View Full Version : My knees are hurting
TwoForty
05-24-2007, 15:33
About 10 days ago, I finished up a 5 day 55 mile trip near Hot Springs. On day 2, my knees started hurting me and they didn't stop. Even after 10 days of taking it easy, they are still a bit sore.
I've done much worse terrain with heavier loads and I never had a problem. I always use trekking poles. The only think I can think of was that my boots were shot and I had a LOT of foot pain and blisters which caused me to walk funny. Maybe that irritated my knees.
Should I see a doctor or just give it time to heal? I have a 300 mile hike coming up in 3 weeks. What exercises should I do to prevent this from happening in the future?
exercises to strengthen your quads will often help with knee pain by stabilizing the knee joint
If the pain was in front, rest might be all that's needed, and some weight work to strengthen the quads. Pain on the outside of the knee is potentially more serious, and if it is ITBS, then certain stretching exercises are called for. Hard to explain, but google iliotibial band syndrome (if you have pain on outside of knee).
Just a Hiker
05-24-2007, 16:10
Hello there! Knee pain is always an issue, but this is what I do to combat the pain. I'll soon be 43 y/o, so the knees have taken a beating, but like Hog on Ice said......strengthen your quads to help absorb the pounding of the knees. I also use ''Superfeet'' in my hiking shoes to align my joints, and I take ''Osteo Bi-Flex'' every day. All that and the use of hiking poles helps me a lot. Some days are better than others, but to me it works. Take care!
Just Jim
Ibuprofen helps for me enough to make what has been pretty regular side knee pain after the 3rd or 4th day of a hike more manageable. Also good comments above about strengthening the quads, a weakness many distant runners deal with. Knee problems can be complicated though and problems with footwear, your mechanics, strength all play a roll. I had what the doctor called a misaligned patella a few years ago and he gave me some anti inflammatory meds and said to take some time off (I was running almost every day at the time) and it took 3-4 months, but it was a 100% recovery.
RockStar
05-24-2007, 17:04
Cho-Pat.com I'll not hike without them after hiking 1 day without them.
I read some brilliant advice recently (wish I could properly credit the author) from someone who claimed to have terrible, chronic knee troubles. I tried it for my semi-terrible, semi-chronic knee troubles and it helped immensely.
Simply, take smaller steps.
He agrued that long, "hiker" steps over strained his joints. Smaller, "baby steps" did not. He also warned that many more steps meant many more opportunities to lift your heavy boots - but your muscles handle this strain and can/will grow stronger. The tendons and ligaments that are strained in longer steps don't.
It took a bit of getting used to (I'm mostly leg), but it hasn't added time to my distance.
TwoForty
05-24-2007, 18:14
Thanks for all the replies.
I am only 23, so something is definitely not right here. I am leaning mre towards "technique" than joint failure. I do take very large steps. I'll try taking smaller ones.
I am also going to pick up a few knee braces/wraps to try out.
I will definitely start working my quads. I'll also start packing some Vitamin I. I've never used pills, but I guess it won't hurt to start.
Slosteppin
05-24-2007, 19:38
I might not have done so at 23 but now I would have seen my doctor the day after I got back.
Way back when I was 23 I was sure I would heal from any injury and mostly I was right. Sometimes your body needs help to heal. I worry now about doing permanent damage. At your age it might hurt for a long time.
Slosteppin
I would recommend against using Vitamin I on a continuing basis - its OK for a few days but using it long term can result in ulcers as I found out the hard way. For me keeping my legs esp quads strong was the key to less knee pain. wrt technique the shorter steps idea sounds good to me - another technique that I use is something I call backstepping - when stepping down a significant distance I step so that one foot is parallel to the edge of the step then turn and step sort of backwards and down - the foot going down ends up distinctly behind the foot at the upper edge of the step - this approach is much easier on the knees than stepping forward off the step - the step down and back is much more controlled.
Blissful
05-24-2007, 19:56
At that age I would see a sports MD. And make sure you get the right footwear. Also wondering if you bike. I knew a guy that biked and because his quads were stronger than his hamstring muscles, his ITB was very bad at the start of the hike and he had to go home for a short time.
Alligator
05-24-2007, 20:23
I'll echo the other posters and suggest a visit to a doctor and/or a physical therapist to get them checked out. I put up with knee pain for many years and later discovered that with the right exercises my knee problems are potentially correctable.
I seriously threw out my knee once due to hobbling on blisters.
TwoForty
05-24-2007, 21:34
I'll echo the other posters and suggest a visit to a doctor and/or a physical therapist to get them checked out. I put up with knee pain for many years and later discovered that with the right exercises my knee problems are potentially correctable.
I seriously threw out my knee once due to hobbling on blisters.
I'm pretty sure it was me hobbling. I had some toe blisters that were pretty bad and the bottoms of my feets were really sore due to insoles that should have been replaced before the hike.
I do bike, actually. Short distances from my apartment to school. I actually started getting minor pains last semester, but it went away after an hour or so
I'll give it a couple of days before I see a doctor. Should any doctor be good, or should I look for a specific kind?
TIDE-HSV
05-24-2007, 22:43
an orthopedist...
At that age I would see a sports MD. And make sure you get the right footwear. Also wondering if you bike. I knew a guy that biked and because his quads were stronger than his hamstring muscles, his ITB was very bad at the start of the hike and he had to go home for a short time.Very interesting. My 2004 thru attempt was squashed with ITBS. I had trained mostly by biking on an indoor trainer.
Short time tells the story. I had knee pain coming down Blood Mountain, excruciating pain by Unicoi Gap, and I quit at Dicks Creek Gap.
People talk about a dollar a mile to hike the AT. I don't want to figure my per mile cost to go those 67 miles :(
Time To Fly 97
05-25-2007, 12:51
If your boots are worn out and you over pronate, this could very well be the reason for your knee problems. Think about going high impact downhill with packweight on a knee that has to work to stay on track - because the over pronation is pushing it outwards. Add uneven trail and muscle fatigue.
Of course, I am no doctor and this may not be your problem at all : ) Take time to heal!
TTF
TwoForty
05-25-2007, 14:13
I'm not sure if I pronate or supnate. I know the rear outside edges of my shoes and boots wear a lot more that the inside.
I have to go to a walk in clinic tomorrow before I can get refered to a specialist.
Right now I am giving each knee 15 minutes of ice every 2.5 hours and I started taking Aleeve. Hopfully the inflammation will go down.
I've pinpointed the pain to the kneecap and right above it. It hurts most when my knees are fully bent or when locked/flat.
I've pinpointed the pain to the kneecap and right above it. It hurts most when my knees are fully bent or when locked/flat.That's actually good news. Better than tendonitis, and easier to treat.
TwoForty
05-27-2007, 19:47
3 days of Aleve, rest, and ice did nothing so I went to the general doctor. He gave me Celebrex and told me to come back to a week if it still hurt and he would send to me a specialist.
hopefulhiker
05-27-2007, 21:37
Outside of boots wearing means that you supinate.. I read where supinators need less arch support and do well with slip lasted shoes.. Those are shoes with a seam running right up the middle of the sole when you look under the tongue and under the insole...
Auntie Mame
05-28-2007, 13:16
In 1995 I had knee pain, hiking over a week with a too-heavy pack. Now I get it from weighing 20 pounds more than I did then, and it can happen without a pack and in one day. Humbling!
superman
05-28-2007, 13:42
I hiked with a retiree in 2000 named Otter. I will share his quote with you, "the aging process does not treat us all equally."
It seems we reach an age at which time all the abuses our bodies have endured come back to haunt us....sometimes ten fold. Is this your situation? You find yourself favoring your knees so you gain weight, then the additional weight hurts your knees more which requires you to favor your knees more. Mean while you have spent your entire life establishing your eating patterns so they aren't as flexible as they are supposed to be. I have no answers but I send my best wishes for you in breaking the cycle.