Exercise for arthritic knees?

[dewiseman]

Find yourself a plain old Nordik Track ski machine. The gliding motion with slight resistance rehabilitated mine after (2 yrs) surgery, and doctors telling me they wanted to try a second sugery and possible joint transplant at age 32. Don't use any kind of stair stepper. It's to much stress. Go to the bicycle after you have gotten all of your range of motion back. you can usually pick them up used fairly cheap. (the cross country ski machine,not stair stepper or eliptical machine!)

 

[cuernos1]

Sir I am no doctor, but have some experience with arthritus.. I had a small accident while on active duty which broke my hips, back and pelvis... I have a plate with 6 screws holding on my right leg.. my hips are fused and I had 2 screws holding my spine together but those were removed a few yrs ago..

That said.. I am 46yrs old and I figured out a long time ago that all that the doctors liked to do was keep me on pills pills pills.. I am a train wreck and there is no real solution for me.. so here is what I do.. I go to the gym religiously, I get 4-6 workouts weekly.. I do 20-30mins of cardio on an eliptical machine or bike.. no knee stress and it works the range of motion for my legs and hips..

Forgot to mention I have about 1000 parachute jumps and my knees were done 2xs... Broke my left foot too ...

I do 10 minutes of abs and then I left weights for strength for both aerobic and anarobic workouts...

I take codine when needed.. other than that.. I feel better than I have ever felt minus all the BS...

Plus I am not going to give up solo back pack hunts in the middle of nowhere.. They make me feel great.....

I would go to a gym and get a professional trainer to teach you a good routine and stick with it....

Bottom line is... There are sheep and meat eaters... we eat sheep.. Good Luck..

De Opresso Liber...

 

[fozzy]

I trashed my left knee dirt biking a few years ago. The Doc's were thinking I needed ACL surgery and got away without it. One day I'll have to get it cleaned up in there as it still bothers me. One thing that I tried that helped with pain and I would have told you was hog wash if I hadn't tried it myself... a copper bracelet. It works! Just a scrap of soft copper tubing wrapped around the wrist and pain is waay easier to manage. As an experiment I have taken it off for a week, within a few days I start limping again.. tried the experiment twice.
It must be junk inside but keeping the knife away as long as I can.

 

[bootsking]

Ditto on a couple of recommendations. Bicycle is great, low impact way to build muscle. BUT this will give minimal pain relief when you walk. After too many years of increasing pain, I had total knee replacements Dec '06 and June '07. First 3 weeks of thearapy suck, but in 3 months you will wish you had done this sooner; I did! Do a little research and get a good doctor, and be sure to have this done soon in case the potential health care bill decides you are not worthy!

 

[dwm]

Dang ...

 

[CitizenJohn]

I am 67 and have pain, real pain in my knees on occasion. When you have that kind of pain I don't think that excercise helps but only makes the pain worse. I've tried it. There is a difference in the various formulations of glucosamine, msm, and propriatary blends. My break through using these came when I tried the Knox brand of glucosamine, etc. I noticed an immediate improvement. Knox includes gelatin which is supposed to help lubricate the joints. You may be more familiar with Knox for making the gelatin used in canning fruit jam. I also found gelatin in the vitamen section with all of the other stuff that an old man takes to try to stay young, ha, in a capsule and it is very cheap. As an aside it also toughens up your nails.
I'm out of the Knox product right now and have been using Osteo Bi-Flex as a substitute and it also has hydrolyzed gelatin in it. It has been working OK also.
Fellas, I don't know about you but I want to stay away from joint replacement as long as I can. By the same token, I had a back surgeon tell me to avoid back surgery unless it was absolutely necessary.
Since I've been taking these products I don't have to bear my weight on a walking stick and I can walk to the top of most small mountains without any trouble, while carrying my rifle, etc.
Back when I was 10' tall and bullet proof I laughed at the thought of these problems. Age makes one more cognizant of the frailty of the human body.
I consider myself blessed to be as apparently healthy as I am.
Good luck!

 

[davewilson]

i have one word for ALL of you with knee problems. Prolotheraphy. it's a series of injections that go into the tendons, ligaments and inside the knee that initiate the body to heal itself. i was skeptical until i've had 2 done myself and all i can say is my knee is much better. have talked to several others that have been treated also. i'm 55, an ex weekend jock with cartilage missing from the ends of the bones. have been scoped 3 times and was to the point of starting to limp. after just 2 treatments to my right knee, my knees are no longer my limiting factor. i highly recommend prolotheraphy to anyone.

 

[CitizenJohn]

Very interesting Dave!

Having never heard of prolotherapy, I looked it up and it looks like the very thing for someone with knee problems.

Here is a link for common questions. Finding a doctor might present a challenge. I know that there have been times that I would not have minded driving a long way to get relief.

Twenty Common Prolotherapy Questions

 

[davewilson]

i checked it out for a year or more before i finally took the plunge. my right knee took a turn for the worse which is probably what makes people actually do something. insurance won't cover it but it doesn't cost much. most doctors charge a first visit consultation fee (75-125) and each injection is about 150-200 depending on the doctor. got my first treatment on july 3rd, another beginning of Aug and my knee is much better. again, i highly recommend it.

 

[CitizenJohn]

My doctor retired, why have to deal with OB, anyway, I'm going to see a new young sports/family doctor tomorrow and I'm going to see what he know about prolotherapy. Finding a doctor in my neck of the woods may be a challenge, not that there is any hurry. My glucosamine regimen seems to be doing good right now.
If my knees get bad again, I'll hunt for a prolo doctor.

 

[nerka83]

Know the feeling. Suggest getting knees radiographed. If it turns out you're bone on bone as I was, you're only way out of it is by knee repacement. I'm 83 and it worked for me. Slow now but comfortable. I might add that physical Rx a couple of months prior to surgery makes a big difference recovery wise. Post surgery is a grunt and the first month uncomfortable, but it does get better.
Best to you,
nerka

 

[dieseldoc]

Len:
After reading all the post, which were good for information same that I got several years ago. After three scope job on each knee, med,s and anything I could find to help with the knees so that I could still head into the Mountains.

Bottom line after 20 plus years of this problem I went for full knee replacement on the left knee 2008 and 2009 for the right knee. All I can say yes it take time to rehab, and to this date still hit the gum for leg strengthen program also keeping weight down. It's so nice to be able to make a backing hunt and even ride a horse for several hours and be able to walk around without pain.

So looking back , I would have had replacements several years before.

Charlie

 

[Len Backus]

Charlie, thanks for the future encouragement in case I ever need new knees.

 

[nerka83]

Charlie, you're so right. Most suffer too long and finally give in. Then wonder why they waited so long. I'm one.
Nerka