View Full Version : Should you hike with leg pain?
Glebbber
03-20-2009, 01:22
If ones legs are hurting, specifically the tendons behind the knees, should he/she still hike? Or should one wait untill the pain subsides.
Pokey2006
03-20-2009, 01:26
He/she should consult with a doctor.
Pain is your body's way of saying something is wrong. Sure, you can keep hiking through the pain, but in doing so you could end up hurting yourself even more.
Go see a doctor.
Glebbber
03-20-2009, 01:36
I mean just tenderness and cramp type stuff. the kind you know will be fine in a day anyway.
should one power through it or take a slow day?
hopefulhiker
03-20-2009, 06:46
Many hikers use knee braces and take a bunch of ibuprophren...
It all depends. Any hiker who thinks they will hike for six months without having a minute's discomfort is in fantasy-land. (Or if they can do it, I'm desperately jealous and want to trade!) A lot of pains can be walked off. I think quite a few of the hikers who quit quit because they are afraid they are injuring themselves, while if they kept hiking, they would get through the problem.
If the pain is not severe, one approach is to cut mileage for a few days and see what happens.
It takes a lot longer for tendons to harden up to the stress of daily hiking than it does for muscles to get stronger. Give them time.
Pedaling Fool
03-20-2009, 08:33
It all depends. Any hiker who thinks they will hike for six months without having a minute's discomfort is in fantasy-land. (Or if they can do it, I'm desperately jealous and want to trade!) A lot of pains can be walked off. I think quite a few of the hikers who quit quit because they are afraid they are injuring themselves, while if they kept hiking, they would get through the problem.
If the pain is not severe, one approach is to cut mileage for a few days and see what happens.
It takes a lot longer for tendons to harden up to the stress of daily hiking than it does for muscles to get stronger. Give them time.
Marta is very wise
Lillianp
03-20-2009, 09:58
Marta is very wise
Seconded on that! I've been getting shin splints because I've been running on pavement. I had some tendon issues yesterday that have disappeared today :-? I'm stretching my legs as much as possible, since my mother (who is a doctor) said it was likely the small muscles on my shins that were just being torn a little because I hadn't been running on pavement, or really running much at all before last week. Stretching seems to help, as well as taking breaks.
Blue Jay
03-20-2009, 10:04
Many hikers use knee braces and take a bunch of ibuprophren...
Taking pain killers is the last thing you should do. If there is something wrong the pain will increase, that means stop. If you go slow and easy and the pain lessens that means, keep going. Vitamin I should be changed to Vitamin F, if you take it often you're f'ed
Slo-go'en
03-20-2009, 11:04
I'm no doctor, but I play one on the internet:)
A little pain is one thing, BIG PAIN is another. It helps to know what might have casued the pain to start in the first place. Is it just from walking or did you have a fall?
If you just recently started hiking, some pain is to be expected and will likely go away as you get into better shape. In the mean time, cut down on your miles per day and take more breaks. If you don't already have them, get some treking poles. Knee braces might help too.
But if it REALLY HURTS, better take some time off and maybe have someone look at it to see how bad it is.
Tendon problems are a bit nasty. They take time to heal if seriously stressed. I pulled my Achillies tendon a day in to the Smokies a few years ago. Hurt like heck to walk. All I could do was take a fist full of ibpropen in the morning, limp around camp for a while until it loosened up some and stumble to the next shelter. When I finally got to New Found Gap, hitched into town and went home. Took about 3 weeks after that before I could walk normally again.
Good luck!
mkmangold
03-21-2009, 00:14
Seconded on that! I've been getting shin splints because I've been running on pavement. I had some tendon issues yesterday that have disappeared today :-? I'm stretching my legs as much as possible, since my mother (who is a doctor) said it was likely the small muscles on my shins that were just being torn a little because I hadn't been running on pavement, or really running much at all before last week. Stretching seems to help, as well as taking breaks.
Have your mother make you a "shin splint splint." It's my invention. Get some fiberglass splinting material and elastic bandages. Set the splint with your foot (foot x 2 if both) just a little bit more dorsiflexed than 90 degrees: the more dorsiflexed the better. Let it (them) harden. Using the elastic bandage, keep your foot (feet) splinted every night.
The logic behind this is easy: at night, our feet naturally plantarflex. The gastroc and soleus muscles then shorten and tighten, putting strain on: the Achilles tendon, the plantar fascia, and the anterior tibialis muscle. By keeping the foot dorsiflexed, you recondition the whole apparatus, thereby curing Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints. Continue the stretching and NSAID's too.