I don’t think this qualifies as asking for medical advice. I am not in need of medical diagnosis. I’m more asking about other people’s experiences exercising with chronic knee pain.
I have bad knees. I had arthroscopic surgery over 10 years ago to remove extra cartilage nodules or something (I was 15.) The soul-crushing pain went away, but I’ve had chronic problems ever since. I wasn’t ever athletic, so it didn’t affect me all that much. Usually they get sore whenever the weather pattern changes. imitates old lady voice ‘‘I feel a storm a brewin’!’’
In 2008, I started running. I ran my first 5K. I was surprised that my knee pain actually diminished, though every once in while I’d get a flare up and have to rest. Then, over the last few months, I’ve really been doing some pretty high-impact stuff – Jillian Michaels workout videos which involve lots of lunges and knee bends and jumping jacks and stuff. Also Tae Bo. I’ve been doing this daily for between 15 minutes and an hour.
Anyway… I don’t have any major diagnosable problem with my knees any more, they’re just rickety. I’m rickety in general. Tonight when I was stretching for Tae Bo I heard a loud CRACK! under my kneecap. It was audible, but didn’t hurt. This is not so uncommon. Sometimes after a workout my knees are sore, but my knees are going to be sore no matter what.
I guess I’m wondering, has any one dealt with this over the long term? How do you determine if an exercise is likely to injure you or just cause some mild discomfort? Is that CRACK! a warning of impending injury or just a sign of getting old? Does using a knee brace help? Does losing weight help? Do strength exercises for the legs help?
In essence… what has helped you, a weak-kneed person, prevent injury during high-impact activities?
Thanks as always,
Christy
When I was returning to running after the birth of child #2 I developed some pain in my knees (I had run pain-free before that). I started strength-training and I do believe that strengthening my quads (and hamstrings for balance) absolutely helped support my knee and prevent pain/damage.
If you do keep running, check out a product called SuperFeet. These are supportive insoles that you cut to fit your running shoes. Way cheaper than customized orthotics, and I think they have helped my knees as well.
Finally, trust what you have noticed so far about exercising decreasing the pain. Recently I trained for a half-marathon and had some mild knee pain during the training. I took a break from running, but the pain came back. Then a friend of my mom’s who has been running for probably 40 years said, “Mild pain? Eh, run through it.” Many, many people would say that was terrible advice, and if the pain had ever been sharp or debilitating they would be right. But in the event, I went back to training, the pain cleared up, and I have never felt it again. YMMV (but, yes, any weight loss you achieve will help).
Oh, and finally finally–I’ve asked doctors and personal trainers repeatedly just to be sure I get the same answer: joints that crack without any pain are not a problem. Even if they crack a lot, and/or loudly. Don’t worry about it.
The Advice from my Doctor: Exercise very well may be hard on your joints, but it’s not nears as hard as not exercising at all. The benefits greatly outweigh the risks.
In my experience you can generally tell from the pain whether it’s pain in the ass pain or trouble pain. I’ve had a knee condition most of my life which I couldn’t do much about when I was playing basketball every day. It was just soreness, if nearly crippling soreness sometimes. Since I was 12 or so my knees have always sounded like bubble wrap every time I bend them deeply. I just dealt with it and I didn’t ruin them utterly or anything. They just were sore.
But I also had a serious injury to my knee once, and that was an entirely different experience. I had a pretty good idea pretty quickly that it wasn’t soreness or overuse - roughly in between the time my feet hit the ground and the time my face did.
Yes, yes, and yes. Well, I guess I’m not totally sure about the weight loss, but I’m having trouble imagining that it wouldn’t hurt less with less impact. I had two of those patellar compression straps when I was playing competitively, and they eased the strain some when I bothered to wear them. Strengthening the quads makes a big difference as well.
It’s true that you can often work through the pain, by the way, but it’s also true that if the pain is getting worse and carrying over from session to session, it’s a good idea to rest and ice it up.
I’m reading Running Injury Free and the author says “Pain is not your only clue to an injury. Many runners have heard their injury before they’ve felt it. A “snap,” “crackle,” “pop” or grinding sound can indicate an injury before the site becomes painful.”
Actually, I’ve been enjoying that book, though I’m not very far into it. I’m trying to take my knee pain very seriously, as I don’t want it to prohibit me from running.
Thanks guys! This is very helpful. I think I will definitely have to work on strengthening my quads and hamstrings. I used to have one of those patellar compression knee braces as a teen, but I outgrew it. guess I will have to get another one.
And never underestimate proper shoes.
I play a lot of tennis. As a result, I suffered from persistent pain in my left Achilles heel. I stretched, I took Advil. Nothing really helped. Then a couple of weeks ago, I went to get a new pair of shoes and mentioned it to the salesman. He showed me a pair with a lot of cushioning in the heel. I normally don’t buy this particular brand of shoes, because they tend to run too narrow for my foot, but I bought a half size up and they fit okay.
Fast forward two weeks and the pain is gone!
So be sure to investigate shoes.
I got into cycling about 15 years ago, easing up on the running and football. Never looked back for a variety of reasons, one of them being injuries. I’m a mountain biker, so I’ve had my fair share of bad crashes, but as far as general movement goes cycling is a really gentle sport on your joints - I’ve never had any sort of injury from just pedalling the bike. So a change of sport is worth considering if the old knees are really giving you grief.
A good physiotherapist can diagnose knee problems that are due to alignment, gait, posture etc issues. I developed illiotibial band syndrome from hiking, surprisingly enough. Not a sport per se, but hours walking in the mountains can be really hard on your legs. I got it under control with a stretching program developed by a physio. It’s good to know if sore knees are down to some fundamental problem with the joint structure (ligaments, cartiledge etc, probably pointing to an operation), or whether it’s more to do with how you’re moving and using your knees.
Apparently, if there is no preexisting knee injury, running actually have protective value for knees. This isn’t actually the first study to show no link between running and degenerative joint injury.
Apparently the running = bad knees is a myth, at least for those without preexisting conditions, which it sounds like the OP has.