The Glade 4.0

are sad.


I've had a bad knee for years, but I try to pretend it's not. I've decided that I need to get more exercise, so I went for a walk last night, moderate pace, decent footwear, hard surface, 2 miles in about 40 minutes. My knee was aching by the end, but it was mostly better this morning so I went for another walk. I managed less than a mile before I was limping. I know I'm a bit heavy and that puts extra strain on it. I also know I need more exercise to control my weight, but how the hell am I supposed to do that when a 20 minute mile is beyond me?

Oh that sucks.
Have you tried one of those knee brace thingies? Maybe swimming is your best bet for exercise? I heard it's pretty good for people with bad knees.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Paging Dr. Squirrel, Dr. Squirrel to the Rants forum.



Why is your knee sore? What sort of injury is it? Is it something that a brace (as LK suggested) could help? Is it impact that causes the pain or is it just a general repetitive motion thing?

If you're just getting back into exercising, start slow. 15-20 minutes at a normal pace. You don't need to kill yourself. Maybe see if there's a track nearby that has a sort of rubberized surface if its the impact that hurts. Maybe an elliptical if you have access, or a stationary bike.



Its not the pace. Any activity is better than none. I started at something like half an hour at 21 minutes or so. But, if you're not walking at all, any amount is going to be better than that. Yeah, it's slow, but anything worth doing is. After a year, I'm still only at a 15 min mile, but I've lost over 30 pounds, and can walk @ that 15-16 min pace for almost a full hour

So my advice, take your time, listen to your body, and don't overexert yourself. Especially if you have a nagging joint injury.

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Holy shitsnacks!

It's not the impact, its the bending. It happens biking or swimming too, and is at its worst going down stairs (bending under pressure) It's a stretching/tearing burn on the outside edge of my kneecap and under, feels like I image a dry rubber band would feel. Creaks a little to. Wrapping doesn't seem to help unless I immobilize it.

Try doing some calisthenics to lose weight if bending your knee hurts too much. Leglifts, laying on your back with your fists under your bottom and lifting both legs together are good. Keep your knees straight the whole time. Flutter kicks the same way work too.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

edit: Reading comprehension 4tw

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I know that pain well, although mine usually doesn't kick in until it's cold weather and I put a lot of stress on the knee. Have you tried just walking in the pool instead of swimming? I know the kicking can be painful, unless you are doing a flutter kick with no bending, at least for me. What DE suggested is good too. Good luck Taamar!

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

One of the most painful things for me is sitting in a car with low seats where my knee will be slightly bent but immobile for an extended period. Not sure why.

You may want to take some time just bending and straightening the knee with no weight on it. It should definitely receive some warmup exercise before you do any other exercises that involve moving your legs. Warmup exercise is a good idea in general. A twenty minute mile may not seem like much, but it's more grueling than a lot of people think. It's certainly enough to leave you sore if you don't stretch properly beforehand. You can't just throw on clothes, head outside, and walk a mile.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Go to the Y and swim. More resistence and easier on joints.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Basically, start more slowly. Listen to your body and when it start to actually hurt, stop. I suspect you already know, but if not learn to differentiate good pain from bad pain. Good pain is the burn of well worked muscles, bad pain is usually sharp and tells you something's wrong.

If you haven't done anything for a long time, you're going to need to ease into it so your body is used to what's being expected. It will get better over time. I'd recommend to start walking until your knee is *just* starting to ache a little. Then stop. Might be challenging if you're walking outside vs. a treadmill, but a little trial and error will probably figure out how long that is. Then do that every other day for a while. As your knee gets better and starts to not ache at the end, slowly at a little more time/distance. But be sure, especially at the beginning to give your knee a full day of rest in between.

Swimming might actually be a good idea, in that there might be a particular stroke that is easier on the knee in question. Also, if you're looking just to exercise, get in shape, and lose some weight, you can swim without moving your legs.

Of course, the real problem is that there's something wrong with the joint. That will take a doctor, and undoubtedly some physical therapy.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

So when my knee buckles and refuses to bear my weight that's 'bad pain' right? And that ripping feeling is also 'bad'? Yeah, I know the difference between a healthy 'you haven't moved in way too long, you lazy *****' pain (my other knee gets it on occasion, but it takes more than the 40 minutes I got the other night) and the 'OMG, somethings effing WRONG here!' pain. The problem is that this knee ALWAYS aches, walking until it just starts to twinge would mean I can't leave my house. It's clearly damaged.

I'd check in with an orthopedist or even your regular doctor and see what they say first if you're worried about it. They will MRI it to assess any damage. If it's something like tendinitis that can take a long time to get better, but not years. At least I dont think so. What do you think damaged it in the first place?

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Yeah, definately something seriously wrong there. I would get it checked out by a doctor ASAP. It's only going to get worse and if you wait too long you may end up having to get a more invasive or drastic solution instead of something smaller now.

That said, if you are able to walk on it regularly now just with some twinges, etc. Keep walking regularly, just make sure you have at least a full day in between any true exercise.

stretching. stretching. stretching. stretching is exercise. just stretch and breathe.

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Ron Paul 2012

It doesn't sound like stretching is going to help her problem.

My knees ache when I run, though not that badly. A while back I was running too often and now I am paying the price. I take glucosamine to help rebuild cartilage and motrine before any running to reduce swelling. It sounds like Tamaar's problem may be well beyond that. Seeing a sports medicine doctor would probably be a good idea.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

If it's really tht bad Taamar, I think surgery is almost inevitable.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I suspect it. The thing is, it only just aches if I stay off it for the most part. I just keep thinking "Walking. It's basic. Anyone can walk, right?" It's not like I'm trying to jog.

If you can't walk much farther than getting out of your house.. that's really not walking. You should be able to take a nice walk without excessive pain. My wife and I love to take walks together, or towing the little one in her wagon. We did take the dog but he died in july.

Think of how bad it will be when you're older. You don't want to be one of those little old ladies who takes 20 minutes to get into the grocery from the car.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Well, my knee is doing better, mostly because my hip is so borked I can barely walk. It feels like there's a bruise right on the joint, but there's no discoloration. It hurts to walk, to stand with my weight on that leg, or to lay on that side, but going up stairs feels fine. Its been two weeks and it's getting worse, not better. *sigh*

Have you been to your doctor? You really need to find out what the problem is and get started on fixing it now while you are young! Please don't wait until you are my age and it takes 2 to 3 times longer to fix and costs more than your house!

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"