Painful knees

[lamarclark09]

I also had knee pain, but now I am better now. I was applying heat and avoiding these activities that cause pain. I also suggest you wear a brace to support the knee if pain is more.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I am 66 and between my two knees I have had three surgeries ( should most likely have had a fourth). A day elk hunting starts with Alive about four/six hrs later four ibuprofen. Lunch break quick rub in with pain cream,once back in camp pack in ice. Doctor says both knees are bone on bone with significant amounts of arthritis. Cortisone shots helped with arthritis but not the bone on bone. Two weeks ago I got the gel shots in both knees. Hurt like hell for a day or so but knees feel better than they have for two years. They are not pain free 100% of the time but more of an irritation then the sharp pain. Don't know how long this will last but as of right now I can walk out of the gym and not limp out.

 

[Seeknelk]

Someone else mentioned it , but all you guys with knee problems, really should check out kneesovertoesguy on you tube.
His ATG split squat and reverse sled drags are the base of everything but there is soooo much more. Unless you have something crazy wrong with your knee, I bet , after just a few simple workouts, most of your knees will feel amazing!
Or go to a PT and have them program the things for you.

 

[Sconsinbrown]

Ive found yoga to be very helpful, especially the quad and calf strengthening. I also found that skipping dairy helped reduce joint pain, and squats and lunges in particular when done SLOWLY has been tremendously helpful in reducing overall pain.

 

[Laelkhunter]

MRI shows that I have partially torn meniscus in both knees. I have had cortizone shots , which help and also the chicken comb gel (made synthetically now) in both knees. That also helps. They last about 6 weeks, but pain comes back. My pain is in the back of the knees, like in the crook of the knee. No problem when walking or standing, but sitting down or standing up from seated position-hurts !! Doctor wants to scope both knees, but I'm not sure what that would do to reduce the pain in the back of the knees. He said it is irritation that is causing it. Not ready to get scoped, a good friend (very healthy weight lifter and daily runner) had his knee scoped and died from a blood clot from the procedure. Ibuprofin and Aleve (both in moderation) seem to help. Also taking glucosamine chondroitin (Osteo Biflex). Just trying to avoid the scope, hoping they will eventually get better (hurt less).

 

[Sconsinbrown]

im sorry to hear about your friend, those clots are serious issues. Im sure there are ways to reduce those risks. I had a torn miniscus that caused pain for years. I attempted all the things you did, but driving was so painful. I decided to not have it scoped, until one day it locked up and caused excruciating pain - surgery was within the week. They took out the offending tear and my knee feels great.

 

[hicountry1]

Bone on bone both knees, after 40 years of competitive softball. Thousands of games, for real.

I've had 4 back, achilles rupture, knee, and prostate removed. ....prostate cancer, I've had enough major surgeries that I'll never have knee replacements. I'm he'll bent on keeping my Dr's. Country club dues paid up every year....

I'm trying to strengthen my knees through exercise, squats on a total gym.

PRP sounds interesting. Anything additional on that treatment would be appreciated.

 

[Scrappy]

i've been a strength coach for the past decade and currently work with multiple people in the 60-75 age range. i also work with young high level olympic weightlifters, and everything in between. here are some anecdotal facts that i've learned through working with tons of people (across the whole spectrum of age/athletic ability) that have chronic joint pain...

1. you have to start stretching. period. if your knees hurt a good place to start would be quad, hamstring, and calf stretches - but my guess is your whole body needs it. i'm a big fan of "yoga with kassandra" on youtube because her specific style of yoga works well with active lifestyles and she also cues what you should be doing really well. it's also easier to follow a 20min video than trying to fill that time yourself. it's so common for people to stretch for ~5 minutes, 1-3x per week, and come out of it saying, "ehh, yeah, stretching doesn't really seem to work for me." - i think it's safe to say literally nothing would progress if that were all the time you put into it.

2. go back and read number one. seriously. if you don't start stretching you're going to end up getting cortisol shots that will work for a short amount of time, or a surgery that will work for a moderate amount of time. either way if you don't start habits for joint care you're going to find yourself right back in the same position with the same pain in relatively short order.

3. start strength training including deadlifts and squats to strengthen your joints, but make sure your form and movement are sound so that you're helping your knees. i have found that when you are trying to improve joint/muscle pain and also trying to balance a limited training schedule, an effective balance of time spent strength training to stretching is 1:1

3. aleve over advil. naproxen sodium is much more effective for joint pain than ibuprofen.

4. glucosamine chondroitin is GREAT - but it is only meant to be used in short-term stretches as needed (usually no longer than 7 days). if you use it every day it will stop working.

...stretching sucks. bad. it's boring and it hurts. i have a play on the famous ronnie coleman quote that i always use with my clients that, "everybody wants to lift heavy weights but don't nobody want to stretch after"

like everything worth doing, it's hard to make yourself do in the beginning and it requires a lot of intention and focus that you're probably not used to giving. if you do nothing else but you do start stretching religiously your entire life will change. you'll age better, get hurt later, and keep doing what you love longer.

This the most important info in this whole thread, thanks for taking the time to write it up.

The only regret I have about stretching is I didn't start years sooner.

 

[Anglo-American]

Honestly it's sad reading how meny people recommend taking drugs as a matter of course.

 

[Highhuntin]

Another vote for glucosamine and try to stay away from pain meds to often

 

[*zap*]

Lot of good information here. To summarize and emphasize at a high level; eat fewer carbs if you're eating them, lengthen and strengthen the muscles of your posterior chain (specifically doing targeted hamstring stretches helps me a lot if my knees hurt), and the one I'll add is watch your oxalates intake. You didn't mention any specific injury and likely the knee pain is the result of a weak posterior chain and years of associated abuse, but oxalate overdose is a huge and largely unknown plague in the country that leads to joint pain.

I have been researching this ^ and it is very interesting. Seems that it is e-z to get way too many from certain popular 'health' foods and your body can only get rid of so many. The rest lodge into your body-joints, organs, calls and etc. and can be the cause of all kinds of problems. Problems that never seem to go away but get worse and better depending on the day/week.....but are always present.

Good source of info that I found is Sally K. Norton.