Cathe - Patellafemoral Syndrome

N

NY25

Cathlete
So, I've been having a ton of knee pain the last couple of weeks and finally went to the doc. Apparently I have patellofemoral syndrome. I'm supposed to not do any impact activities (I can live with that, because KPC is okay with no impact). But, I'm supposed to not do squats or lunges or anything that loads weight onto the knee joint. I'm so upset!! A) how can I strengthen my legs - and therefore my knees - without loading them; b) what am I supposed to do for leg work - just floor work? I'm going to do STS - I don't care!!
I have to go to PT 3 x wk for 6 wks. I just know they're going to tell me stuff I'm not going to want to hear. Just when I get a rhythm going and get excited, this happens. Argh!! Any advice you can provide based on your knee problem experience would be greatly appreciated.

(oh, and I appear to have done something to my trap as well - I think I tweaked something doing lat pulldowns with the band or maybe pushups or something - didn't feel it when it happened. So now I can't do upper body either! I can barely open a jug of water without pain).

Sincerely,
Frustrated
 
Wow!
I feel for you. I was just diagnosed with the same thing yesterday as a matter of fact. I'm very depressed. He told me no High impact, no running, rowing machine or even a treadmill. He thought I should take up pilates. HEllo I love to lift weights! No squats, lunges, or leg extensions. I am very interested in what Cathe might suggest. I'm starting PT next week. I also have osteoarthritis starting in my knees. For my age my knees look older on the X-rays. Yikes. Did your dr. suggest hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid)? It gets injected into your knee once a week for 3 weeks. It seems to lubricate and cushion the knee joint, reduces pain and improve function. I think I am going ahead with that.
Good Luck
Jen
 
Thank goodness - no needles required. I have good joints from the perspective there is no indication of arthritis. He even thought my cartilage space looked good. I take Glucosamine/Chondroitin - I've been taking 750/600, but I'm going to up it to 1500/1200 to see if that helps. I know I'm going to be a bad patient, because I don't plan to stop doing my Cathe workouts. I don't do step now, because it hurts too much, so that won't be an issue. My doc said to do the NordicTrak, which I have, so I guess I'll do that more. I'm allowed to do kickboxing with no impact. I would like to do Bootcamp and Drill Max (although I haven't done them in a while), but we'll see about that. Hmmm.
 
Hey girls, I had this last year, I was doing a lot or outdoor running, my usual leg workouts and too much plyo stuff all at once so my knee just couldn't take it all. I went to the doc, got the same diagnosis. Went to physical therapy which was a waste after the first couple sessions, its stuff you can do on your own.

Basically it was warming up on the bike which I was allowed to do on my own as well for cardio, some band work for your outer thighs, some hamstring stuff on the ball and LOTS of rolling around on a foam roller. Really what you are trying to do is realign your knee. Making sure your hamstrings are strong BUT loose is the key. The foam roller was used on my IT band (runs up the side of your thigh) which was the source of the problem. It had gotten too tight and was pulling my knee out of alignment. My knee has worn a bit so I will always have this issue as I am in my upper 30s and have beaten my poor legs to death over the years, LOL. But I find as long as I keep up the roller, stretch my hams and glutes regularly I am ok! Keeping your IT band loose is absolute key.

I hope this helps a bit. Oh and for cardio during this time I was mostly doing the elliptical which the therapist said was ok because there was no pounding, however she said its best to keep the incline to a minimum to avoid aggravating the knee. I stayed away from lunges and leg extensions for a few months and just used bands to tighten the glutes and hams.
 
> Went to physical therapy which was a
>waste after the first couple sessions, its stuff you can do on
>your own.

My first bout of PT was like that: pretty much just someone standing around watching me do exercises I could have done on my own, then jotting down notes.

I then changed to another PT with a different philosophy: we met, he figured out what exercises would work best for my situation, and had me check in every two weeks or so (more often if I was having problems).

Skyeblu brought up another important thing: make sure you know what imbalances you are working on (X too tight, Y in need of strengthening) rather than just letting the PT guide you through exercises. That way, you can continue to work on your own, and you will know how to prevent the problem in the future. (For example, in Skyeblu's case, it was a tight IT band, in another case, it could be a weak vastus medialus muscle, for others, it could be tight lower back and hamstring muscles, and for many, a combo of all these).
 
I also have osteoarthritis in both of my knees I had the shots twice once before orthoscopic surgry and then after. The first set did not work at all I have no cartilige behind either knee and should have them replaced (too young), once the doctor did the OS surgry I felt better scraped the arthritis off the petella, fixed a mucus tear in both. I felt better for a while, but needed the shots again. Everytime I would get the shot my RT knee would swell and go down the next day, last shot my RT swelled and I had to have it drained the doctor took out a couple cups of water out of my knee. I would suggest looking up all your information up before you get those shots they do work on some people. I have not been to the doctor in over a year I feel good I do have bad days. I do alot of the Cathe WO's as well as step aerbics.

good luck to you,
Zeke
 
Started to see the PT. We'll see what happens. It may be imbalanced in my ankles, he wants to look at my shoes, etc. I'm pretty confident with his knowledge level, so I don't expect to have to go to him much. However, he looked at my shoulder that has been bothering me - so, not only do I have the knee issue, but I apparently have rotator cuff tendonitis in my shoulder. So, basically, for the next several weeks I am to do no: squats, lunges, step ups, back, chest or shoulder work!! I guess I'm going to get to love my NordicTrak (legs only, of course). I also have to increase my core strength, so I'm going to get really good at Core Max and the B&G floorwork and abs premix. Oh, well. Hopefully this will get some of my seemingly permanent winter fat layer off and get me to do more cardio. There go ALL of my strength gains, however. By the time STS comes out my one-rep max will be about 10 pounds. argh.
 
Thanks Zeke for your info. I will look into those shots a little more thoroughly. Do you do only low impact cardio? I have not done any step or high impact for 3 weeks trying to rest my knee. I've ridden the bike and kickboxing with no jumping. I'm thinking of doing a low impact step. I go to the PT next week.
Wow I can't imagine having my knee drained like yours had to be. Glad you seem to be doing better.
Jen
 
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