Worried About My Knee page

[ChasePaleo]

I've recently started the primal diet and also took up exercise, however, every time i bend my knee or run, it feels like it is bending out of place. There is no pain, it just feels very weird. I'm worried because this is the first time i've exercised in years and I've pretty much been sitting on my butt all my time. I'm 24 years old but I'm worried that I'll have to get a knee replacement or something. Is there something I can do to correct this?

[jfreaksho]

Walk. A lot. It helps you lose weight and builds strength for you to start doing more intense exercises.

There are a multitude of things that could be causing it, from a previous injury to stiffness to simple weakness in the stabilizing tissue. Walking won't hurt it like running or some other exercises can.

[periquin]

Every now and then do a few sequential 'sit-stands'. What is that? Sit in a chair and then stand up. Repeat. Don't use your arms to push up. Why use the chair? Your knee is bothering you and you haven't exercised in some time so you don't want to go too deep and also you get a little rest each time.

[Fatkid]

Also check out the Mobility WOD and look into all their knee stuff... MobilityWOD

[Roary]

The bendy feeling happens to me after knee surgery recovery. PT told me to work on strengthening my quads.

[iniQuity]

I would only add that you may want to do uphill WALKING. The resistance will be greater (to strengthen the knees/legs) but it should be still safe.

[davem]

what does your GP and Ortho say about it?

[Wander]

I was plagued by knee problems for a LONG time. In 2004 I tore my meniscus in one knee while thrashing the other one pretty good. At this point I started talking to doctors, most of which wanted to do surgery. Long story short I went looking for a 2nd opinion and found a very good doc in Denver who said, and I'm quoting here "I can read an MRI and yours says your meniscus is torn. The problem is; I see this all the time and if we cut on it you'll be back in here in 3-4 weeks complaining of the exact same pain." He then recommend physical therapy to strengthen the surrounding muscles and it worked... for a while. My health care quit paying for it so I quit going and my knee issues eventually came back. Then I started running/walking/lifting/living in vibrams or barefoot and nearly ALL of my issues went away. I'm not say that barefoot is the end all be all to solving knee issues but its totally worth looking into. I'd rather spend $100 on a new pair of "funny" shoes then go under the knife if at all possible....

Sorry for the long rant but knee issues wreaked havoc on my life for a long time...

Cliff notes: work on strengthening your legs and try going barefoot-ish more.. it can really help some people.

[Joshy]

I'd see a physical therapist or something similar to figure out what it is first. Could be something you just need to get fixed.

Other than that, walk around and do other types of low level activity. Also, eating meat on the bone and bone broth is really good for bone health. Make sure you're getting plenty of that.

[davem]

I've had close to the same experience as stated below, except I was lucky and didn't tear my meniscus, just sprained both mcl and lcl in each knee. Resolved with P/T, and switching to VFFs. Reality is though, you'll never know without the expertise of the medical profession.

I was plagued by knee problems for a LONG time. In 2004 I tore my meniscus in one knee while thrashing the other one pretty good. At this point I started talking to doctors, most of which wanted to do surgery. Long story short I went looking for a 2nd opinion and found a very good doc in Denver who said, and I'm quoting here "I can read an MRI and yours says your meniscus is torn. The problem is; I see this all the time and if we cut on it you'll be back in here in 3-4 weeks complaining of the exact same pain." He then recommend physical therapy to strengthen the surrounding muscles and it worked... for a while. My health care quit paying for it so I quit going and my knee issues eventually came back. Then I started running/walking/lifting/living in vibrams or barefoot and nearly ALL of my issues went away. I'm not say that barefoot is the end all be all to solving knee issues but its totally worth looking into. I'd rather spend $100 on a new pair of "funny" shoes then go under the knife if at all possible....

Sorry for the long rant but knee issues wreaked havoc on my life for a long time...

Cliff notes: work on strengthening your legs and try going barefoot-ish more.. it can really help some people.