No, no. A thousand times no. If your doctor is saying this, you need to find another doctor. This is the one thing I am convinced of, after a months-long personal struggle with knee pain that I won.
I thought that today -- a day when I honestly wasn't sure whether to write a blog entry, or just disappear into the basement and do an hour or two of easy cycling -- I would make a short post on this subject.
It is really the "raison d'etre" of this blog, and of my book. I wanted to counter the pessimism because I heard the same "your knees will never get better." And they most emphatically did.
I know that some doctors say "your knees will never get better" because they don't want to sugarcoat the reality of knee pain, because they truly believe they are speaking the truth. Maybe that's the saddest part, that they just aren't aware of how aching knees can heal.
It's not easy, but it can be done.
Here are some posts I've written on the subject:
How I Saved My Knees (in Dialogue Format)
Plus, as a bonus, for anyone who has an aching back ...
All free posts! (The blog is always free!)
And: anyone with a success story they want to share? (I always love to get those stories out there.)
I bought your book and have read your blog for a long time. I've had poorly tracking knees because of a shallow knee groove, so I have great years and I have terrible years. I've done physical therapy all my life, which has let me do lots of hiking and dancing and other enjoyable strenuous activities. In my fifties, I started to have to give some things up. I can no longer do salsa or hustle dancing because of all the pivoting. And I could never do basketball or skiing because of all the rotation. I've had years where I've been on crutches, but most recently in my 60s, I moved to an area that was cooler outside, which motivated me to get my knees really strong in a very gradual way. In fact now my knees are so strong, I have to actually work on strengthening my hips! Keeping your knees in good shape is a lifelong endeavor, that pays off gradually, but does pay off. But you may have to give up some things that truly do exceed your functional capabilities. My go-to exercise is the cable machine that I use with ankle straps, to strengthen my legs being pulled in all directions. That, and of course walking, and frequent but very short bursts upstairs, under 6 in
ReplyDeleteHello, comment is unrelated to post but just wanted to ask a question. I have been suffering from bilateral knee pain that mostly presents as a diffuse aching in the joint when standing still for more than 5mins and flare ups of inflamation in the evenings/nights. I have come to noticed that anytime I have a hot bath or use a sauna this triggers my inflamation to a level equal or even worse than the level that occurs in the evenings from the days activity. Has anyone experienced similar and know why this happens?
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