[email hidden] (VisionR42) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:Middle-aged, I started running lightly about 4 years ago after I quit
smoking. I started very slow, building up in small increments until I
was running a couple miles several times a week. I had always been
active for a smoker, doing lots of walking and hiking and playing
sports when I was younger. I loved running but eventually I had to
stop because my left kneee hurt. It wasnt excruciating or anything,
just tender (ie I could have kept running) but I didnt want to risk
doing permanent damage so I stopped. Several times I've started up
again and each time the knee pain starts. I do other strenuous
activities, hockey, rollerblading, bike riding, without getting pain
or only getting very mild pain that goes away within a day or two.
About the only other time I have significant trouble with the knee is
when I carry a lot of weight, like backpacking. Actually, the pain
originally started when I was working in the mountains 15 years ago
and carried a too-heavy pack down a too-steep slope, when I wasnt in
very good shape. But it has only bothered me sporadically, in certain
activities since then.I've tried to run "properly"--I run only on soft surfaces, mostly dirt
roads. I try to stay toward the middle when I can, to avoid the
cambered edges. I wear only high quality shoes. I stretch thoroughly
afterward, and to a lesser degreee before. I warm up by walking first.
But if I run, even 1/2 mile, my knee will hurt for days or longer. The
pain moves around a bit, sometimes inside sometimes (but mostly)
outside, but is always at the lower edge of the knee joint. I'm not
carrying much excess body weight, I could stand to lose a few pounds
but thats about it. I do have knees that hyperextend a bit (though not
while running!), and I've heard that such knees commonly have
problems.So I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can do that I havent
already. I havent run in months, and I finally got an appointment with
a good orthopedist for next week. Since my knee works fine for the
most part, I dont really want to go into surgery just because of
running. I wonder if I'll ever be able to run again. I dont want much,
only to be able to run a couple miles a few times a week.
Well the diagnosis is in---there is a tear in the anterior-lateral
part of my left meniscus. Right where the pain is. There is also a
small bone spur there, perhaps in response to the cartilage damage
which I presume happened in 1991. Not good news for running in my
near future! I'm not sure if I'm going to have surgery on it or not,
at least for now, but will think about it. I probably will though,
sometime in the next couple years. Certainly therr will be no running
until such a time as I have surgery, if I do.
Since it doesnt bother me much when I ride, rollerblade, and hike, I
guess I will have to do more of those things in lieau of running.
Damn. Oh well-life goes on.