Whoops, I Got Better, Then Overdid It. Now What?

I figured I’d hoist one more story out of the comment section. I think almost everyone with long-term knee pain can identify with the mistake in this one:

Four years ago, I had a knee injury and an MRI revealed chondromalacia, grade 3. Feeling depressed that my life would never be the same again, I came across your book. Following your strategies I managed to have four good years without pain. My workouts included indoor bicycle, walking on treadmill, swimming and rowing.

Feeling good, I was tempted to go back to my usual training, meaning squats, lunges etc. and light jogging for short bursts, 30 seconds, rest and repeat. I was doing this routine for a month and was feeling OK when all of a sudden it took a bad turn. I have bad pain in my knee for three days. I am feeling discouraged and angry with myself. I am now worried that I am back to where I started. Is there hope that I will recover again? Isabelle

 Ah yes. That old, familiar burst of misplaced confidence. Who hasn’t felt it? After a good week, or a good month, or a good three or months, you think, “I must be healed now, right?” Then you go back to your previous favorite sport or exercise and, after some vigorous workouts, you backslide. You have a bad relapse.

It’s discouraging as hell. There’s no way to put a pretty gloss on a bad setback. It stinks, and it’s going to take some time to get through.

But here are some notes of comfort:

* Virtually everybody trying to recover from knee pain has setbacks. Some are severe. And often, yes, they’re caused by something stupid you did. So you have to make your peace with this. Yes, you did something dumb. But yes, many others (including me) have done the same. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember, too much negativity extracts a price when it comes to healing.

* Okay, so now you know something you shouldn’t do. You’ve learned something. Learning is valuable. The setbacks that are most frustrating are those where you can’t identify what you did wrong. That’s not what you went through. You know you made a mistake; now you have to try again, being more careful.

* Finally, will you recover again? Obviously, I don’t know this for sure, and neither does anyone else. However, I’m betting that the chances are pretty good. That’s partly because there are a lot of people who have gone through bad setbacks, and not just one, but multiple, and who have gotten better.

So before you get too discouraged, check out this story that “Knee Pain” left recently (that’s her moniker on this site, and she’s been here just about since I started blogging). Her knee pain came roaring back multiple times, and she just kept patiently working on healing, and at last she seems to be – fingers crossed – getting back to all the activities she used to love.