Like many people, I have been involved in various sports over the years and this has now taken its toll on my knees to he point where it is adversely affecting my life through cartilage wear & tear problems.
Symptoms can include but are not limited to the following:
Stiffness in the knee(s), stiffness in the tendons behind the knee(s),
clicking of the tendon(s) behind the knee(s), sharp pain in the front of the
knee(s), a burning sensation up the inside or even the outside edges of the knee(s), pain in the surrounding quadricep muscles just above the knee,
and even locking up of the knee with extreme stiffness. And of course any other type of pain or stiffness that prevents normal movement of the knee.
2) The Effects On Everyday Life
The above symptoms can have quite a serious affect on our everyday lives,
slowly but surely putting restrictions on the movements we used to perform
effortlessly without even thinking throughout the day. When some of the symtpms listed above have set in, we really do have to think twice about: How long we can bend down for?, or even if we can bend down that low without pain?, or if an activity being done around us will cause immediate pain if we join in?
Below I will cover: How we can conquer all of this & get our knees back!
3) The Doctors' Answer
For someone such as myself, who eats very healthy food & is relatively physically fit, it made no sense to have dodgy knees and sure enough,
I found myself researching on a quest get my knees back to normal again.
Around 2008 I started getting a clicking sensation in the outside tendon behind my right knee coupled with slight stiffness when I as out on mregular jogs... So I stopped jogging and went to see my Dr.
My local pharmacist one said that: Dr's live in their own "idealistic world" instead of seeing things as they are and how they can be: In the real world,
looking at real factors properly like: People's habits, people's lifestyles & actual diets and actual activities.
When I went to my Dr about my knees, I witnessed first-hand exactly what the pharmacist was talking about. It was almost like the Dr was reading a script from a medial dictionary, and could not think outside the box at all.
The Dr basically told me straight-out that: I would need knee surgery, and my knees would never get better, and referred me for an MRI scan at the local hospital. When I went back to the hospital to get my MRI results, the consultant was not so negative as my Dr, and gave me the option to think
about it for a few months instead of saying yes there & then & scheduling-in the surgery. Then, I went off to see a friend of mine in Japan, who happens to love mountain biking & long rides, including: rides Up Mountains!
Then, low and behold, after going on rides with him for a couple of months,
including mountain rides in 35 degrees humidity!, although I did get some
burning at first, my knee tendons stopped clicking the burning went away!
This, in an instant: Changed my wole outlook on healing, medicine, the shabby & inconsistent health advice I had been given by my own health service, and the saviour of my knees otherwise known as: Self-Healing.
After taking some awesome motorbike pics & enjoying the rest of my holiday in Japan, I returned to London & promptly cancelled my knee surgery.
On the advice of a friend, I bought some ankle weights to wear around the house to strengthen the muscles around my knees every time I walked & moved my legs. And, again, I began to see my knee-burning symptoms ease off into the background for a while.
I then made sure I swam once a week for an hour to strengthen my legs even more.
Eager to find more self-help options, I quickly realized one very important factor here when dealing with my knee problem: Research is King. So I doubled my research efforts, both online, through friends directly, and even
when you are out & about shopping & see cushioning products like those in Boots pharmacy for example.
Saving Money £££ & Saving Your knees at the same time
Now you may have heard of specialsed cutsomised shoe inner-sole
promotions & products, that are advertised online, in magazines etc,
for knee pain relief; but they tend to be very expensive!
Why would you want to waste hundreds of pounds on something you can get in Boots pharmacy for under £30?!! Just by reading the back of the packaging on some of the sports innersoles in boots, I soon found one that covered sports injuries that left people like me with sore & stiff knees.
So, there then, I decided to try Boots' own brand Orthaheel Sports innersoles for my normal everyday work shoes.
For £26 I was amazed! I wore them to work, where I walk a lot on a daily basis, and found that my knee pain greatly reduced as soon as I walked on these sports gel-stabilizing innersoles. And, anytime that I wore a pair of shoes without them in, I felt the my knees stiffen again within the first few steps... So there you have it, proper cushioning for your type of knee pain,
if, like in my case: it's like a sports cartilage injury, these awesome sports innersoles will move mountains for you & really start to ease off the pain.
The Answers were around us all the time:
Not only were the answers there around us all the time, but they are free
exercises we can do ourselves & are cheap healthy food & drink combinations to aid speedy cartilage re-generation.
So in a word: Yes the Dr was not telling the whole story, when he or she said your cartilage would never grow back!
4) The Real Answer: Self-Help
How to Regenerate Damaged Cartilage In Your Body
One of the most common injuries for everyone is cartilage tears. They tend to be very painful but recently they are saying that your diet helps you
regenerate it even faster. Cartilage is a very flexible structure that weightlessly supports certain structures like the pinna (outer ear), nose, and joints.
There are areas in our body that are much more sensitive to getting injured, such as the knee joints, and are always more affected in those
who do daily physical activities like athletes. It can also affect elderly people because of the natural deterioration of the body at a certain age.
Cartilage is regenerated according to what food you eat. One of the other most common conditions that affects the ankle, knee, wrist, elbow,
and shoulder cartilage is arthritis, currently a very well-known disease that affects almost everyone older than forty. For this reason,
it is necessary to have proper nutrition so that cartilage tissue can regenerate quickly.
One of the most important amino acids for the rapid regeneration of cartilage is lysine. It is responsible for absorbing calcium and producing
collagen that rebuilds damaged tissue. It also improves your skin’s appearance and tendon strength.
A study done by the University of Maryland Medical Center found that lysine deficiency can delay the growth of damaged tissue. It can also affect the regeneration of skin cells, which damages the total reconstruction of the area involved with the physical damage.
12 mg (milligrams) of lysine for every kilo of body weight is what you should consume in order to help the body be able to rebuild cartilage faster. The foods that contains high levels of lysine are:
Legumes
Cod
Red meat
Beer
Eggs
Soy
Cheese
Nuts
Yeast in beer
Gelatin
One other and often missed piece of advice: Electrolytes! (These are drinks like: Smart Water from Tesco, or Lucozade) They keep your knees and muscles balanced by replenishing your fluids with more than just water.
This made the biggest difference (in addition to doing eveything you suggest) for me having suffered with knee problems for over 10years to eliminating knee issues almost entirely.
For all the cyclists out there, you may have noted that cycling greatly improved my situation, after going on several long rides... But, that was only possible due to: My seat being at the correct height to properly take pressure of my knees. That position will have you only just being able to stand on the tip of your toes when putting one foot on the ground. So yes, the saddle should be quite high, leaving your knees only slightly bent.
This guy from New York seems to have found some good ideas:
Learning to Walk Again
While the foam roller may have been the most painful, it was nowhere near as hard as correcting the thing that had destroyed my knees in the first place: my manner of walking. Having walked in one way for roughly 19 years, my habits were deeply ingrained. I had to start from scratch. The physical therapist guided me, carefully. Strike with the heel, then roll down the outside of the foot, then step through the ball of the foot. Repeat. He had me walk back and forth across a room, agonizingly slowly. "That's it," he said. "That's how you have to walk now."For the next month, I had to pay attention to every single step I took. I was used to walking fast—now I felt like I was crawling. Heel, roll down the outside, forefoot. Heel, roll down the outside, forefoot. It took months of being hyper-conscious of something I'd been doing unconsciously for most of my life, but eventually, it became natural. I conquered the walk.
The Final Frontier
I walked pain-free for over a decade, but I still had never learned to run. Now, I'm 32. I recently decided: It's time to do this thing. So, I read Born To Run, by Christopher McDougall (I highly recommend it), and then I started researching this whole barefoot/minimalist running thing.The idea is simple: When running, you land on your forefoot (or midfoot) first, instead of your heel, which cuts down on the impact shock on your knees, hips, and back. You take more steps, ideally averaging 180 steps per minute. This helps your stride minimize bounce, allowing you to redirect the energy toward moving ahead laterally. You focus on maintaining good, straight posture, and you lean forward at the ankles. I had to work into it slowly—my lower calves have never been so sore in my entire life. But I've been running twice a week now for over a month at increasing distances, and I haven't had any knee pain at all, for the first time in my life.
Apparently walking can also ease knee pain:
There are many ways that walking helps ease the pain of knee OA.
Rebuilds joints. When you have OA, cartilage -- the
springy tissue in your joints that acts like a shock absorber for your
knees -- can become damaged and worn. The result: pain, stiffness, and
problems moving. Exercise can help rebuild the joint, Robertson says.
"Cartilage is like a sponge, and it gets nutrients from the compression
and decompression of your body weight as you walk."
Strengthens your legs. Walking builds your muscles so they can take the pressure off your joints and handle more of the weight themselves. That means less pain for your knees.
Listen to Your Body
To stay healthy, you should get 30 minutes of
exercise most days of the week. You don't have to get it all at once --
10 minutes of walking here and there is a great idea. But don't push
yourself, Albayda says.
"Some people get so excited that they overdo it and
get sore the next day. I always say try a little bit one day and see how
you do."
Some warning signs that you should stop:
- Sudden increase in swelling
- Pain so severe you can’t stand on one leg
- Feeling unstable, like you might fall down
- Aches and pains, higher than a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10
Some Useful knee exercises:
1. Straight Leg Lift
Targets: Quadriceps and hip flexors. Complements the walking motion by working muscles in opposition that may be underused, such as the smaller quadriceps muscles of the thigh.
Cues: Begin lying on back with right leg straight and extended; left knee is bent, with left foot flat on floor. Contract right thigh muscles to straighten (but not lock) the knee. Slowly raise leg until knees are parallel, then lower. Repeat 8 to 12 times, working up to 2 sets on each side.
To advance: Begin holding to a 35 count in the up position.
2. Wall Sit
Targets: This multi-dimensional exercise targets the hamstrings, quadriceps, gluteal muscles, and abdominal muscles. A lower-intensity alternative to squats and lunges.
Cues: Stand with lower back against an exercise ball of about 25 inches that rests against a wall. Feet are shoulder-width apart and a comfortable distance from the wall. Body is erect. Slowly bend knees and lower body until thighs are parallel with the floor; keep knees above (not in front of) feet, and abs contracted to avoid excess sway in the back. Pause at the bottom, then roll back up. Repeat 8 to 12 times, working up to two sets. to advance: Increase pause at the bottom to three, five, or even 10 counts.
3. Bridge
Targets: Glutes, hamstrings, and trunk, including lower back and abdominal muscles.
Cues: Lie flat on back, with arms by sides, palms up. Both knees are bent, feet flat on the floor. Using abdominal and gluteal muscles, slowly lift trunk and hips off floor with a smooth, controlled motion. Squeeze buttocks at the top, then slowly lower. Keep pressure on the shoulders, not on the head, and do not push with the hands.
If you feel cramping in the hamstrings, you'll know they're working too hard; lower slightly to relieve that tightening. Repeat 8 to 12 times, working up to two sets. to advance: Hold the up position for a 35 count.
4. Single Calf Raise
Targets: Ankle stability is critical to proper knee alignment. This move builds calf strength and ankle stability, as well as body coordination and balance.
Cues: Hold onto a chair or support yourself against a wall, and lift right leg into a hamstring curl (shin parallel to the ground); extend left ankle and lift body on the toes. Slowly lower and repeat 8 to 12 times.
Finishing stretch: Step forward with right leg, keeping left leg straight and left heel on the ground, for a gentle calf stretch. Hold for 6 to 8 slow, deep breaths; then repeat exercise and stretch on the other side. Do two sets on each side.
To advance: Add a third set, placing hands on hips for balance.
5. Quadriceps Stretch
Targets: Quadriceps, hip flexors.
Cues: Lying on side, with hips and shoulders stacked, pull the top foot toward the buttocks with the top hand. If you have trouble, use a towel or T-shirt to extend grip; foot does not have to reach buttocks; pull to the point of feeling a gentle stretch, not pain. Keep knees in alignment, then slowly pull top knee back behind the other knee, while maintaining stacked hip. Hold for 6 to 8 slow, deep breaths. Repeat 2 to 3 times on each side.
6. Modified Hurdlers Stretch
Targets: Hamstrings, gluteal muscles, lower back.
Cues: While seated, extend one leg straight (do not lock knee) and place bottom of the other foot against that knee. Holding shoulders and hips square and back straight, slowly lower torso toward straight leg. Do not collapse through chest or round the back. Gentle pressure on the bent leg will stretch the inner thigh. Hold for 6 to 8 slow, deep breaths; repeat 2 to 3 times on each side.
Do's for Healthy Knees:
- Always see a doctor if you experience knee pain that is not relieved by several days of rest, ice, massage, and elevation.
- Back off from activities such as walking hills or knee-bending exercises that cause you pain.
- Build adequate muscle strength, especially in the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and ankles.
- Stretch adequately, emphasizing quad and hamstring muscles. Warm up before stretching.
- When doing squats, lunges, or leg presses, avoid locking knees completely. Use low weight and high repetitions.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Wear shoes appropriate for an activity. Seek proper arch support if your feet roll in.
- Cross-train. Do 2 to 3 activities on a regular basis to balance out the body.
- 'Don't ignore or exercise through pain.
- Never overdo unfamiliar activities.
- While walking, Don't exaggerate your stride, overarch the back, or lock knees as you extend.
- On an elliptical trainer, exercise bike, or stair climber, never straighten legs completely.
- Don't overextend knees, especially while pregnant, when hormonal changes allow for greater fluidity of movement.
- Don't give up on exercise completely because of pain without checking with your doctor about alternatives.
- Don't forget that overall stability, torso strength, and proper posture are key.
Don't skip exercise, even if you have a structural problem.
The key is to know your limits. Strength training that focuses heavily on building up muscles in the quadriceps and hamstrings can decrease pain and help people better tolerate arthritis and other structural knee problems. Staying active helps control weight and build muscle, both of which can help protect your knees from further damage.The best exercises for people with structural knee problems include nonimpact aerobic exercises, such as walking on level ground, training on an elliptical machine, using a stationary bike, swimming and doing water aerobics. It’s also wise to avoid activities that put extra stress on the knees such as kneeling, deep knee bends and downhill running.
Whether you're active or not, stretching is good for the knees.
Stretches that focus on the calf, hamstring and quadriceps muscles take pressure off of the knees and kneecaps. "Many people often say there is no aerobic value in stretching, so they see it as a waste of time," says Bush-Joseph. "But a well-conditioned, flexible body is less likely to develop overuse problems in the knees."Some good stretches to protect the knees include step-ups, hamstring curls and straight-leg lifts. Additionally, stretches that focus on building flexibility in the hips, including a butterfly stretch and a standing hip flexor with a resistance band, can help alleviate knee pain.
People who do not like to stretch before a workout can still protect their knees by slowly ramping up to top speed rather than jumping full speed into their workout.
"Warming up the muscles helps prevent injury," says Bush-Joseph. "If you like to run but you don't have the time to warm-up and stretch out, you should start your run with 10 to 15 minutes of walking or slow jogging before getting up to peak velocity."
Here's how to do these exercises and stretches:
- Step-ups: Stand in front of a small step stool or stairs and lift your body onto the step using one leg. Then step backward down the step with the same leg. Do 10 to 15 step-ups per leg.
- Hamstring curls: Lie on your stomach with your legs straight and your head resting on your arms or the ground. Bend one leg with the heel toward your buttocks. Repeat 10 to 15 times and then switch legs.
- Straight-leg lifts: Lie on the floor on your back, with one leg bent at a 90-degree angle and your foot flat on the ground. Lift the other leg off the ground. Repeat 10 to 15 times and then switch legs.
- Butterfly stretch: Sit up straight with the soles of your feet pressed together. Holding your feet, slowly lean your upper body forward (keeping your back straight). Hold the stretch for 30 seconds to one minute.
- Standing hip flexor: Get into a stride position (body and feet facing forward with one foot stepped further in front). Stand up straight with your abdominal muscles tightened. Keeping your back straight, slowly lunge forward with the front leg. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds to one minute and then switch legs.
Losing weight can improve knee pain.
"Your weight plays a major role in knee pain," says Bush-Joseph. "If you walked around all day with a backpack that had a 10-pound weight in it, you would feel how achy your back, hips and knees are at the end of the day. That shows you the impact extra weight can have on your joints."With each step people take, two to four times their body weight is transmitted through the knee joint, according to Bush-Joseph. Thus, the more you weigh, the harder the impact is on your knee joint.
However, people who are overweight and have arthritic knee pain can lessen the impact — and ultimately, relieve knee pain — by losing weight. In fact, people with arthritic knees lose about 20 percent of their pain with every 10 pounds of weight loss.
"If you are 20 pounds overweight and you have arthritic knee pain, almost half of your pain will go away by losing 20 pounds," says Bush-Joseph. Of course, losing 20 pounds isn't easy. But, if people are able to lose even 10 pounds and add in some stretching and flexibility training, they'll experience significantly less pain, according to Bush-Joseph.
Wearing the proper shoes is important for healthy knees.
Supportive and comfortable shoes help take pressure off the knee joint by promoting proper leg alignment and balance. So it's no surprise that wearing high heels is a common cause of knee pain."When high heels lift your heel up, your weight bearing line tips forward so your quadriceps have to work harder to hold your knee straight, which then leads to knee pain," says Bush-Joseph. "Whereas, if your heel is closer to the floor in low pumps or flats, your thigh muscles don't have to work as hard to maintain stability, which is easier on the knees."
While strength training and stretching can help build up the muscles around the knees to minimize knee damage from heels, it's best to save the stilettos for special occasions.
Proper shoes are particularly important during exercise. "If you are taking up running as a newbie or starting a new form of aerobic exercise, getting professionally fitted from someone at a running or sporting goods store can help with knee problems and will certainly lower your incidence of having overuse problems due to footwear," says Bush-Joseph.
Stand up straight to feel better.
"When you slouch you are leaning forward and walking bent over at the waist — and that posture will lead to knee pain," says Bush-Joseph. "You want your head centered over your shoulders and your shoulders centered over your abdomen and pelvis. The more your body is off-center, the more you have to compensate for that with muscle activity. Those muscles eventually fatigue, causing strain on your joints."Having strong core muscles in your abdomen and lower back helps promote good posture and, ultimately, lessens the pressure on your knees. Exercises such as planks, back extensions, yoga and Pilates can help strengthen the core.
The Mission Continues: Self-Help Starts with Your Eyes & Ears!
If I didn't listen to a friend of mine at work about foam rollers (that he had used in the past for gym injuries), and I hadn't got myself down to Argos & bought some for just £11.49, I would be in a lot more pain now...and my knees would feel a lot stiffer & puffy around the back in the crease of my knees...
Just 5-10 minutes every evening, rolling the backs of your knees across this
roller with you sat on top..., will have you feeling much better in no time.
Bur remember, things like this in life have to be used ij conjunction with a healthy diet, with lots of protein & antioxidant foods; like a daily dose of Blueberries for example, a steal at £2 at Tesco for a normal serving, or £3 for a large serving. This, by the way is also a great way to start the day as part of your breakfast too. If you think about it, Blueberries with some plain yoghurt & a coffee, is not only very healthy, but is also full of disease-preventing antioxidants & vitamins & healthy bacteria in the yoghurt,
which means: A win-win for you!
Right, now I've got your eyes open, tme for another age-old great all-round remedy for many conditions, including: Stiff & painful knees.
Very hot baths (yes, as hot as you can take), simply work wonders for your body, and more importantly your stiff & aching knees!
Why do you think there are Sento\Onsen bathing houses everywhere in Japan?!! It's because they know how important hot water, especially that which has extra levels of sodium & minerals in it like in Onsens is for the healing process & for keeping the healthy: Healthy.
So, again, one of the best answers for knee pain relief was there right in front of us!! It's always a great idea to see how you can adapt natural things around you into your healing process...
Of course it's even better for your knees & body in Japan though, as these speialised Onsens & bath houses are rife & easy to access for all, so that's probably half the reason why their race is so healthy.
Right, now it's time for some interesting, yet inspirational input from a cchap calling himself Dr.Bookspan. He has some great practical, and very re-assuring advice that may even shock you ar little...and realize that perhaps your condition is not so bad as it nay seem at all.
He is etermely aware of proper ways around medicine & artificial things like: supports & surgery & drugs, so without further ado; be pleasantly surprised!
The Human Solution:
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My work is not alternative medicine. This is evidence-based sports medicine techniques, applied to real life - where you actually need it. I consider it simple standard-of-care.
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Knee pain and tears are not a "condition" that once you you have it, you have it for life or need surgery to fix. With changes to healthier movement habits, you stop ongoing damage and much can repair. You can be better than before.
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You do not need surgery or extended medical treatments or bed rest or yoga to relieve most knee pain or tears. Many times, surgery for tears results in needing more surgery later, or in more degeneration. Often people have to cut back in activity so much after surgery that it is no cure and the rest of their health and happiness suffers. Putting more holes and cuts in the area is not what you need.
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Most people do not need special expensive shoes or rigid inserts to hold their feet in any position. Your own muscles can, and should do that if you know to use them to do that until it becomes habit. Feet need practice in position sense and exercise holding themselves oin healthy position. They lose that when shoes "support" them so that they never do it for themselves.
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You do not need to give up impact activities like running or martial arts, give up weights or heavy occupational work, or activities you love to do. By changing your daily movement habits to healthy ones, you will get the built in exercise you need for health while you prevent causes of most pain. That means that changing bad knee position while you run, to healthy aligned position with good gait, is more effective and far quicker that giving up running and hoping yoga poses or reps and sets of strengthening will magically change your gait or alignment for you. You can do it yourself in moments.
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Not all knee pain is from what shows on an x-ray or other test or scan. You are not doomed by scan results.
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Knee muscle, cartilage, or joint injury are not causes of the problem - they are RESULTs of what you are doing to hurt your knees - things you can fix yourself. Even when inflammation or immune response are identified, they are results, not causes. Understand and fix causes instead of using drugs and surgery for the results.
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You may have several causes of pain. If you fix some of them, you will fix some of your pain. The answer is not to continue on, saying "it just takes time" and allowing the other damaging causes to continue. Check for other causes you may have missed and fix them all. Then you will stop all pain, and instead of alternating feeling better from fixing one thing and hurting from other causes, wondering why you have intermittent results.
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Common medicines and prescription drugs can cause knee pain. Some of the most common shoes, even 'athletic" and podiatrist-prescribed shoes cause much knee and foot pain. Unneeded treatments and surgeries are done - causing more pain and reduction in physical ability. It is a myth that shoes need to "support" or hold you feet in position. Your own muscles do that. Easy changes can stop the need for harmful medicines.
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Study of posture rules, exercises, and devices has shown they have made as much or more pain and damage as slouching, and do not create healthy movement. They are also no fun. First, healthy lengths during movement needs to be learned. Then all daily movement builds-in healthy comfortable fun habit.
Disclaimer: Everybody's body is different, what worked for me & others on this site may not necessarily work for everyone. No liability is accepted by this blog & its' author or any of the other contributors.
Tags: Cartilage, knee pain, meniscus, meniscal tear, cartilage tear, knee injury, knee injuries, keyhole surgery, knee problems, ACL.
