What A Drag It Is Getting Old!

[SiouzQ.]

I have recovered pretty well from my fall from a few weeks ago but on the last day of PT I was mentioning to the therapist how awful it is to get out of bed in the morning and hobble my way around for the first couple of hours out of the day. My knees (especially the left one), my heels, and well, pretty much everything is so stiff and achy in the morning I've been having to take two Ibuprofin. After a couple of hours I feel much better, like everything's been "oiled" and working smoother. He said it sounded pretty much like basic old arthritis...

My left knee has been hurting a lot in the past few months and has been getting worse. It's a little hard to straighten it and a little harder to bend it all the way and sometimes it is pretty painful to get off a chair or the toilet. Lately it has been hurting when I sleep as I can't seem to find the right position for my leg, straight or bent. I suppose I'm going to have to get it looked at if it doesn't clear up; I wonder if I am heading for arthroscopic surgery down the road - has anyone dealt with this malady here? Tell me all about it...

[redfox]

Yeah... but it beats the alternative. My knees are the same, they need to lubricate for a bit before I am out of pain. Never had surgery on my knees, but I have had cortisone injections into my knees.

[JaneV2.0]

Yeah... but it beats the alternative. ...

But not by much. http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/big_standart/scare3.gif

[Wildflower]

I've had surgery on one knee. It's best to avoid it if you can. The arthritis, pain and stiffness are the same in both knees, so surgery didn't help with that, but repaired my torn ACL. Not sure it even helped that either. LOL

The most helpful thing has been taking glucosamine chondroitin. It helps with both the pain and stiffness. Took about a month before I saw good results though...

[JaneV2.0]

Both my knees are congenitally bad, but the left one has also been injured. It goes bad once or twice a year. If I had any sense, I'd concentrate on strengthening the supporting muscles.

[Zoebird]

A simple morning stretching routine might do you well.

First, just starting while you are still in bed, move so that you are resting on your back. lay out as long as you can, trying to reach your legs to the edge of the bed (feet too!), and then pulling your arms that same direction, palms facing up. Just reach as much as you can, then release.

Start to wiggle your fingers and toes, then roll your wrists and your ankles.

Bring your knees into your chest and give them a little hug. Extend one leg back long toward the edge of the bed (try to bring the heel to the bed), and bring your forehead and knee together trying curl up like a snail shell. pull your arms into your sides (you're still hugging the one knee) and draw your shoulders from your ears. You might pass gas at this point. That's pretty normal. :D Switch sides.

once you have done both sides, take both legs straight up in the air. I like to do these little kick things. lets up, roll ankle, and then bend the knees to 90 degree angles (shins parallel with the bed). I do that a few times with each leg, just sort of "extending out" -- it really gets the joint moving.

From there, bring the knees back into the chest. Put the fingertips on the knees, and then take both knees in big circles -- as big and slow as you can make them -- in one direction. Do this for a few rounds, and then change directions. After you've done that side, you'll do the "double loop." Keeping big toes together and fingertips on your knees, you want to pull both knees together into the chest, then separate the knees as wide as you can, then push them away from the body, and then bring them together and draw them back into the chest. It feels awesome. Do as many as you want, and then reverse directions. It'll make your hips feel awesome.

After this, roll over onto your belly, removing your pillow from under your head. bring your feet together and point your toes, reaching toward the end of your bed. Press your hips/pelvis and thighs into the bed as firmly as you can. bring your hands -- palms down, one on top of the other -- to your forhead. On the inhale, you want to lift your head and arms (hands stay glued to forehead). Then take three deep breaths, and release back down on an exhale. Take a breath, and then do it again two more times. It's so great for your back!

After this, roll back onto your back again, and bring knees into chest. Take arms out to the side and then roll knees to the right side for a spinal twist. it's ok if your left shoulder pops up, just don't pull on the shoulder. Then do the other side.

The last thing to do before you come out of bed is the shoulders and neck. keeping the shoulderblades on the bed, just reach your arms up toward the ceiling. Bend your elbows to get some motion going (bend and straighten), and then take your arms up, then out to the sides and down to the bed. Do this a few times if it feels good.

then, to do your neck, just gently pull your head away from your shoulders nice and long. Then inhale looking to the ceiling, and exhale tuck your chin, feeling your neck lengthen. Inhale look back up (just straight up, don't try to look toward your head board), and then exhale tuck the chin. do this 3-4 times, and you are good.

Now get out of bed, and you might want to stretch side to side (each over head with one arm, and stretch the side), but overall, you should feel less creaky.

My dad does this (or a similar routine) in about 7-10 minutes before getting out of bed. Then, he does another 10 minutes in the kitchen, and I have a 3 minute routine that pops up for him while he's at work (which he can do in a chair).

It doesn't take a ton of time, but it definitely helps him feel better physically.

[Zoebird]

also, practicing a good squatting position, paying just as much attention going up as coming down is vital.

or, for that matter, finding a really good yoga teacher and getting some classes in. Even going once a week would make *big* differences in your body.

it certainly works out all of the muscles and strengthens those that need strengthening. it's good stuff.

[dado potato]

It is what's left that counts.

[SiouzQ.]

Thanks for such a detailed reply, Zoebird. I am printing it out right now. For years I have done a lot of stretching in the mornings, at least 45 minutes worth, and it really helps. But that is after I get out of bed and hobble my way down the stairs and make coffee. I never thought to do some while still in bed where I am usually hitting the snooze alarm over and over again!

This morning was a little better and I went to work feeling really pretty great, you know, that weird feeling of extreme well-being I haven't had in a while. I worked my a** off today and now I am pretty physically tired, but it is a good tired. However, that dang left knee is doing its share of complaining. At work I am always on my feet, walking all the time, bending, reaching, and squatting all day long. It has done wonders for my body the last ten months. I am a lot stronger than I was and my weight has dropped considerably since last year as if by magic as I went from years of fairly sedentary jobs to eight hours of constant motion, thirty-eight hours a week. I think what it is is the years of figure skating as a kid and teenager put a lot of wear and tear on my joints - the curious thing is that I would have thought it would have been my right knee that would have started wearing out, as it was the leg I used to land all my jumps on. That one will probably start to go to eventually too...

I am going to research glucosamine and some other stuff before I go running off to the doctor and see if I can find a workable remedy for the time being. It hasn't really impeded me that much yet.

[Zoebird]

making sure that you are tracking your knee properly in your different movements will be a big help. thus, while moving around at work, try to do things slowly and feel the range of motion through the knee. From there, you can see which movements might be bothering you, and adjust them so that they don't.

When squatting, most people go from the feet (feet splayed) and bring knees well out beyond toes, often with knees collapsing inward. The balance should back on the heels, knees moving outward *from the hips* rather than moving the toes outward (splayed). Feet can really be almost toes pointing forward.

[flowerseverywhere]

if you can get in a pool and exercise that might help. I know I went from having a very painful and stiff ankle to being able to walk miles by getting in the pool every day and walking, kicking, and moving around to strengthen the joints around my ankles, hips and knees.

[puglogic]

I felt just about crippled in my 40's in the mornings and had to get into a solid regimen of yoga, stretching, resistance training, serious hydration and getting to a lighter weight so I wasn't pounding on my joints constantly. Glucosamine helped me too, along with getting excess sodium out of my diet so I wasn't constantly retaining weight everywhere. I also find that when I have more than a couple of drinks, the inflammation is really noticeable throughout my body for a day or two. The weight training was really important -- now my muscles are doing the work, not my joints.

When I do a lot of stooping and bending it's all a little tender in the morning, but I can live with that. I drink some water, stretch in bed (thanks Zoebird!), go for a short walk, and I feel 100% again soon. Ibuprofen is horrible for my body so I've tried everything to not put that into it, even for temporary relief.

Good luck getting loose SQ!

[leslieann]

Not to derail and I am not even sure it is totally relevant but I discovered (accidentally) that when I went off wheat and dairy not only did my digestive issues clear up but my joint pain declined dramatically. I thought it was age related but for me, sure there is age, but diet is also a factor. FWIW.

I had knee surgery for a torn meniscus. Fixed that problem but my knees are still my knees. And even without wheat and dairy they are still MY knees and if I work them too hard they complain.

I am going to follow ZB's stretching advice too...Thanks!