knee discomfort

[Tracy R.]

Hi Cathe!

I have been having some discomfort in my right knee for the past couple of weeks. I know that you're not a doctor and may feel uncomfortable giving me advice on this topic, but I went to my doctor about this last week and didn't get much help. I don't know what to do. WARNING: long-winded!!

I'm not really in much pain, which complicates matters. A couple weeks ago, I noticed a soreness and stiffness in my right knee, which was strange because I hadn't worked out that day. The next day, I planned on doing several sections of your DVD, but had to quit early due to little stabs of pain in my right knee when coming into contact with the step during power moves. This had never happened before, so it concerned me. I decided to ease up a bit and only did a couple of workouts on the elliptical trainer at the Y for a lower-impact workout. My knee felt good enough after a few days that I jogged for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I guess this was a mistake, because later on my knee really hurt; it felt like my leg might give out from under me in the shower. Took off a couple more days, but I recently got some new videos that I ordered. Last Monday, I tried a more low impact step tape with kickboxing moves. I felt fine, but my right knee made a cracking noise most of the times when I kicked (but no pain). During the rest of the evening, though, my leg became stiff and I found it impossible to find a comfortable position for my leg.

I had had enough of this, so I made an appt to see my doctor last Tuesday. I explained the feeling in my right knee, a soreness and stiffness under my right knee cap and that I was worried that if I kept working out on it, that I would do real damage. The weird thing is that we couldn't think of any reason that my right knee would hurt, but not my left (worn out shoes, started jogging last May, etc...). In fact, after looking at my knees, the doctor said my LEFT knee was kind of creaky. She asked me if I could remember any trauma or injury to my right knee and I couldn't really remember anything.

So she gave me some information on knee cap pain (Chondromalacia Patella) and some bizarre exercises for the quads and a prescription for Motrin. I think she was just humoring me! I haven't taken the Motrin, because I don't believe in medicating just to medicate, and I am not in enough pain to be taking prescription-strength Motrin. She said to lay off the high impact for awhile (but to do the bike and elliptical trainer, even through discomfort) and if my knee didn't feel better in 2 months, that she'd do an x-ray.

I did the quad exercises for a few days, but they are strange. They both involve sitting with legs straight and squeezing. The exercises bother both of my knees, I think because of keeping the legs straight, this just doesn't feel comfortable. I can't imagine these 2 exercises she gave me would be more effective to strengthen the quads than what I already do (PS Legs and other similar routines at the gym).

Long story short (too late, right?!), I took last week off--completely--did no working out. My knee doesn't really feel any better, but I started back up yesterday, with some upper body strength and an easy ride on the recumbent bike. I am resting today.

Since the doctors visit, I did remember some trauma to my right knee. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not about this contributing to my discomfort (I desparately want to come up with a SOLVABLE explanation to this!), but here goes: My desk at work has a keyboard tray that can be adjusted high or low. I keep it pretty low so that I can type in an ergonomically-correct position. Unfortunately, on the right underside of the tray, there is a large metal attachment, with a big screw-thing for adjusting the tray's angle. If I'm not careful, I can really whack my right knee pretty well on this thing. I've done it at least 10 times that I can remember and one time was so painful (sort of like hitting your funny bone REALLY hard) that I shed a few tears (not recently). I don't remember doing this terribly recently (the day before this all started or anything), but it happens pretty frequently, so maybe I did it and forgot. Or maybe I've done this enough times that I hurt something in my knee and working out has begun to aggrevate it. I'm starting to think I should've pressed for an x-ray.

So I don't know what my next step is. I took a whole week off and I don't really want to take any more time off. I also am unsure if I can do my normal weight training for legs (like PS) or if I should be laying off or just doing the exercises my doctor gave me.

I don't really want to wait 2 months to figure out what's wrong with me. Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated. I find that my doctor(s) aren't terribly good at fitness related health questions and it's very frustrating.

Thanks in advance for any help. I really want to get my knee in good shape for your new videos!

Thanks! Sorry this was so long. Also, how can I change my email address?
Tracy R.

 

[DebbieH]

Tracy!

Go to the top of the page where it has an icon that says "info" and click on it. You can "Modify your profile" which has the section that you would change your E-mail. Good Luck with your knee. It is so frustrating to have an injury when you are all enthused about working out. Take care and get better so you will be ready when the new Cathe tapes come out!!

 

[momo]

knee pain

Don't exercise it until you know the cause. See a specialist. I can't imagine how any amount of weight bearing exercise can help matters at this point. It just doesn't sound like your doctor was taking the problem seriously, if she wants to wait 2 months to take an xray. Unless you can't be x-rayed right now for some reason.

 

[cjgraeve]

pain in the ...knee

I agree that you should see a specialist. In the defense of the doctor, Xrays of knees in someone without trauma whose is relatively young is more often than not less than fruitful. Consultation with an orthopedist, specialized views, or imaging studies with CT or MRI are more specific than a standard xray as these interventions will more likely pick up bony AND soft tissue (ie ligaments, tendons, cartilage)abnormalities. Physical therapy, not just exercises on a premade sheet of paper, may also help as therapists are trained in both the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Definitely take it easy until you have it further evaluated!
good luck
julie

 

[LB]

Hi Tracy

In addition to what the others said, I have had trouble with my left knee in the past that still bothers me sometimes. Mine started when I was a teenager and they kept saying it was growing pains, but it just kept getting worse. In my case, it was the ligament on the outside of my knee. It was pulling my kneecap over to left, putting it out of alignment and causing pain and cracking. I had to have arthroscopic surgery and they just split the ligament. The only x-ray it showed up on was when a sports doctor took an x-ray of the kneecaps with me laying on my back and my knees bent. This showed my kneecap pulling to the side when it was bent. I don't know if this is what you have, but maybe a sports doctor would be a good place to start.
Laura

 

[Colia]

Knee pain

I can really empathize with you - I suffered from my first patellar dislocation at the ripe old age of 13, and have had trouble with my knees ever since. I have pain most all of the time, but I just move through it now. I have seen multiple orthopedists, physical therapists, etc., who tell me to limit my activity according to how much pain I can tolerate. It sounds as if you may have the same type of diagnosis that I have, patellofemoral syndrome - where the kneecap tracks abnormally in its joint, causing irritation and inflammation behind the kneecap. Typical characteristics include discomfort when sitting with knees bent for prolonged periods of time, like in a movie theater, or going down stairs as opposed to up the stairs. There are usually no xray findings until osteoarthritis sets in. They all tell you not to do bending types of leg strenthening exercises, ie squats and lunges, but what is also very helpful is strengthening of the quadriceps muscle, especially the medial head of the quadriceps ( the 'pear' that bikers get on the inside of the knee). My guess is that your doctor's exercise was to strengthen your quads through isometric contraction, but try to pull your kneecap upward, not down into the joint, if this makes sense, and it shouldn't hurt as much. Another thing that can really help is to make sure you have nice flexible hamstrings - tight hamstrings will make this condition worse. This may sound weird, but another characteristic symptom is that if you try to take you kneecap and move it laterally, it will make you very anxious and uncomfortable.

As for what I have found to help, is to use Motrin liberally, ice my knees after a strenuous workout, keep those hamstrings and all lower muscles as flexible as possible (yoga has been so very helpful to me), and although going against medical advice, I do lunges and squats within a more limited range of motion, because I have found that the stronger my quads are, the better my knees feel. If you can get to a leg curl machine, that would be the best, again with limited range of motion according to what you can do without pain. I also bought a couple of pieces of portable aerobic flooring that Stage Step sells and it has really helped to, to lessen the impact on my own home flooring.

This is just what I have found helpful to me over the years - no way to know what your problem is, but hope this helps, and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Cheers,
Colia

 

[Tracy R.]

Thanks everyone!

I really appreciate your taking the time to offer advice. My knee still isn't feeling so great, after one week off, and one week doing only low impact (bike and elliptical trainer). I've started actually taking my prescription Motrin and icing my knee after my workouts. I think I'll take it easy for another week or two and then if it still doesn't feel any better, I'll call my doctor and ask for an orthopedic referral.

Thanks again!
Tracy