Saturday, December 19, 2015

It's That Time of Year Again!

Yes, time for my annual holiday message.

First, I hope you're all looking forward to the Christmas break. It's a great time to celebrate family and community. Smiles and kindness and hugs and good cheer have their own healing power.

As the old year turns to a new one, for knee pain sufferers it's a good opportunity to look back and assess, and then gaze hopefully forward.

Are you in a better place on Dec. 31 than you were on Jan. 1? What was the dumbest thing you did to your knees this year? What was the best thing? What was the best lesson you learned? Did you find a low-stress, high-repetition activity and figure out how to make it work for you?

Looking ahead: Do you have a plan? Even better, maybe you have a Plan A, a Plan B, a Plan C, and even a Plan D if none of those work out. Are you feeling optimistic? Remember, negativity exacts a tax on the healing process.

Also, something I consider very encouraging: Any time you're in a better place on Dec. 31 than you were on Jan. 1, guess what? You're getting better! It may not be much better, and maybe you wanted to be all healed in three months, but it's a gain, no matter how small.

Next year, I'm going to talk about a few things other than my knees. For one, I now have a "frozen shoulder" that I'm dealing with :(. But, on the happier side of things, the Morton's neuroma I was diagnosed with in my right foot is no longer an issue.

I'm going to share some of my other ordeals here, because for example the odd tale of my Morton's neuroma really should be told. I came to understand a LOT about the Morton's neuroma diagnosis in the past couple of years. So if you've been told you have MN, stay tuned.

Okay, that's it from me for now. All my best, and a big thank you to all the good people who take the time to comment here, and help others!

16 comments:

  1. Dear Richard,

    Thank so much for your book!Here a link of one comunity where i am disclosing your WORK

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206706281394175&set=gm.1061764780572108&type=3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The comunity about chondromalacia
      https://www.facebook.com/groups/522835294465062/

      Delete
  2. Thanks so much for the positive reality check! :-) Amy S.

    ReplyDelete
  3. All the best for the Christmas holidays Richard. Your blog and book has been the brightest guiding light on my journey, and has put me in touch with some very helpful people.

    On the weekend, I found myself unconsciously squatting down to film a goanna! Haven't done that in years.

    My wife is a PT who has helped several people recover from frozen shoulder. If you are struggling with it, I'll ask her for some tips.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy holidays everyone! I can say I'm definitely in a better place than this time last year so very grateful for that. Also a million thanks to Richard for writing your book and keeping this blog alive. It has REALLY helped.
    Today for the first time and with a lot of fear I danced for 10min with a break in between. Nothing crazy, just a few steps, slowly... it felt so amazing! Now fingers crossed hopefully my knees will be still fine tomorrow!
    All the best guys for 2016! :*
    Athenea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You danced again?! That. Is. Awesome!!!! Gives me hope. :) Let us know how you're feeling over the next couple of days. It'd be great to hear.

      Are you still seeing your coach or have you two parted ways? If so, how much longer do you foresee it going on?

      I started with my coach December 9th. I'd have to say so far so good. Today marks the end of three weeks with my coach. I'm not necessarily feeling a whole lot of improvement, but we did note improvement in squat load tolerance in our second test, last Wednesday. I'm keeping her advice in my head, which is "You'll be getting better before you'll be feeling better." Helps me keep the faith and stay level.

      Overall I have much more faith in this process so far than my previous experiences, and I'm much more confident that I will get better with time and patience.

      So throughout the last year with your coach, was there a timeframe where you really knew you were getting/feeling better?

      Brandon

      Delete
    2. Yes we are still working together. For me it was after 6 months of therapy when I really saw a big improvement and I was sure I could just only get better from that moment on.
      So yeah...I danced again...my left leg was pretty tired afterwards and it was only 10 min... but at least I am not in pain or anything. I dance flamenco so the footwork is pretty hard and I wear shoes with a bit of heal so is not just like dancing in the club haha. Will see how this next year goes and if it's possible for me to keep dancing.
      Nice to hear things are going well with you as well.
      Best,
      Athenea.

      Delete
    3. I loved reading your words 'I danced again.' I was a semi-professional dancer until patellofemoral pain syndrome sidelined me completely - it's been over 12 months since I've been able to take stairs, walk up or down hills, carry things, or sit with knees bent long enough to take a long drive. Pretty bad for a 32-year-old! Amy

      Delete
    4. Hi Amy! Nice to hear from another dancer here :) I am sorry about your injury. I am 30 yo. My healing journey started a little bit more than one year ago and luckily I have improved a lot. I really miss going to my dance classes and the small performances I used to do with my group. But I need to wait a bit more and do things really slowly and progressively so I don't screw it up! I hope you have a plan for recovering, at least you can find some insights in this blog that can help you get started. I am happy to help.
      Take care.
      Athenea

      Delete
    5. Hi Athenea, I am also missing dance classes and performing terribly, so I understand where you're coming from. I'm really glad to hear you've improved a lot! My plan at this point (after having numerous physiotherapists, orthopaedic specialists, podiatrists, GPs and radiologists send me on wild goose chases) is to try to avoid all aggravating activities and improve the environment of the knee/joint homeostasis with walking. I can walk for about 20 minutes on level ground so I am hoping to build on that. Were you able to identify any particular things that have helped you in your recovery?

      Best wishes,
      Amy

      Delete
    6. Hi Amy,
      Walking is a great exercise and pretty safe so keep doing that. If you can, increase your walking time by 5 or 10 min every week. At the beginning I had PRP injections and those helped with the pain I had under my patella. However I decided to work with a coach because I was scared to try things on my own. Apart from the rehab and walking program I wasn't doing much else. Avoid stairs and take breaks from sitting every 30min (walk around for 5 min). That helped as well!
      Best,
      Athenea

      Delete
  5. Happy new year to all fellow knee sufferers! Wishing you recovery in 2016.
    My knees are so much better now. Not ready yet for anything strenuous, but a bit of hiking, dancing, even cycling. I walk every day to the shops or the park. I even ran to the toilet across the shopping centre with my son (well, nature's call doesn't give a damn about bad knees!) and no ill effect. Happy days!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey guys, happy new year! I had some questions about knee pain. I read the book and I am doing high-rep & low-load exercises at the moment. I've only started for 3 weeks. One thing I noticed is that I CONSTANTLY feel a burning sensation in the knee, even when sitting, lying down. Doing even low weight exercises can cause pain, given that the pain is pretty much always there. I am very curious as to whether just rest more and continue the exercises, or if I should take some NSAIDs to reduce pain first then start exercising. I asked because I know NSAID is NOT the solution. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, it sounds like you're in a tough place right now. Others may have some suggestions, but a few thoughts from me: (1) When your knees are burning all the time, that can make it very difficult to try to find that "sweet spot" of moving as much as possible but not overtaxing the joint. I have no idea what's wrong with your knees, but what guidance have you gotten from doctors/physical therapists? If they say your knees are shot, then I'd think about backing off. If your knees appear fine, then you might still back off some, but not as much. (2) You can try switching to gentler high-rep exercises: moving in a pool, doing the walkarounds I did in the book, spinning on a stationary bike (but backwards). (3) Everyone feels differently about NSAIDs. I'm not a fan, but they can be fine as a bridge solution (as one of our longtime commenters suggested). There might be some benefit just in getting that runaway inflammation under control. In any case, I'd discuss all this with a doctor and see what he/she thinks.

      Delete
    2. One thing that helped my constant burning (apart from avoiding activities which aggravate it) was using a TENS machine. Even now if I have a bad flare-up, 45mins use of the TENS makes a big difference.

      Delete
  7. thanks a lot for the response! I tried using Voltaren Gel 10% (Diclofenac Sodium Gel), prescribed by my sports medicine doctor and also a bit of lakota arthritis roll (it's like a spray). However, these MAY have caused some stomach problems for me. I say MAY because I have some chronic stomach problems to begin with and I am 100% sure if the gel made it worse. Anyway I stopped after using both products for a couple of days. Now i don't constant inflammation. Back to walking daily now! Good luck everyone!

    ReplyDelete