Knees

[saungier@mindspring.com]

As I sit here reading Ridecamp with a bag of ice on my knee, it would seem
that I should chime in on the bad knees thread.
As I am learning there are two different things that can be going on -- one
is a cartilage injury and the other is tendonitis.  A number of years ago I
would get tendonitis flareups on extended rides.  It would hurt while I was
riding, then after a little walking it would go away.  Later, I rode a
gaited horse for a while and the tendonitis went away all together.  I might
also add that I switched to Trail Tech stirrups about the same time.

In Feb I pulled the patella tendon while running (through Pittsburgh
airport)-  Big OUCH and I've been limping ever since.
What the sports medicine ortho doc says to do is the following:

Ice after exercise (for now every night)
Take an anti-inflammatory (motrin, Naprosyn, etc)
wear a good ortho brace (I prefer the one he gave me over the Prof. Choice
one.)
And, the therapist taught me a series of low impact leg lifts to do with
ankle weights. (I'm now up to 4 lbs)
All of those things have been easy - it's the *limited riding* that has
nearly killed me!
After asking me if I rode english or western (A doc who knows the
difference) he told me I could ride at a walk with extremely long or no
strirrups.

It does take time to break the tendonitis cycle.  Don't assume that when
your knees hurt that it is arthritis like I did years ago.   The only good
news that I received during this latest adventure is that  after 36+years of
riding my knees do not show any degeneration.
If you are having problems now, start with some sort of therapy.  It really
does help *if you stick with it*.  Also, the ankle weights have been great
for keeping my legs toned up even though my riding has been limited.

Sally A.
Powhatan, Va







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