knee pain

[Isaac Green]

Hello,
I am new to WhiteBlaze and have enjoyed looking around for a month, but I have many questions!
I only hike about 50mi. a month and am active in several sports. I have also hiked 2/3 of the GSMNP's trails. In '08 I blew out my knee in HS baseball and have constant knee pain esp. on 15mi.+ days.
Q- What have others done in thru-hiking for this/can it be done?

[MuddyWaters]

Ibuprofen for minor pains.

If I had chronic, Id see an ortho for a diagnosis why.

I damaged a ligament in my throwing elbow in HS. It took 15 yrs+ before that arm didnt hurt me doing repetitive things from working out, to swimming, to throwing with kids. All of a sudden one day I realized, it hadnt been hurting anymore. Strange. Hasnt hurt since.

[leaftye]

Fish oil is another alternative to ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen might even be a bad thing, or at least not such a good thing. It's been shown to delay repair of injured muscles. Sore muscles are a low form of injury.

In in the last few months I've transitioned from using ibuprofen to using fish oil, almost exclusively. I don't know if it's because of the fish oil, but my joints don't get as sore after hiking or lifting weights now, so much so that I often forget to take fish oil and don't regret it.

I've never torn ligaments though.

[fredmugs]

I blew out my knee the first time I hiked in Maine. I spent a lot of time working out on an exercise bike and where 15 miles used to be my breaking point 20 mile days aren't a problem. Putting forthe same effort on a real bike causes some knee pain where the exercise bike doesn't.

[Sugarfoot]

Get thee to a sports medicine orthopedist for a proper diagnosis. Sports medicine doctors want to get you back in your sport and aren't satisfied with activities of daily living as a goal. A regular orthopedic surgeon told me I would need double knee replacements. I went to a sports medicine orthopedist for a second opinion and ended up with relatively minor arthroscopic surgery to release the patellae. The surgery was minor but the physical therapy was intense. End result is that I'm planning to thru-hike next year. If I fail, it won't be because of my knees. "Knee pain" is about as useful of a description as "shin splint." You are much too young to accept constant pain.

[freckles]

I agree with everyone's suggestions to go to a specialist! I screwed up both of my knees in high school and physical therapy really helped.

To be honest, I still get occasional pain and it's been about 10 years. It doesn't look like anybody has suggested trekking poles yet. If you don't already have a pair, definitely invest in them. They'll reduce the strain on your knees.

[sublimety]

You should probably get an appointment with orthopedic surgeon and look up acl rehab excercises, they can really help strengthen the muscles and lessen the pain. I have blown out each knee twice and the excercises really helped and are simple just do them 2-3 times a day.

[RED-DOG]

Don't push your self and Know your own limitations, and excercise daily.