trish said:Hi
Fraggle, are you still out there? How is the knee pain? Found this
website while searching about mine...
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Quoted message said:This year we went to Skye and walked up the Quirang.. on the way down -
agony - this type of pain I'd never had before with my 'old' knackered
knees! Right knee had mega bad pain on the outside, as it were, felt
like someone sticking a screwdriver in the side and twisting, trying to
pull the insides out...came down slowly, walking with my right foot
twisted to the side, taking small steps, then gave up and slid down on
my butt!As soon as I reached flat ground I was fine... didnt do much more steep
walking that holiday so didnt have any more trouble, knee was fine even
on relativle slopey ground...
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Quoted message said:Since then though, my knee was bad for about 3 weeks - stairs, ramps
etc all brought the pain on. I went to the docs who send me for physio
- did first one on friday (knee had started feeling better by then)
physio said I must build up quadriceps and knee muscles, and that my
back/core was weak too. did a bit of cycling etc - all fine.. then 3
hours later I wlaked downa ramp in the car park and OUCH! - now my knee
hurts pretty much all the time - always downhill, though still never
uphill, and a lot of the time on the flat too now!!! still fine to
drive though.going back again to physio on friday, will ask about this IBT thing,
and scar tissue, and maybe the wisdom of cycling as an excercise while
Im still so sore... will also buy some poles for next year (Skye in
may06) and try some low gradient walks to build up mucles - but its
SOOOO sore right now, should I lay off completely for a few weeks ?
Yes. And see a good sports masseur, too, regularly, to improve
circulation in the leg. Both of us have similar problems to you, his
started less specific and he had an arthroscopy in June (recommended by
a joint specialist) which made little/no difference. By sheer chance the
sports masseur I chose turned out to be a cross-country runner/cyclist
who is able to discuss knees with us in detail. 'A bit of cycling' and
stuff (like the physio's massage of his knee) is nowhere near enough;
there's no quick fix :-( For core strength, start doing Pilates and
stick with it. Three years of it has sorted my bad back and allowed me
to start to feel what's wrong with my gait myself. Each of us spends
three hours/week or more at a gym, which includes (in total) at least an
hour and a half of careful work on the treadmill, plus other exercise.
You might need to increase your flexibility/the length of some muscles
and associated bits to improve your leg action, too. Lots of stretches,
although Pilates will improve flexibility as well.
we spent a week in Torridon last month and found that walking with two
poles helps a great deal, but it's slower and doesn't solve the problem
by itself: you have to find out what you're doing wrong and (probably)
invest a lot of time and energy in learning to do it better. Even then
downhill can still hurt. We didn't even think of trying for summits this
time, but maybe next year...
regards
sarah
--
Think of it as evolution in action.