update and questions to ponder

[Guest guest]

Hello!

For those who have helped me in the past, here's a update (it's long--sorry!) on

the condition of my knees. I had a couple of questions at the end for anyone

that has ideas.

Last thing that happened was I said my knees seemed to be irritated. Several of

you (thank you) advised me to take time off. I did that and I liked it. I

tried going back to my regimen of total gym stuff and they felt irritated

again. So I've taken about 2-3 weeks off at this point and they are definitely

less irritated. I don't feel the need to use my arms to help myself up and down

out of chairs, etc. That is a positive step.

My new theory is to just add some movement back in small doses rather than going

back to 1000 reps a day as DK advises.

So, which movement? Well, a few months ago a strange thing happened to me. At

this time I was still cycling/walking for exercise (I live in the mountains, so

there were hills involved). My PT had said I needed to " stay active " even

though I said my knees felt a little weaker after these activities. So I did

and over time they just kept getting worse. ANYWAY, who's obsessing about the

past here?? Not me! I also tried gym equipment from time to time. Once I did

this thing called an arc trainer, which works kind of like an elliptical. The

next day what I felt was an absolute miracle-- my knees felt NORMAL. After ONE

TIME on this thing (for about 30 minutes). I could squat to the floor without

pain! It was amazing--seriously. I was in love with this thing.

Maybe I did it too much, too long, or something, but the third time I did it, I

didn't feel so good after. (In hindsight, perhaps my knees didn't appreciate

the resistance I kept adding each time). So I forgot about it for awhile.

Lately I've been wracking my brain about what in the past has made them feel

good (kind of like you did, ). And I started thinking about it again.

So, now that I'm thinking of adding back a little bit of motion, I thought of

doing *some* arc trainer. Turns out, my knees have deteriorated since the last

time I used it, so I thought about using an elliptical that has an arm component

to it. That way, my arms can do a lot of work so my legs don't have to, and I

can get my pulse up a little. I did it for 20 minutes on level ONE and it felt

good (no miracles, but no pain either). So I'm thinking of just doing that

every other day for awhile. I figure if a similar machine made a miracle happen

in one day, then I should try other things like it. Obviously my knees liked

it. That was only about 6-7 months ago.

My other question is this, don't know if anyone can answer it. First of all, I

do not have any of the burning sensation when sitting for long periods. Never

have. I enjoy sitting cross-legged. Is that bad or good??? (or does anyone

really know??) My pain comes from ascending and descending stairs (not every

time, but it can happen if I'm not very careful), jumping, squatting... and also

from simply straightening my leg (I guess lifting my lower leg so that my leg is

straight) when I'm sitting in a chair... the last portion of straightening can

hurt.

In fact, sometimes when standing for awhile (like while cooking dinner), the

*backs* of my knees are now beginning to feel strange. It's very hard to

describe. It feels like they are swelling, or like my knee is hyper-extending.

The feeling gives me the urge to bend them the right direction, especially all

the way as in sitting cross-legged. When I do that it feels good and seems to

help. It only seems to happen with standing, not walking. Weird! So, just

thought I'd toss that out and see if anyone knows what is up with that.

If you are still reading, thank you! This has been a long message.

Take care,

Jenni