Advice Needed

[ShadowSoul]

I was trying to do a really long section hike. I am only four days in and my left knee is killing me. It is swollen and has kept me up the last two nights. The pain is excruciating going downhill. I have one of the knee bands being delivered to Fontana Village Lodge Tuesday. I plan on staying there Tuesday night and only walking from NC28 to Fontana Hilton Wednesday. I don't know if I should attempt to go further and just call it quits. I am definitely not enjoying myself now. I have been planning this for months. And if I call it quits, is there someone near Fontana Dam that would shuttle me to Standing Bear farm. I need the cheapest (I know I suck, I saved enough for the trip but not for an expected shuttle).

Thanks for for any advice

[nsherry61]

Don't quit if you can avoid it, BUT, STOP HIKING!
Give your knee a few days to two weeks rest immediately with ice and anti-inflammatories.
If you don't have trekking poles, get them!
If your pack is over 35 lbs, figure out how to make it less than 30 lbs. Less than 25 would be even better.
Re-plan your hike so you can keep your mileage as low as needs be for the next three weeks to keep your pain and swelling at bay. That means maybe 5 miles or less for a couple of days, working up to 10 over the next few weeks.

Knee pain and swelling will NOT GO AWAY without rest and a longer term reduction of stress. You can't walk through this.

Good luck.

[ShadowSoul]

Thank you for your advice. I have trekking poles and my pack is at 29. I only have three weeks off work and I guess I am sort of screwed with my plans. I am pretty sure going through the smokies isn't really possible right now with low miles. It would take longer than seven days. I am checking the reservations now to see if I could do it another way. Damn. All good things go to hell. Lol. I have never had any knee problems and have been hiking for a while now. Fingers crossed it miraculously heals.

[nsherry61]

. . . I have never had any knee problems and have been hiking for a while now. Fingers crossed it miraculously heals.
If you haven't had problems in the past, that suggests that you problem will probably go away rather quickly (sadly not miraculously). But, as many of us have had to learn over time, this is probably an indication that you will have more problems in the future if you push to hard to fast. . . but, not necessarily problems again in the future if you build your strength and stamina more slowly and consistently over time. Age catches up to us all damn it! You probably have a "new normal" that is entirely manageable, but, will require leaning how to handle it so that it doesn't interfere with your ambitions.

[la.lindsey]

Thank you for your advice. I have trekking poles and my pack is at 29. I only have three weeks off work and I guess I am sort of screwed with my plans. I am pretty sure going through the smokies isn't really possible right now with low miles. It would take longer than seven days. I am checking the reservations now to see if I could do it another way. Damn. All good things go to hell. Lol. I have never had any knee problems and have been hiking for a while now. Fingers crossed it miraculously heals.

Is your knee pain at the bottom of your knee cap? Or maybe to the inside? If so, that sounds like overuse injury (I AM NOT A DOCTOR) and I hiked 130 miles through it. Grab a bunch of Aleve and as long as you keep chugging water you can take 3 a day (I did consult a doctor on that). It took me a month to recover from that pain but I hike bigger miles now virtually completely pain free after just a few weeks of physical therapy. No permanent damage. (Again, not a doctor, do what you're comfortable with.)

If it's on the outside that's most likely IT band (still not a doctor) and you might be able to stretch it out and make it more bearable.

Either way, I'd ice it a lot at Fontana, stretch as much as you can, keep a wide base when you're walking, and try to use your glutes and abs more than your knees when going downhill.

But I tend to do stupid things on my section hikes because it doesn't matter how bad I hurt when I'm done. YMMV.

[Leo L.]

My cure for most of this kind of problems is curd.
Not sure how and where you can get this in the US and especially in trail towns, but if you can get it, apply a good portion of it by means of a stripe of textile and hold in place by an elastic bandage for several hours, at least until it's completely dry. Re-apply as many times as possible.
There was no sudden knee/foot/toe problem I had over the last years that didn't get cured over night by this.

As other stated above: I'm not a doctor, and this is no doctors professional advice, but just my personal experience.

[illabelle]

I'm guessing you have a vehicle at Standing Bear? A shuttle from Fontana won't be cheap. Maybe you can make it to Newfound Gap Those are some hard miles, but it's mostly uphill so less stress on your knee. And you don't even have to get to NFG. If you can get to Clingman's Dome, you can get a ride from there. Parking lot is a half-mile downhill from the tower. Get a ride into Gatlinburg at least before arranging a shuttle to your car.

Kinda sucks that you don't have the flexibility to take several days off to recover. If you can make it to Fontana, maybe you could rest up for at least one day. Be careful, be safe. If you need to get off trail, there's too much pain - just do it. You don't want to spend the night sitting on a rock or some wet ground beside the trail because you can't go any further.

[Stevep311]

I was trying to do a really long section hike. I am only four days in and my left knee is killing me. It is swollen and has kept me up the last two nights. The pain is excruciating going downhill. I have one of the knee bands being delivered to Fontana Village Lodge Tuesday. I plan on staying there Tuesday night and only walking from NC28 to Fontana Hilton Wednesday. I don't know if I should attempt to go further and just call it quits. I am definitely not enjoying myself now. I have been planning this for months. And if I call it quits, is there someone near Fontana Dam that would shuttle me to Standing Bear farm. I need the cheapest (I know I suck, I saved enough for the trip but not for an expected shuttle).

Thanks for for any advice

FYI, Standing Bear offers shuttles from Fontana Dam, Clingman's, or NFG.

[saltysack]

Donna at cabin in the woods is near by....she offers reasonable shuttles
(828) 735-1930


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[Greenlight]

I'm not a doc.

Pain on the downhills? Might be overuse of the iliotibial band, and as others have said, rest, ice, and anti inflammatory meds will cure it. If you keep hiking, keep chugging water and eating ibuprofen. On your downhills, some folks have said they turn around and walk backward and it helps. Me? I'd fall off a cliff. Be careful out there. Don't over do it. If it was me, I'd probably hike whatever the hell I could hike each day instead of going home. Even if you only walked to the next shelter and had good company, good times, and no boss staring over your cube wall it's better than being at work!

~Greenlight

[MuddyWaters]

Stop.
Swelling is not a good sign in my book
Ive had crippling ITB, tendonitis, stress fractures that required ibuprofen to keep going to next town.
I never had any swelling, nor would I hike with any until its checked out. And I never had trouble sleeping. My injuries only hurt while hiking. Never while lying down.

Dont go into the smokies with a crippling injury. That would be stupid.the rocky ups and downs between thunderhead and derricks knob will kick the arse of most healthy people. Much of the trail in gsmnp has ~12-15" high" steps" built into it, every step down you will drop your weight onto your leg, jarring it and making it worse. 35 miles uphill, and 35 miles down. You will also go painstakingly slow.

[squeezebox]

My knees started hurting on day 1. From then on I wore the elastic knee braces while hiking, and they helped a lot. Do not sleep in them. Massage your legs every evening.
It's a nasty thing to say in a hikers forum, but can you finish with an acceptable car-camping trip?