knee problems
 

i have been exersizing for three months now. usually i walk 1 hr., and jog 5-10 min. on my treadmill at home. at first it was all good. now i am sore a lot. in my left thigh and knee. it's kinda weird cuz it's on the one side. so, i'll take off a day then resume. but i think it's affecting my weight loss. it has slowed down a lot. i've tried bengay and tonight i tried soaking in epsom salt. i am so worried that i won't be able to work out any more. what can i do?

how are your shoes? I know people hark on about it, but good shoes for jogging really are essential and make a heck of a lot of difference

How muscular are you? Knees need support! Try working out your legs with some weights.

I have bad knees and would like to start running again, so I'm getting more familiar with weight training to build some muscle.

Jogging is TERRIBLE for you. there are no more health benefits than walking fast and its MUCH worse on your knees

http://www.submityourarticle.com/art...iner-46010.php

Onestar,
Yes, I agree, good shoes are essential. You can also try something called Tiger Balm, it is very good for soreness, and this is coming from someone who has to bad knees. If the pain persists, you want to have a doc to check it out. Pain is our friend, it let's us know when something is wrong. It may not be anything huge, but check it out, it is better safe than sorry. I just found out I have artheritis in one knee and you do not have to be OLD to have this.
Princesspuffypants, is right also. Walking is great and is as beneficial as running. Blessings to you on your journey. Keep us posted.

Aggie

You may want to think about going to a specialty shop for runners in your area to get new shoes. They may watch you run on a treadmill & figure out from your gait what would be a good shoe for you. You may be favoring one side over the other. The shoes you buy at such a shop will not be inexpensive, but the price will be worth it because of the advice you can get from a real professional at one of these shops could be really insightful. Also, after you wear out your first expensive pair of shoes, you may be able to find the next pair in the same model more cheaply online or on sale elsewhere.

I broke my knee more than 5 years ago in a car accident, I remember it took over 2 years to come back to normal and anyways sometimes it still 'wakes up', expecially when I go down too hard with exercizing.
Whenever it happens, the best to do with me is just to forget about antinflammatories and various pills that judt don't work with me, but pick up and go walking in the water, let it be a pool or the sea...I wasl there for about one hour, I exit that I'm exausted but the knee is healed. The water does a massage that you cannot find anywhere else, so, if you can access anything like a pool (to walk, not to swim) or the sea, I really advise you to go ahve a walk.

I get knee pain sometimes too and usually I do some strength training and take some advil when it's really bothering me. Usually it only lasts a day or two. Also, I find the treadmill gives me the pain sometimes, I have no idea why though, so try going outside sometimes. And lots of stretching!

princesspuffypants -- I hate when people say that. Whenever I tell them I run "oooh it's so bad for your knees!" and my response to that is "and sitting on the couche all day is soooo good for you!" (not saying that you do, but I think it gets my point across). I love running and it's the one of the best things to happen to me for a variety of reasons, I run about 30 miles a week and I feel pretty fantastic most of the time. So don't discourage others!

When I started C25K I had bad knee pain and it was so bad I talked to my doctor about it.

Aleve is an over the counter med like tylenol or ibuprofen and its main job is an anti-inflammatory. I was told to take it twice a day, but after a week or so I think my knees were able to repair whatever damage I did and now I only take it after running.

Also, as for stretching, my doctor said I may have had what's called Iliotibial Band Syndrome, and she printed off some stretches from the internet for me to try and they feel great. I realized I was tight in those areas, and I think these have helped with my knee pain too.

http://www.howtostretch.com/iliotibi.htm

thanks for all of your responses ladies....i think i am going to try going to the park to walk sometimes or just walk (instead of jog) on the treadmill. i think i could use a new pair of shoes also.

SM - please re-read what i said. its not running. its jogging.

princessfluffy, most runners find that either one is running (in which case there is a point in ones stride where both of ones feet are off the ground at the same time), or else one is walking (and one always has at least one foot touching the ground). So which one is it that you find so unhealthy?

My knee has been hurting the past few days also. I need to go get some advil I have been using excedrin but it isn't helping any.

Any excercise taken to the extreme or done incorrectly can cause injury. In my experience, pain after running was mostly because I was lazy and slacked on stretching. Make sure you are nice and stretched before you run/jog, and stretch after as well. And take some time for it to heal before you start running again. If something hurts, dont do it!

yeah...i've just been walking on the treadmill lately and trying to walk outside more....i walked my daughter to the park and back today (about 30min. each way). but i still felt that slight pain in my knee. i don't know. i don't have health insurance so i can't just pick up and go to the doctor...i'm just trying to see what helps and deal with it.

Wow, I was so glad for this thread. A few months ago I was having such problems with my knees that I was having to use my hands and arms to get out of chairs etc. I went to two doctors and they wanted to shoot cortizone in them, wanted me to have an xray (which I did), wanted me to have an MRI (which I didn't) and wanted me to have some neurological testing done (which I didn't). I kept on loosing weight and now down 19 pounds my knees problems have disappeared almost 99%. I am so grateful I could just cry that this has been the case so far. But I don't exercise. If I did I could be dealing with other problems with them so I think there has been some good advice on this threatd.

maria-Jogging is what is not good for you. please read my original post and the link provided. walk or run, dont jog.

grabec- for every pound you lose, you take 4 pounds of pressure off your knees, thats so good you feel better!!

Puff, we can agree to disagree. I'm not buying your source as any kind of great authority.

thats just one easy to read source. its actually pretty common knowledge and i have confirmed it with my doctors, a surgeon and nutritionist. i have bad knees and every one of them have said that jogging is the worst thing you can do. all im saying is that jogging puts more pressure on the knees but does not give you any more health benefit than brisk walking. either full out run or walk briskly

update
 

just wanted to update ya'll. i went to see the doc today b/c my knee has really really been hurting. it hurts to walk and i didn't want to injur myself further, so i haven't worked out in about a week. so basically he said i was overdoing it and i should have slowly increased my time on the treadmill, :nono: like over months. he said to wear a knee brace, get new shoes, cut my walking time back to about 30 minutes (then increase my time if i choose), no jogging, and continue with my diet. and use ibuprofren/tylenol as needed. so, i guess the good news is that it's not major. but obviously it's going to take a bit longer than expected to lose my weight. i thought i was doomed and i wasnt going to be able to work out anymore. so, i'll get my brace and shoes tomorrow and get back to it. :tread:

rainy- sorry this is completely off topic. I just had to say that I love your avatar. "Love Actually" is one of my favorite movies!

I am so confused by that article that I don't even know where to begin :?:

SImilar Issue
 

Onestar,

I had the same problem as you, and I had to quit running/jogging altogether. My fiance loves to run and has NO problems, so its not like you CAN'T run/jog ever.

My problem comes from a few different things. First--the doc told you right--you do too much too soon, you are going to cause pain and risk long-term injury. I did that, figuring if I could still breathe at a certain pace, I should keep it up--but my joints and muscles weren't prepared. I also have weak leg muscles so my knees are less stable than they should be. In addition, my legs have uneven strength, so I was putting more wear and tear in on the one side that was weaker. My uneven strength and a past injury seemed to cause one of the knees--the one that hurts--to have supporting connective tissue that was more stretchy than it should be. As a result, my tibia shifts to one side a bit. That puts pressure on my Meniscus (a pouch of cushion between the knee and tibia), causing it to be a little pinched on one side. This is painful. Fortunately, my tibia can be shifted a bit to relieve the pressure on the Meniscus. Once the skinny side fills back in, I have the proper cushioning and the problem goes away. No more pain. It comes back when I pivot my knee with my foot planted on the ground (this makes my tibia shift in the joint.) It's only a slight movement, but it makes the meniscus inflamed. Wikipedia has a great knee diagram. I am too new to post links, lol....sorry.

There are several knee conditions that could cause your pain, and there's even one that sounds similar to my story. But my doctor (and the chiropractor he referred me to) say it isn't a matter of having a condition--its just a combination of physical factors that led me to have a very simply correctable complaint. I choose now not to run/jog because it makes my knee shift out of place more easily, and that means I have to fix it more often.

To shift the tibia, the chiropractor took my shin/foot, with me lying on my back, and did a movement which is easy but that I can't really describe here (and you shouldn't try it anyway unless a doctor says you should). I do it myself now as soon as I feel like I've done something a little silly with my knee and I have not had any serious problems in nearly a year.

This was after I wore a brace for months with no relief.

I think, if you want to run/jog--go slow and build up to running for long stretches. Wear supportive shoes. Watch your posture to maintain alignment of hip/shoulder/spine, etc. Endurance running is an art. For best results, you should pay attention to form. Do not neglect core work (to support your breathing.) Do strength conditioning on your legs like curls/extensions/presses or do squats and lunges--whatever your poison.

I read where you said you had decided not to pursue running after all--since that's also what I had to do, I say good for you--there are other ways to get a good cardio workout. but if you ever decide to go back--once you feel like you are stronger, --just be patient. Bring someone along who is a runner and ask them to watch you run--they can give you tips on your gait, posture, etc.

I still nurture a tiny little hope that one day I will run again (it's junior high gym class failure that has spawned this wish. I want to go back and run that track at the same pace as all the other "normal" kids. Hey--it might be silly, but it could happen.)