Question about knee problems

This year has been an incredibly difficult one for me in terms of working out.  I had a medical procedure in January that I was told I would be "back to normal activities" within a week but it was more like a month.  Then I threw out my back, which took me about 6 weeks to completely recover from (the longest time ever), then my neck and shoulder were causing me lots of pain (I worked out anyway), then my foot (which didn't stop me from exercising) and now my knee.  I just turned 40 and I'm falling apart already!  YEESH!

Anyway, I was wondering a couple of things:

What did I do to my knee?  A little less than a week ago it just started hurting when I walk (my primary source of exercise) - it feels like it's "slipping out" every 5 minutes or so and it's more disconcerting than painful but after nearly an hour of walking last Friday (this was my 5th day or so of feeling this way, which I was trying to ignore and walk anyway) and several of these "slipping out" episodes on the way, my knee gradually started hurting more and more until at dinner time I had to take a few motrin.  I've laid off exercise entirely for two days now because I want to rest my knee to see if it will feel better - it's not feeling better.  Did I hyper-extend it?

My next question is:

What can I do to exercise (get some decent cardio) with a bum knee?  Is it ok to bike?  Swim?  Walk for 10 minute intervals and rest?

Experienced knee pain sufferers, please help me!

Edited to add:

How about strengthening?  Would it help to strengthen the muscles and tendons around the knee?  How can I do that without injuring it further?  Gentle extensions with light weights?  Slow squats with the aid of a bar?  Water exercises?

Thanks!

For knee consult your doctor and probably get a referral to a specialist.

Biking and swimming are low impact so they should be ok, but again talk to your doctor first! One thing about biking is that it is still possible to seriously hurt your knees. This happens for two reasons. One is the bike is not properly fitted so the saddle is too low or too high, and two people ride at a very low cadence "mashing gears". Those stationary bikes are the worst, because they can't really be adjusted precisely enough and ultra cushy seats make for a very weird riding position.

UD

You should definitely see a doctor/sports medicine specialist for your knee 'slipping out'  --  it could be your patella dislocating.  You should use 'RICE' (rest, ice, compression, elevation) for your knee and not stress it until you can make sure everything is okay because you can really screw up your knees if you stress them while they're injured.  Once your knee is recovered, try making sure that all the major muscle groups are being trained -- I have ostearthritis in my knees, exacerbated by my quads being much stronger than my hamstrings.  What I've read and learned from my doctor is that the knee is a complicated and therefore vulnerable joint, so you should baby it somewhat to avoid worse problems.

edited to note:  I'm not an expert, but my dh had 'patellar luxation' (dislocating or slipping kneecap) as a child and teen, and I have problems with my knees, so I'm just passing on what I've learned from that!

Thanks for the thoughtful replies.  I've made an appointment with my chiropractor to start with (seeing her for a shoulder issue I've had for a few months).  She's a non-cracking bones type - uses massage and moist heat compresses and some reflexology).  After describing what my issue feels like she suspects it might be muscular.  If she can't help me then I will see an orthopedist.

In the mean time I'm going to do some pranna-yoga and some isotonic and isometric exercises (while avoiding moving the knee).

Thanks again for the replies - hopefully I'll be on the road to recovery soon.

Why not just go straight to orthopedist. Honestly I don't understand people "avoiding" doctors and trying "alternative" things. Most end up at doctors office anyway, but by then the problem is usually worse.

UD

Good point UD.

The reason that I am going to the chiropractor first is that I have another problem that I am already seeing her about anyway (shoulder pain due to a particular exercise at Curves, which I am no longer doing), so I figured I would get some massage and special moist heat treatment on my knee while I am there.  Also, I was able to get an appointment with her first so I am seeing her first.  I admit, I do avoid the doctor as i am something of an osterich when it comes to diagnosis (I don't want to think anything big is wrong).  However, I have called the orthopedist and am waiting for a call back to get an appointment.

wow, you just told me all my medical issues. Well, my knee's starting going bad in the military alot of running. My knee slipped out a few times, called patella dislocation also a condition called runners knee, you can google it. Mine is real bad though so I need knee realignment surgery which will correct my misalighnment.  First off go see a Orthopedic and get some x-rays and make sure you get MRI's, at first in the begining the xrays didn't show anything so I was not given an MRI, towards the end of my career I had a MRI and it showed a subluxation of my knee, you say it feels like it's going to slip out, immediately seek a doc.  I had therapy which required partial squats leaning against a wall with a ball between my knee's, side leg lifts laying down with a five pound weight on my ankle. flexing my leg muscles and some lunges but this was all in the presence of professionals.  I was told I could swim but only regular swimming no crazy stuff and I do the stationary bike but I wear support on my knee like a knee brace which you can find in walmart or sporting store.  But, please seek a doctore first but it sounds like you have the same thing I have but not as bad.  I had 4 patella dislocations and once in a while my knee will try to come out slightly.  I did my back in also had back manipulation also as therapy, make sure you have good shoes that is very imporatant from what the doc told me, so get some suggestions on the shoes.  I hope this gives you some insight on what is going on.  Good Luck

This may sound really simplistic but are you hydrated enough? I am starting to figure out that on the days when my body feels stiffer and there are more aches(I am 53 and until the last three years have been in great health albeit somewhat overweight) I am noticing that greater hydration seems to ease out some of the problems. A massage therapist I have gone to in the last while has really stressed the need to hydrate well before/after a session because of the greater stimulation the areas involved. Excercise certainly places demands on the bones and musculature and if water is lacking all lubrication will fail. You wouldn't do that to your car. 

This is not dismissing the issues you have had with your back, neck, shoulders and knees BUT treatment by any doctor will not help you if you overlook the very basic functions of your body (which the doctor doesn't necessarily monitor and takes for granted perhaps that you are supporting)

Wow.  Thanks all for so many thoughtful posts.  I really appreciate it and feel like I've made a few friends (::waving::).

Today I am seeing my chiropractor, I definitely trust her as she is supremely gentle and doesn't push for repeat visits.  I've had no satisfaction in reaching an orthopedist so I'm going to try calling my grandmother's.

I've been pretty good with staying hydrated for the last few days so I'll see if that helps.  Also I've started taking arnica at the advice of a very well-attuned to health friend.

mild rant to follow:

I am taking a break from counting anything (calories, ww points).  I've decided that I have become obsessed with it and that I'm not getting anywhere due to the fact that I tend to push it and see how much bad stuff I can get away with.  Oh!  I have 250 calories "left", I'm going to have it all in ice cream and cookies - right before I go to sleep!

What my plan is for the next week is to

1.  Really listen to my body - am I hungry?  Good.  Let's eat.  Do I REALLY want ice cream?  REALLY?  I'm not just bored or sad, angry, worried, stressed or lonely?  Good.  Let's eat.

2.  Trust myself.  I'm going to stop treating myself like I'm a mischievous, bratty four-year old who tries to get away with as much as they can.  I deserve to treat myself better than that.

3.  Don't be so afraid of fat and calories thoughout the day.  I tend to "save up" my calories for evening so I can eat as many high calorie foods as possible.  I also tend to eat more "light" products when perhaps having some nuts and a little whole milk in my coffee might make me feel less like eating a lot of sweets at night.

4.  I'm taking Bach Flower Remedies - they have an "emotional eating" kit.  So far so good.

5.  I'm doing EFT - so far so good.  It's helped me with a lot of other things but I've never applied it to a holistic mind/body/health discipline before.

6.  I'm going to investigate doing something I used to really enjoy as a child - yoga - of course if it's ok with my doctor.

7.  Eat less processed foods and more whole foods.

8.  Generally strive to be more balanced in my heart/body/mind.  I tend to be all about  my head - thinking a lot, worrying a lot, I don't often stop and just listen to my body and my heart.  Right now they are screaming at me.  I've had a really hard time with the heart-mind connection.

I hope you will post back when you get a diagnosis on your knee. I am curious as to what it is. I did want to add that in my experience knee issues should be delt with expediently by a professional. I tore my ACL in Nov. of 95 and had surgery in Jan 96 less than 2 months later. (This was the soonest I could be scheduled). The doctor had to remove some cartilage, and told me that if I had been scheduled sooner he could have minimized the damage. Not to the ACL mind you, but the cartilage. Now when I have an issue with my knee I go immediately to an (experienced, highly recommended) orthopedist ASAP. Your knee will feel like it "slips" out of joint (mostly on side to side motions) with a torn ACL also, but I think you would know if you tore something. Mine happened with a loud popping noise soon followed by buckets of tears. I'm a bit of a baby. Sorry for the novel, but I feel really strongly about this topic I guess. Best of luck to you, and let me know how it turns out.

Hello all!

I just got back from the chiropractor and have some interesting news to report.

When I first saw her a while back she told me something I never heard in (at that point) 38 years of my life, even after the typical junior high school screening:  I have mild scoliosis.  She also told me that (partially due to the scoliosis) my right leg is shorter than my left.  She long ago suggested that I only wear shoes with good arch support (I never listened and continued to wear my flat-as-a-pancake flip-flops and such).

When we started going over stuff today some other interesting aspects were revealed.

I told her that I've noticed over the last couple of months that when I'm standing at the sink washing dishes or brushing my teeth or whatevr I tend to stand on the outside edges of my feet.  I don't even notice that I'm doing it a lot of the time.  I also stand with my hip cocked to my right a lot.  She said that a lot of people with on leg shorter than the other tend to stand with their hip cocked on the leg that is shorter (which I do).

Anyway, all of this has affected my knee alignment.

Another really interesting piece of info she told me is that I have wide hips (duh) but narrow knees so the alignment of my knee to my hips is already a challenge.

She also reminded me to wear shoes with arch support.

Then she did her massage and adjustments and testing of different muscle groups and an ultrasound on my knee and found that there were several muscles that were strained.

The last thing she did, which was REALLY amazing was she tested a few different heights of heel lifts for my right (shorter leg) and did some testing again and the difference between not having a heel lift, having heel lifts the wrong height and having a heel lift the right height was CRAZY!  I could NOT believe it but the truth was self-evident.

My knee feels a lot better after the adjustments and tomorrow or Friday I am going shoe shopping.   She sent me home with a heel lift.

She also said no more jogging for me - if I want to do something aerobic she recommended biking, swimming and possibly the eliptical or walking - and not walking every day but mixing it up.

Thanks all again for your support and interest - it makes me feel all warm and squishy (in a good way )