Arthritis in the knee ?

I feel your pain...Literally! I just did my first tri with arthritic knees...It sucks...It seems to me that inactivity makes it worse...I went to see an ortho and he told me the same thing...Stop doing triathlons...That's not happening! He told me to do some stretches...This is going to sound strange, but it's a hamstring stretch without bending your knees. Let your knee caps "relax." Meaning don't engage your quads while you're in this position. You should be able to take your hand and move your knee cap around. Hold for about 10 seconds...do three sets. It has helped me when I remember to do it. When I run it takes about 20 minutes for my knees to loosen up as well...Do you experience the same thing? I started a thread "Arthritic Knees" and got some good feedback, you might check it out...

Mike A.

Well, in your photo you don't look like you have a weight problem like me. I think a lot of my problem is my weight 250+...I also started running on the front part of my feet (Not the ball of my feet) and shortening my stride. When I do this and concentrate on form (running upright) it takes a lot of pressure off my knees. It took some getting used to, but it's making the run more enjoyable and a little less painful.

Edited by auggie 2008-03-14 2:16 PM

I have arthritis in both knees. The doctor who diagnosed it told me to stop running only and to DO TRIATHLONS, so i took his advice. My knees don't hurt much at all, even running.

Yoga helps, as does chirunning (http://www.chirunning.com/shop/home.php). I don't think you're stuck doing only maintenance workouts, my body actually feels better when I do some speed stuff during my runs. Swim and bike don't hurt at all, in fact biking is a great exercise for arthritic folks. I do hard bike workouts and am fine with them.

I don't have any silver bullet, it's pretty individual. To me, because I am already 50, it is worth it to me to keep running because I don't feel I need to preserve anything, and my knees hurt more if i don't run (i also really love running). I'll just get a knee replacement in 15 years if i need it That said, I am not you, and I may be completely irrational. You have to determine your own priorities. Find out how much arthritis you have and what the longterm prognosis is, and figure it out from there.

i meant to say biking is a great exercise for those with KNEE arthritis. Not hip arthritis i imagine...

I'm an MRI technologist (I see about 5 patients a day with knee problems) with knee problems. Most of my patients are people who were inactive and bent over or fell; how are you supposed to avoid that? Knee injuries are a chance everyone takes whether they are exercising or not. Most doctors will tell ANYONE not to run (it's a liabilty thing), even people without knee problems. There's a common misconception about running ruining your knees. A study I read studied the knees of distance runners. Interestingly, distance runners didn't necessarily have worse knees than the rest of the population. The difference is how they started running. I don't think running ruins your knees. I think running on blown legs or running incorrectly will make them worse. Running correctly won't ruin them. There's a natural loss of cartilage with age. Anyway, from personal experience I've actually improved my knees by doing triathlon training. Within a week of training I had bruised the bone and had little or no cartilage between the bones. I carefully manage it, though. I take joint supplements, ice my knees, and listen to my body about rest. If your problem is a slightly torn ligament or meniscus, you might still be in luck, but you'd better be careful. If you're a surgical candidate, you might need to find another hobby

If you're really worried about it you could see a sports medicine doc. or an orthapedic surgeon. Most general practice doc's will err on the side of 'not getting sued' and may not give the best advice. You don't sound like you have ruined knees to me. My advice is to try slowly work back into things, take Glucosamin/Chondoitin (with MSM if you can), ice your knees after a run, and take ibuprofen before you start your workout if you stomach can handle it. Don't be afraid to rest your knees.