wellfitlife.me

My knees are crap and both have arthritis. Years ago I was a runner, doing 10 Ks regularly. Today I am doing good to jog 1/2 a mile.

I do periodic walking/jogging for a couple of miles. When I do it is always on turf, soft track, or treadmill. My knees can't take the pavement.

My other cardio is biking, swimming or elliptical.

Strength training has helped my knees considerably. The muscles support them much better and absorb some of the pressure. I regularly do squats, dead lifts, and powercleans; and I go heavy when I do them.

Best to you.

I am in the same boat. I used to run 35mi + a week back in the day, but after almost 30 years, 100 lbs, and multiple knee surgeries, I thought I'd never run again. That said, guess what I did last week? I ran! So what changed? I credit it all on re-learning to run PROPERLY and using a barefoot shoe. I was a really bad heel striker, but a running flat, or preferably a barefoot shoe virtually FORCES you to stop that bad habit. Once you relearn how to properly run with a fore-foot or mid-foot stride that also has some elasticity in it (this can take time), bad knees are much less of an issue, in my opinion. Frankly, I think running this way is actually much lower impact than my walking stride because I still heel strike when walking.

In terms of stride, I'm new at this, but there seems to be 2 major schools of thought, the POSE method and the CHI method. Some Google searches should lead to to more info on those.

Best of luck!

I'd go with whatever the doctor says.

If he / she says you can, then all well and good. If not, then I just wouldn't risk it. Running shocks the knees badly. If the doctor says its okay, then grass is better than tarmac and make sure you get expensive well padded trainers.

But dont ignore the advice of your doc.

I've got bad knees as a consequence of too much running on bad trainers years ago. I just dont do it now and I find other exercise.

If the doctor says don't run, I would get a second and third opinion and from a physical therapist too. As another poster already stated, a doctor is not always going to be the best resource for helping you maintain a lifestyle.

Also, running doesn't shock the knees badly. Running with improper form (or the wrong equipment) does. Studies have shown that over time, running actually strengthens the connective tissues around the knee. It's good for you.