Bad Knees

[Leeds Rhino]

My knees constantly ache, so much so that I am considering packing in the running and just cycling instead.
Anyone any ideas ? does Glucosamine with Condroitin ( sp ) actually work, or maybe Cod Liver oil tablets.
I am at the end of my tether with it

[Alf]

My knees constantly ache, so much so that I am considering packing in the running and just cycling instead.
Anyone any ideas ? does Glucosamine with Condroitin ( sp ) actually work, or maybe Cod Liver oil tablets.
I am at the end of my tether with it

I take Glucosamine on the grounds it might help but I don't think it has any harmful effects. I avoid Cod liver Oil as it can concentrate toxins as its obtained from the liver. I eat Mackerel as a substitute as I like the taste and it has the usual oily fish benefits.

[mcckrd]

Hi,
have you been assessed at a quality running shop, maybe its your choice of shoes, if you overpronate and dont wear shoes to compensate, you'll get bad knees.
Cycling maybe low impact but it can cause muscle imbalances, back ache and shortening of the legs if its the only thing you do for exercise.
Have you heard of Hyaluronic acid, it increases production and quality of synovial joint fluid, ive not tried it yet so cant say weather it gives good results, ill keep you posted on that. Type it into ebay and you get loads of products to chose from.
maybe its just a case of keeping your legs warm in our damp climate, i never wear shorts at this time of year.

hope this helps in some way
Mark

[NotOnUrHelly]

Hi Leeds,

I think we have spoke in the past, I have been on and off for two years with knee pains. At worst I could not run for shooting pains every step. At best they would ache for days after a run, I could run through the aching the shooting pains scared me off a bit.

The aching used to keep me awake at night, after a lot of stop start, orthotics and expensive physio. I have just started to do twenty minutes on grass.

I went to see a physio (pre-hab guy) who just told me to stop running and cycling completely until he said it was right to do so, bit bossy but I needed it. He put my problems down to instability in the ankles, muscle imbalances in the legs and very weak glutes. This was highlighted by doing one legged squats, I was all over the place.

I saw him on a fortnightly basis and he progressively increased my strengthening exercises routine and build up. He also kept me off running for a total of four and a half months.

It has cost me quite a bit, but he was pretty flexible on how often I saw him. I found once a fortnight was just enough because after two weeks I was getting bored of the exercises he had set me. After a session and a load of new exercises it got me fired up again for another two weeks.

I would go and see someone if I was you, I was stop start until he told me to hold back. I would let the pain subside, I think the longest I went without running for about a month each time. The pain would go and I would crack on, the pain would just come back as quick as it went.

As for Glucosamine and Chonditrin, I use glucosamine 1500mg a day and I also take something called Collagen. Not sure if its helping

I found there is no quick fix for this, I have been very thorough and determined with my physio work - Twice a day every day.

Has it paid off ? I'm not sure, Im being careful not to over do it and will probably just do flat short road/trail races until Im confident.

I have felt like forgetting about running completely. You end up coming back to it and keep trying, it just does'nt leave you. I became very agitated, frustrated I also missed the whole fell scene of camping and meeting people, this did my head in the most.

Hope this helps, just my experience Im not out of the woods yet

Good Luck with this.

Jamie

[Last legs]

Rhino- you have my sympathy as a fellow sufferer. My current hunch is that my knee pain is related to tightening in my calfs. A google search seems to back this up. I only got back into running last year and it didn't take long before the knee pain was back. However, I started to pay a bit more attention to my stretches (having in the past done barely any at all) and this seemed to help. Good luck.

[Leeds Rhino]

Thanks guys, I will take your comments on board.

[mr brightside]

Hi Leeds,

I think we have spoke in the past, I have been on and off for two years with knee pains. At worst I could not run for shooting pains every step. At best they would ache for days after a run, I could run through the aching the shooting pains scared me off a bit.

The aching used to keep me awake at night, after a lot of stop start, orthotics and expensive physio. I have just started to do twenty minutes on grass.

I went to see a physio (pre-hab guy) who just told me to stop running and cycling completely until he said it was right to do so, bit bossy but I needed it. He put my problems down to instability in the ankles, muscle imbalances in the legs and very weak glutes. This was highlighted by doing one legged squats, I was all over the place.

I saw him on a fortnightly basis and he progressively increased my strengthening exercises routine and build up. He also kept me off running for a total of four and a half months.

It has cost me quite a bit, but he was pretty flexible on how often I saw him. I found once a fortnight was just enough because after two weeks I was getting bored of the exercises he had set me. After a session and a load of new exercises it got me fired up again for another two weeks.

I would go and see someone if I was you, I was stop start until he told me to hold back. I would let the pain subside, I think the longest I went without running for about a month each time. The pain would go and I would crack on, the pain would just come back as quick as it went.

As for Glucosamine and Chonditrin, I use glucosamine 1500mg a day and I also take something called Collagen. Not sure if its helping

I found there is no quick fix for this, I have been very thorough and determined with my physio work - Twice a day every day.

Has it paid off ? I'm not sure, Im being careful not to over do it and will probably just do flat short road/trail races until Im confident.

I have felt like forgetting about running completely. You end up coming back to it and keep trying, it just does'nt leave you. I became very agitated, frustrated I also missed the whole fell scene of camping and meeting people, this did my head in the most.

Hope this helps, just my experience Im not out of the woods yet

Good Luck with this.

Jamie

Stick with it

[Adamski]

Greetings Leeds - I'm just coming back from a knee injury. My advice would be to seek out a good physio and get a diagnosis. I was given strength exercises. Mine's got me doing one-legged squats focusing in keeping my foot straight out in front of me and not 'dipping' my knee inwards which is my natural tendency and probably the cause of my knackered knee. I've added a normal squat with a barbell with some kg across my shoulders.
I'm also swerving all impact exercises for a while - my gym has a load of these 'hill climbing' type step machines which I used today and I was surprised how good it was. Good for fell running strength!
I would also get your running gait checked out - but you've probably already done that. A bit of pronation is normal but you might need to get different footwear.
GOOD LUCK

[newandconfused]

My knees constantly ache, so much so that I am considering packing in the running and just cycling instead.
Anyone any ideas ? does Glucosamine with Condroitin ( sp ) actually work, or maybe Cod Liver oil tablets.
I am at the end of my tether with it

Get yourself off to a physio...referrals through the NHS aren't too hard if you're without insurance.
I've got ITBS and have been working with my physio over the last 4 weeks. She's been great as hasn't encouraged me to stop training (only to reduce if the pain gets unbearable!) and they concentrate on the route cause.
My knee for example was excruciatingly painful after 5mileish due to an increase in training over the last few months. It has all been traced back to a weak ankles from 10yrs ago and a hernia op 5yrs ago causing all the problems.

[ozz]

Hi Leeds,

In my opinion there are 4 main causes of injury.

Footwear/running style.
Too much too soon
Diet.
Psychological problems manifesting physically.

The first two are pretty easy to correct, unfortunately the last two aren’t

I have put footwear and running style together because I think the trainers you wear has a massive impact on your running style. So I would personally go for the most minimal trainer possible or even better barefoot. Regardless of your gait.

Obviously build up VERY slowly especially if you are used to running in padded shoes with orthotics in. it may take some time for your foot muscles to adapt.

The thing is with diet it’s different for everyone. But there are a few basics drink lots of bottled water the main cause for any joint pain is lack of water, when the body is dehydrated it begins sucking the water out of your synovial fluid. This is the same reason anyone with arthritis should drink lots of water. But a varied organic diet is a good place to start.
Ideally a metabolic typing or nutritional typing diet is what anyone needs to help avoid injury.
This is a good site http://www.mercola.com/

The 4th cause may sound crazy but lots of injuries can simply be due to stress or any negative underlying emotion. This is something that is very rarely considered, but is usually quite a large factor with on going injuries.

There are lots of other beneficial exercises e.g.(stretching, core exercises) these are just my top four. But I’m no expert.

This is all pretty basic and I’m sure you already know most of it.

Good luck.

Ozz.