I posted my hellos in the weekly thread but I figured I should ask this question separately. I've started going to the gym again, which was mostly prompted not by my desire to lose weight, but to help my knee out a bit. I was doing exercise at home but didn't feel I was getting sufficient exercise for my legs.
My problem is that I've had knee problems off and on ever since my bruised knee cap at the age of 16 (14 years ago). For the past 6 months, I have lived in a 4th floor apartment and I didn't have problems the first couple months but I started noticing knee pain in my left knee, especially when bringing groceries up those 4 flights of stairs. I did go to a physical therapist almost 2 years ago after another knee injury and I was told to do weight training for it. Of course, I faithfully did and the knee got better.
Beyond doing my weights (on machines right now to build up strength) for my leg muscles, is there something else I should be doing?
As this isn't related to an injury but just carrying excess weight up stairs when I wasn't used to it, I'm not sure if I am missing something.
Nellie, it might be a good idea to check with an orthopedist to see if there is some damage to the knee before working out too heavily. You don't always have to have an injury to have a problem with a knee that may require fixing. Wear and tear can also cause problems, especially if there was a previous problem. An good orthopedist would do tests to assess the situation so that you know how to proceed.
I'm struggling with left knee stuff too. Yesterday I was referred to the musculo-skeletal team at the local hospital. So you've got my sympathy. I echo artmaker's advice to get it checked by a specialist in the field.
This might be of interest. I see it as a ringing endorsement of the value of exercise. When the doctor examined me yesterday she commented on how strong my muscles were around the kneecaps, and how well they were holding them in place. As well as doing legwork at the gymn I'm doing floor work every day which are giving me quads of, if not concrete, then some pretty hard stuff.
Good luck. Let us know how you get on.
Silverbirch
(Day 3 of clean eating out of a possible 3).
Count me in the Bad Knee Club too! I see the doctor in two weeks. Bad shoulder - bad knee - just shoot me now! Obviously I am way too old for this nonsense.
Knee pain when climbing stairs is what inspired me to start working out and losing weight. Although I have never had a knee injury, being overweight and undermuscled has caused alot of extra wear on my knees. Even now climbing a lot of stair is a bit uncomfortable.
Getting stronger and losing weight should help. I just wish I had started taking care of my knees earlier.
In the last six months, my knees have started to crackle; I've never heard anything like it! This mainly occurs when I stand up; not so much when I squat. To date, I've never had much knee pain, although I have to watch out on the left side. (More than 20 years ago, I climbed up Bridal Falls at Yosemite, and then came back down, and my left knee has never really been the same since.) Should I be concerned about the crackling? I'm doing squats without extra weights, thinking they would help strengthen the joints. True?
Oh no, the doc 2 years ago when I had my latest injury, due to falling down stairs and straining a ligament in my knee, they took xrays and all that. Said everything was fine. I suppose a checkup with the latest pain would be good. Although the pain is subsiding as I've been exercising, it is something worth investigating.
The funny thing is I thought the stairs would strengthen my supporting muscles and decrease any pain, but that didn't work.
If I were experiencing knee pain from an old injury, I would definitely consult with an orthopedist again. Your knees are what keep you mobile and since you have a prior history, it's more likely that you may have re-injured yourself, maybe not consciously, just from wear and tear. I just finished physical therapy a month ago for a bum right knee. I also take glucosamine/chondroitin pills to help my joints out. I do notice a difference (crackly knees and ankles) if I stop taking them daily. Losing weight has made a lot of difference with my knee symptoms as well.
About crackling and popping in joints - according to both my shoulder doc and my physical therapist, noises are harmless so long as they're not accompanied by pain. Noises + pain are a different story and need to be checked out.
I get some small knee pains if I forget to take my Glucosamine, DH and I swear by it.
Another thing that comes to mind is the first time I visited the Chiropodist for numbness in my toes due to running, he asked if my knees were sore, when I said no he said that that was unusual for a woman my age ... bugger!! But at later appointments he asked me if I weight trained and of course I said a resounding YES, he said that that was probably why a woman of "my age" ( if he repeated that one more time, I was going to bop him in the head ) ... anyways, he said, I didn't have sore knees because of the muscles and ligaments surrounding the knee were strong and the knees were only as strong as the the ligagments and muscles YAY for weight training .
Something else that comes to mind Nelie is that when I do the rower machine at the gym, it has to be the machine that gives me the soress knees ever, and I think this is because the patela (knee cap) is not riding smoothly on the bones... Does this make sense? This knee cap theory was explained to me when DD had sore knees and her muscles surrounding the knee cap are very weak and the doc has given her some specific exercises to do to strengthen the quads. She's never done them, , she's a teenager and knows everything doncha know .... and she still complains of her knees if she goes up too many flights of stairs.... but I'm sure if she did her exercises she would be fine...
WHEW, but I am long winded, not like me at all .... So Nelie, the moral of the story is to strengthen those knee surrounding muscles...
Yup Ilene, that advice is spot on. I was diagnosed with chondromalacia patella. When I first started P/T sessions, I could hear the knee cap crunching when the therapist would do the post-workout massage. It hurt like heck (he would press straight down on the center part of the knee and massage in a circular motion--I'm getting queasy just thinking about it). The kneecap wouldn't "track" correctly. Stretching the quad muscles and doing calf stretches each session + at home exercises with a resistance band was par for the course. My doc stressed to me that I must keep up with the at-home exercises or the knee problems would come back and bite me later in life. *sigh*
My P/T guy called me "middle-aged" once... I'm 34!
I have knee problems too. I did PT - I'm nuts about my physical therapist, but that's another thread entirely.
I have to wear a brace when I do cardio just to keep it from coming off track and popping, which is the worst sound. Anyway, even after being released from PT, I still do the excercises that I did w/him. That way, my quad stays strong. I also ice my knee after I work out, I don't know if I'll do this forever, but right now, it keeps it from swelling after my workouts. I know that I'm always going to have to be a little careful, but I still push it to see where the boundries are. Last week, I did a little slow jogging, it was ok.
Good luck with it, if it get much worse, go to see a doctor, you don't want to risk having a permanent problem!
Count me as another with chondromalacia patella! It was diagnosed about 20 years ago, and I did several months of PT for it - including some isometric exercises. If I take care of, it doesn't bother me except that I cannot squat down or kneel for any time at all. To garden I have to sit on the ground. Losing weight certainly helps, but keeping your large thigh musles strong is essential, along with avoiding moves - as in some aerobics classes - that twist the knee when it's weighted. Lunges are fine as long as I place my leg then put the weight on it.
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But at later appointments he asked me if I weight trained and of course I said a resounding YES, he said that that was probably why a woman of "my age" ( if he repeated that one more time, I was going to bop him in the head ) ...
Ilene, I'd kill him too! Nowadays, ALL of my docs are younger than me. I knew a woman who tore her rotator cuff and the doc said that they didn't do surgery on older people (she's 50!) but she should do PT and learn to live with he. She asked him how old he was - 50 too, it turned out - and if he'd have surgery? She was scheduled immediately! Honestly, some people's attitude toward aging!! I'm thankful that I am active, and don't (I think) look my age (61) so I don't encounter as much of this. THough of course, the doc has it in the records.
Ilene, I'd kill him too! Nowadays, ALL of my docs are younger than me. I knew a woman who tore her rotator cuff and the doc said that they didn't do surgery on older people (she's 50!) but she should do PT and learn to live with he. She asked him how old he was - 50 too, it turned out - and if he'd have surgery? She was scheduled immediately! Honestly, some people's attitude toward aging!! I'm thankful that I am active, and don't (I think) look my age (61) so I don't encounter as much of this. THough of course, the doc has it in the records.
Pat, I don't look my age either, thankyourverymuch, I get told that all the time, WHEW!! My DD's friends are always taken aback when she tells them how old I am ... that's a very good feeling indeed. Looking younger is what exercise has done IMHO not a bad thing at all
Knee issues - need advice
I see the doctor in two weeks. Bad shoulder - bad knee - just shoot me now! Obviously I am way too old for this nonsense. 
)
... bugger!! But at later appointments he asked me if I weight trained and of course I said a resounding YES, he said that that was probably why a woman of "my age" 
( if he repeated that one more time, I was going to bop him in the head ) ... anyways, he said, I didn't have sore knees because of the muscles and ligaments surrounding the knee were strong and the knees were only as strong as the the ligagments and muscles 
YAY for weight training 
. 
... that's a very good feeling indeed. Looking younger is what exercise has done IMHO 
not a bad thing at all 