Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with knees

Couch to 5K Aches and Pains: Will they go away eventually?

otherwordlyglow — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:23:48 -0800

I'm in the beginning stages of the Couch to 5K and wonder if my aches and pains are normal new exercise sorts of things or if I'm hurting myself in a bad way. I've been doing the Couch to 5K for about 4 weeks now but am still in Week 2 of the program (i.e I'm taking in slow). Lately my right knee, left hip and left ankle are giving me trouble. Not so much when I run (jog) but during the rest of the day. The ankle thing is probably the result of a minor twist about 3 weeks ago. I've had intermittent knee pain for about 2 years though this seems like it's ramping up rather than getting better over time. I've never had hip problems before. I was pretty sedentary prior to starting this program though in good health. I'm 41 and female and have never done much running other than what was required of me in high school. I'm usually running outdoors on sidewalks, mostly flat though some moderate hills.

I sort of expect that when I start a new exercise, there will be some aches and pains as my body adjusts to the new activity but I'm wondering if now, at four weeks in, I should be over that?

I've just started doing exercises to strengthen my quads (seated leg lifts with leg extended) thinking that that might help my knees but is this something I can overcome? I don't want to be causing myself harm doing this!

Running on Empty

boyinmiami — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:09:33 -0800

Running Filter: I have signed up for half a marathon coming up at the end of January. I also signed up for a running group which helps you train for the half a marathon. I have missed about 60 precent of the running sessions. With the marathon less than a month away, I need some help getting ready for it. I have a few questions about this run coming up, so I will try and break them down in an organized fashions.

Pertaining info:

I am in good shape. The running sessions that I have been able to go, I have done distances of 8 miles, 10 miles, 11 miles. So have been getting close to the goal of 13.1 miles. I have made the last four sessions (have made about 6 of the total 12). Today I had to quit at 3.5 miles for reasons coming up.

I did get fitted for shoes at the local running store.

I do lift weights on my own (3 times a week), but haven't been running on my own other than the long runs once a week with the running group. When I first signed up for it, I was doing short runs on my own during the week but haven’t been doing it in the past 6 weeks.

Due to being constantly late for my runs, I have a tendency not to stretch before the long runs, though I always stretch after.

Questions/Issues

1. My first long distance run of 10 miles, I had excruciating knee pain. I iced my knees right after the run, and the pain did go away after about a day and was back to normal. This has been the case every time I have done long distances since then. After this I have made it a point to get good leg workouts. I need help in figuring out

a. If there are other things I can do to minimize the pain and soreness?
b. Any specific leg exercises I can do to strengthen that part of my body.

2. The last three times I have done long distances, I have gotten shin splints, and swollen ankles, and pain at the bottom of my feet. This pain has started probably on the my second mile the last time I ran and persisted for the whole run. After icing the area, it did feel better but didn’t disappear for a few days.

a. Is there a reason that my ankles and shin splints would start hurting now? (Since this has been the case in my last two runs only)

b. Any exercises or precautions I can take to make sure this doesn't happen?

c. Could these be my shoes? I got fitted for the shoes, but people seem to think this could be the culprit.

3. How much can stretching and not stretching be part of the problem?

Since the marathon is only a month away, what would you recommend I do to make sure I can make this run in the least amount of pain and the most amount of comfort? Exercises, tips and tricks, food technique and running schedule help will all be appreciated :)

Thank you in advance

How to strengthen knees?

jb — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:08:29 -0800

Is there any kind of exercise I can do to strengthen my knees? I sit crosslegged or with one leg folded under me a great deal, including in office chairs - it's always been the most comfortable way for me to sit.

But recently, this had started causing my knees to hurt after a while. I don't know why this pain is beginning - I have not recently gained weight (I have been stable for about 6-7 years), though I am overweight and this may be part of the stress on my knees - I'm not so overweight much that I can't sit cross legged in an office chair, but enough that there is a fair bit of flesh straining against my knees when they are folded. But since the pain has only started recently (in the last two months), I can only imagine that it is age which is catching up to me (I'm 30), and that my knees simply aren't as forgiving as they were.

I can change the way I sit (and I already have), but I really don't want to lose my freedom or strength in my knees - I would like to be able to sit cross legged again. I do sit this way for hours at a time, working - I also sit up on my knees in the chair. (Okay, I know, I probably look like a 6 year old - but it helps me to concentrate to keep moving.)

Has anyone had similar problems, and are there any exercises which could help strengthen my knees? I have a recombant exercise bike which I don't use as I ought to, but will use more if it would help my knees. I can imagine losing weight might help, but I tend to lose from my legs last and have always had large calves, so I really don't want to just try that (it's too pie in the sky).

Tips for running?

mintchip — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:25:33 -0800

Tips for running? I run (interspersed with some walking) 3-5 miles about 4-5x/week.

1. Other than getting good shoes, what do I need to do to protect my knees? Is getting knee and joint problems from running inevitable?

2. How bad is it to run on a decline? In the area I live it's really difficult to avoid running downhill.

3. Even though I'm quite fit I seem to be really slow about building up aerobic endurance. Is there something I can do to speed this up? I get out of breath after maybe 1/2 half mile and then walk for a bit and start running again. How long before I should be able to go the whole distance without stopping?

Any other jogging/running tips are welcome.

The only reason I identify with Hilary Clinton

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:05:51 -0800

Please help me make my legs not disgusting. I hate hate hate my legs

Everywhere north of my belly button, I am really thin and toned (to the point where I get "You are eating, right?" comments).

But unfortunately, I have some of the most awful looking legs in the world. Thick thighs, doughy kneecaps, chunky calves, and, if that wasn't enough, really bad cankles.

If I wear jeans or long skirts (and they are all I ever do wear), I look pretty damn good, but god forbid I wear something that shows even a little stretch of leg.

I want to wear a swimsuit proudly, I want to not freak out about getting naked with a guy. And summer is coming again soon.

Look, I've accepted that I'll never be a pantyhose model but I am convinced there must be a way to get my legs looking nice.

I need practical suggestions on how to get my legs looking good for summer. I'm mainly concerned about my kneecaps, chunky calves, and cankles. I can't afford surgery, but I have a lot of willpower and motivation, and I will try any diet, exercise, and creams or potions that might work.

I know certain kinds of exericse will help, but I absolutely do not want to do anything that will build the muscle on my calves in a way that it will make them chunkier! how can I avoid that?

I'm assuming nothing can be done about my cankles, they are all skin and bone and it seems there is not fat around them I could work off. But if I could get firm bony kneecaps and moderately slender calves, I'd be stoked.

Thank you so much!

Are IT band straps just snake oil?

middleclasstool — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:05:11 -0800

Are those IT band straps for running worth a damn? So, following bad knee pain after finishing my first marathon last month, I went to a physical medicine and rehab specialist, and the doc informs me that I have two guitar strings running down the outside of each leg. My IT bands, are, in her words, "the worst I've seen in a long time."

So I'm off the street and in the pool + aggressive physical therapy for a month or so. My question is this: I want to get back on the road when this is over doing everything I can to prevent this from flaring up again. I've read other AskMe threads on stretching and maintenance you can do to be good to your IT bands (good info, thanks), but I'm wondering about those straps some runners wear on their legs to keep IT band problems at bay.

Does anyone know/have any evidence that the effectiveness of these things is beyond placebo? Or is this just the runner's version of copper bracelets and magnetic necklaces? How comfortable are they at distance?

How do I walk and stand correctly?

JZig — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:17:57 -0800

How do I walk and stand correctly? My upright posture sucks and I want to change it. I stand and walk with my knees locked back all the way, resting the weight on my heels. I walk similarly, not lifting my knee and planting my heels down with a lot of force, and I've been asked more than once If I'm injured, because it looks like I'm limping. It also means that I can't walk or stand for more than an hour or two a day without getting sore joints and back pain. I'm fairly normal physically other than this (only slightly overweight, and I've done martial arts fairly successfully for years). I can make myself walk differently, but only with effort and I soon forget. I've done this for as long as I remember, so I think I just learned to walk and stand wrong for whatever reason.

Anyone have personal experience changing their walking/standing stance? Specific advice on what to change it TO is appreciated, but I'm most interested in the process of changing how you move, hopefully without expensive guided therapy. Also, I have the theory that this will help me dance better :)

Please, please, please my knees!

gergtreble — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:42:23 -0800

Is there a low impact alternative to the Couch to 5k? I've just started week 5 of the Couch to 5k plan (well... I'm repeating week 4 to be honest). But I'm having problems, my knees are feeling it badly. I broke down on the middle session of week 4 and was in some discomfort for the whole weekend. I've been to see my Doctor and she told me to take some anti-inflammatories if it got any worse. Now I'm not a quitter so I've jumped straight back on the horse so to speak, and it feels ok at the moment. But I'm thinking that I could probably do with an equivalent plan that's not as hard on my poor old knees (OK OK! I'm only 31!!). And not have to resort to pharmaceutical measures. So is there an equivalent plan? Say for the elliptical machine, bike or rowing machine? Or do you have any other ideas into how I can increase my cardiovascular fitness gradually whilst working towards a goal?

Some stats: I'm a 31 year old male, recently joined the gym after working 2 years on a night shift where I put on 14Kg (30lbs). Starting weight = 108kgs (240lbs) Current weight= 97kg (214lbs). I'm looking more to getting cardiovascular fitness rather than weight loss.

Hope you can give me some tips!

How do you exercise a dog with bad knees?

k8t — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:26:49 -0800

Our 9-year-old yellow lab who has had a full ACL on one knee and a partial ACL on the other is getting worse. How can we exercise him properly without putting him in pain? Whenever my bf takes the dog hiking, the dog returns home and cries all night. In the morning I have to drag him outside to use the bathroom, because he can barely get up. He'll try to get on his front legs, but his back legs can barely move. My bf thinks that intense exercise is better than longer daily walks. I think that putting the dog in this kind of pain is not a good idea. Help! (And yes, we do glucosymyn and all that.)

How can I cure my knee pain?

kyrademon — Tue, 29 May 2007 00:06:23 -0800

Can you offer advice or techniques to help me with my worsening knee pain? For several years now, I have been experiencing pain in my right knee (and occasionally in my left), which has gradually been growing worse. These days, I usually have knee pain so bad that it is difficult for me to walk more than short distances – I seriously doubt I could walk a mile right now. I am a bellydancer, and this is a very big problem for me.

I have been diagnosed with both IT-band syndrome and patellofemoral pain syndrome. Most often, the pain manifests in my IT band, often going up all the way into my piriformis. However, I have also frequently experienced lateral pain and medial pain (i.e., on both sides of the knee), sometimes had tendon pain below the knee, occasionally had pain all the way up on the right side of my lower back, and very occasionally felt pain under the kneecap. I do not appear to have arthritis or any other degenerative joint disease.

I have been through three stints of physical therapy, with two different physical therapists, to little or no effect. For the last year or so, I have been seeing a chiropractor who does Active Release Technique, which seems to have helped somewhat. I stretch and exercise regularly (which means swimming these days due to the aforementioned issues), and have been doing VMO inner quad strengthening exercises and lots of IT band stretching, which have also helped somewhat but not nearly enough to solve the problem.

I have not yet tried acupuncture, prolotherapy, or any kind of surgery (such as lateral release). Can anyone tell me whether they think any of these might help me? Can anyone share their own experiences with physical therapy, acupuncture, prolotherapy, or knee surgery, or other methods as they relate to similar problems? Can anyone diagnose exactly what the heck has gone wrong in my body? Can anyone offer any advice? Help!

need to get high

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:45:44 -0800

Can I get the "runner's high" without running? Elliptical trainer hurts my knees (with or without stretching), swimming seems icky to me for many reasons. Is there any other way I can get the exercise high?

I already walk 2-4+ miles a day but that doesn't really do anything for me. I have not tried actually running because of elliptical trainer experience.

preparation for elliptical machine?

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:02:56 -0800

What kind of stretches should I do before/after being on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes? I never actually learned how to stretch and I am realizing that I should probably do so before (or after?) working out because my knees feel sort of weird sometimes when I go to the gym.

What should I do? How should I do it?

what's up with my knees?

amtho — Wed, 04 May 2005 21:47:08 -0800

In the past couple of years, whenever I go to certain movie theaters, after the show my knees hurt a little afterward. They also feel a little precarious, like the ligaments are stretched out and they might just decide to bend backwards. What do I need to do to ensure that I continue walking on my own for the next 50-60 years? The pain is not severe and goes away within a few minutes. For now. It seems to be just a little more scary each time. I am flat-footed. I usually try to wear arch supports. I'm not a runner, but I do enjoy dancing a bit.

A little googling has yielded information on pre-patellar bursitis (apparently caused by kneeling and/or the front of the knee being rubbed wrong, and I have been kneeling lately) and patellofemoral syndrome (PFS - kneecap sliding slightly to the side, caused by the way one's knees/legs/feet are put together). They seem to be vaguely related (descriptions of both refer to "housemaid's knee"), so please forgive if I've got them confused below.

The information I've been able to find about the bursitis -- also known as housemaid's knee -- seems mainly about acute flare-ups, mentions taking ibuprofen etc., and says it should go away soon. It always does, and that's great, but it's still alarming. What if it's worse in 25 years and I forget to pay attention when standing up after a show - will I fall and break a hip or something?

Info about the second condition, PFS, specifically mentions the syndrome's "theater sign" and says it may be noticed after getting up from a theater seat or by secretaries. It also refers to itself as "housemaid's knee" or "secretaries' knee", so maybe it's related to the other.

Treatment for PFS seems to consist of "Selective strengthening of the inner portion of the quadriceps muscle" . Does anyone know if this actually works? What about over the long term?

I'm in a show right now where I do a fair amount of kneeling, but I've been pretty careful about always using knee pads. Is this not good enough? And I was having the "theater sign" even before I was doing much kneeling.

I know if (probably when) I go to a doctor, I'll get sent for physical therapy and told a lot of vague stuff. Does anyone here have experience with a problem like this?

One more thing - my grandmother had both knees replaced, but I associated her problems with the fact that she was a bit overweight. I'm not (well, maybe five pounds, but not really).

Knees and Running

brownpau — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:26:52 -0800

I need to start running again, but I haven't done it for almost half a year. In that time, I've gained a few pounds, and the last time I tried running after such a long delay, my right knee was in pain for months. How do I rebuild strength in my knees and when can I start running again?

Why does my knee click when I step?

twine42 — Mon, 19 Jan 2004 07:24:21 -0800

Everytime I take a step, my left knee clicks. [More MedicFilter inside] Yes, I'm sure I should take this to a doctor, but I only just moved and haven't signed on with one yet.

Since Saturday lunchtime everytime I climb a step/stair there's something in my left knee that clicks. It's not a proper bone dislocating click like I can produce in my fingers, more a feeling like something is catching and pinging past a snag.

The thing that's really driving me mad though is that I can feel the click in my neck and I can hear it clearly too (although I don't know if I can hear my knee or my neck).

Has anyone got any idea what this could be and if I should run (erm, hobble) to the doctors asap or ignore it and wait for it to go away?