Hunt cut short... knee injury

[HellsCanyon]

So I was hiking in yesterday with plans to hunt the opener of our high buck rifle hunt through Wednesday. I have about a 6 mile hike in with the first 3 3/4 miles climbing well over 4k'. I've got a 50 lb pack on and feeling like a rock star. All the sudden about 4k' into my elevation gain I notice a slight pain on the front right low of my knee. I take it easy from then. Half hour later the pain has gotten so bad that I can't support any weight on the leg unless my leg is locked straight.

I managed to make it another 1-1.5 miles taking it real slow with plans to lay up in camp today if I had to to let the knee get better. Once I got camp set up it took me 35 minutes to hobble 60 yards downhill to get water and make it back. At this point I'm gettin worried... my plans are if I get a buck down to hike it to a nearby trail where I can get horses to then come back for the buck and gear.

This mornin I wake up and the knee is no better. I try a short hike to try and loosen it up but that wasn't happening. I then packed up camp and hobbled my ass 6 hours back to the trailhead. Knowing that I was already pushing the limits to get myself back much less a buck.

I have very little apparent swelling in my knee but it is warm. Two weeks ago I got this same pain slightly coming out from my archery hunt. This time it got bad fast.

After doing some Google searching tonight my symptoms match knee bursitis pretty much exactly. Anybody else dealt with this before? Feels pretty bad to have this issue at 24 years old when I'm feeling like I'm in some of the best climbing shape I've been in...

Mike

 

[Shrek]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe some steroidal treatments and a short rest will lick it. I'm hoping for the best !

 

[Brad W]

I had a similar problem earlier in moose season, I internet diagnosed it as suprapatellar knee busitis also. 2 days after the day I overtaxed it, I had knee the size of a cantaloupe. Compression and anti inflammatorys (ibuprofen) worked, but I kept off it for a week before the fluid was gone. It happens to me every couple years, cortocortizone or draining would get you back in the game faster, if those are options. Good luck.

 

[Sam Millard]

Ice, rest, big doses of ibuprofen...bursitis sucks and is a classic overuse injury of a joint. Always bad timing of course! At 24, you will recover quickly. Be careful with it in case it's more serious than bursitis!

 

[littlebuf]

cortisone is a miracle worker. maybe not the best advice but the needle can get you to the end of the game at least

 

[HellsCanyon]

Thanks guys, I've got a month till I can hit the back country again and I'm going to make it a point to take it easy and ice least once a day. Since I had symptoms two weeks ago and have been easy on it since then for the most part I'm going to make sure it's good to go. I'm reading if you don't let it heal properly and tax it too much it can become a chronic problem. No single season is worth that... though I'd probably have a buck down right now had it not happened...

Uploading a video now. This was my first injury solo in the back country and it sure made me think a bit about life!

Mike

 

[Ross]

Mike, knees do a tremendous amount work and take a lot of punishment during the activity we enjoy. Treat them with tender care and they will serve you well, push them to far when they are screaming at you and it can become a cronic issue which you definately do not want. From what i am hearing you did not due anything that may have torn anything, so it does sound like an overuse injury, so ice, rest and ibuprofen may take care of it. Good luck, as I have dealt with more than my share of knee issues and i dont wish it on anyone, especially anyone who loves to pound the mountains. If you dont have yet, get a set of trekking poles as they definately take strain off the knees on the descents and make you more efficient on long climbs. Good Luck!

 

[Becca]

So sorry to hear this Mike, but I am glad to hear you got out safely. Kudos to you for recognizing your injury, i know it must have been tough to call it quits but its good you are taking care of it before it got any worse. Sounds like you have a good self treatment plan (rest, ice, antiinflammatories). I would caution you to be careful with large doses of ibuprofen if you haven't taken it before. It can cause a lot of people stomach irritation when used in high doses. Taking it with food (I.e not on an empty stomach) can help, but if you start to notice heartburn like symptoms starting you might want to go easy.

Get healed up and get back out there!

 

[HellsCanyon]

Mike, knees do a tremendous amount work and take a lot of punishment during the activity we enjoy. Treat them with tender care and they will serve you well, push them to far when they are screaming at you and it can become a cronic issue which you definately do not want. From what i am hearing you did not due anything that may have torn anything, so it does sound like an overuse injury, so ice, rest and ibuprofen may take care of it. Good luck, as I have dealt with more than my share of knee issues and i dont wish it on anyone, especially anyone who loves to pound the mountains. If you dont have yet, get a set of trekking poles as they definately take strain off the knees on the descents and make you more efficient on long climbs. Good Luck!

Solid advice Ross and yes I've been using poles for a few seasons now! One thing I've done this year for training is hill climbs on the mountain bike instead of actually hiking. While this has allowed me to get my climbing muscles in great shape it hasn't done much for tendons or joints. I'm going to change that up next year.

I took it as easy as I could once it started hurting and favored the joint as much as possible. Would've been in trouble without the poles! Hopefully I'll be back at it before too long but I'm not going to push it too much. I'm not looking forward to losing my conditioning over the next 4 weeks though... especially with a third season Colorado tag coming up!

 

[SHTF]

What Ross said about trekking poles. Absolute must for hiking with a pack. They have saved my rear more times then I can count also.

 

[7mag.]

Sorry to hear that Mike. I'm glad you made it out safe. Wishing you a quick recovery.

 

[badkneesbro]

cortisone is a miracle worker. maybe not the best advice but the needle can get you to the end of the game at least

My experience echoes this. This is great advice. Have them drain your knee & while the needle is still in there, switch cartridges & get the cortisone shot. My knee has been fine for over a year since.

 

[rodney482]

Go see a doctor... There are lots of things that can cause knee pain.

 

[Jager]

Mike, don't fool about with it mate, knee injuries can be a very complex issue. I have had both mine reconstructed, and know there are a myriad of things that can go on in there. Being your knee, you are always using it, and if there is something torn somewhere, it is possible to do more damage that can be prevented, get into a surgeon, I cannot over emphasise this.

Hope it comes good soon.

Good luck.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Go see a doctor... There are lots of things that can cause knee pain.

What he said.

Randy

 

[switchback270]

Good luck with the knee buddy. I feel your pain. I too am 24 and I tore my right acl 5 years ago. Never got it fixed (young and dumb) and managed to do pretty well until 3 weeks ago when I stepped down off of a plyo metric box and hyperextended it pretty bad. When it happened I heard and felt a nice pop and went right down lol. I immediately thought of my 2nd season rifle hunt that i leave for in 30 days now. I'm renting a horse and have a good brace but I know it's going to be a lot tougher than if I hadn't tweaked it.

Get yours checked out by a doctor and have them do an MRI. My doctor told me if I don't have mine repaired then I will have bad arthritis in the knee by 40. So I'm going under the knife once I come back from my trip with my bull and mule deer buck

Good luck on your hunt and be safe!

 

[switchback270]

Good luck with the knee buddy. I feel your pain. I too am 24 and I tore my right acl 5 years ago. Never got it fixed (young and dumb) and managed to do pretty well until 3 weeks ago when I stepped down off of a plyo metric box and hyperextended it pretty bad. When it happened I heard and felt a nice pop and went right down lol. I immediately thought of my 2nd season rifle hunt that i leave for in 30 days now. I'm renting a horse and have a good brace but I know it's going to be a lot tougher than if I hadn't tweaked it.

Get yours checked out by a doctor and have them do an MRI. My doctor told me if I don't have mine repaired then I will have bad arthritis in the knee by 40. So I'm going under the knife once I come back from my trip with my bull and mule deer buck

Good luck on your hunt and be safe!

 

[Longstride12]

HC I went through something similar and passed on a nice late season muzzleloader bull elk because I could hardly walk and getting myself off the mountain took me 4X as long as it should have. One small step at a time keeping the injured knee straight was a long walk and painful night. I chose to go to a sports chiropractor who said I had twisted my knee and the ligaments had pulled and tweaked until there was so much inflammation in there it wouldn't allow the knee to bend properly. Also the ligaments pulled my knee cap out of place so things wouldn't go back to normal even with self medication like you are doing, too much scar tissue and built up. I tried the self med stuff for 3 years and each time I thought I was out of the woods. Then when I needed it most during hunting season it would act up again and ruin the hunts. I think everything is fixed now, I'll let you know in a few weeks but I have been able to hike and run on it all summer and it has held up strong. I wish you the best, please keep us informed on your recovery progress.

Best wishes to all on the mountain! Stay safe.

 

[Ironman8]

Sorry to hear that HC, take care of that knee and don't try to power through it even though you're young. Even though I'm about your age, being a former college catcher has taught me to not try to work through pain when it comes to knees and back

 

[HellsCanyon]

Here's a video from saturday night after I got camp setup and water retrieved... It's a bit long at 4 minutes but I do a lot of these little video journal entries on my hunts, especially solo. Always cool to go back and look at them after the season.

[video=youtube;JHM12lae_bs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHM12lae_bs&feature=youtu.be[/video]

I'm not sure what hurts worse today, my injured knee or the muscles in my other leg from doing twice the work getting me off the mountain!

At this point I want to avoid a cortisone shot. I'm more comfortable with letting the pain be my guide and I don't want to do permanent damage to it by not being able to hear what my body is trying to tell me. I'm going to stick with the ice/IB Pruefen regime for now and see where that gets me. The knee feels a tad better today which is encouraging. At this point I don't have insurance and will be avoiding the doctor until I'm convinced I need more help then I can give it.

Switchback270 good luck on your hunt man and with your recovery, I HATE getting operated on. Had a rotator cuff repaired 18 months ago which sucked, I imagine a knee will be JUST as much fun!

Ironman8, I've been through a few injuries and am usually pretty good about not powering through it. I had that problem back in highschool and it without except always made recovery longer. Hopefully I'm a bit more reserved about rehabing an injury now! Hunting is something I love to do and no matter my abilities at any particular time I can still hunt and enjoy myself... may not be able to hit it as hard as I'd like but I can still be out there and I'm getting to the point where I believe I can outhunt my old in shape self just cause I know much more.

Either way guys I'll keep ya updated. If anybody else has gone through a knee bursitis I'd be interested to hear how it went for you!

Mike