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Arthritis.......wait, what??

19K views 88 replies 23 participants last post by  PalmerFreak 
#1 · (Edited)
My right knee (regular stance) usually bothers me about half-way through the season and I never really thought much about it figuring the torque that's placed on the joint causes it to flare up. Usually by the middle of spring everything is fine and I get on with my summer activities.

This year was a bit different though. The pain lingered all the way through summer and into fall so I decided to get it looked at this past week. The pain is almost always on the inside of my knee (MCL area) and I get some swelling from time to time. I figured that if there was something wrong I'd get it taken care of quickly since - in my mind - it must be minor.

So I make an appointment with my general doctor and he asks me a bunch of questions, checks range of motion, etc. He tells me that I may have an MCL strain or a small tear in my meniscus and wants to set up an appointment with an orthopedist. He also wants to do a couple X-ray to eliminate any type of bone issues and I say fine. So I set up my appointment with the orthopedist and get the X-rays done. That afternoon a nurse leaves a message on my phone saying that the X-rays revealed arthritis in my knee.......WTF!!! I'm not a young guy by any stretch (46) but I always thought that arthritis is something I'd have to deal with much later in life. It's the first time in my life that my own mortality stared right back at me. :angry:

I did some investigating and there are a wide variety of treatment options from excercises to braces to drugs and so on but I guess I'll have to wait until I speak with the orthopedist to work up a treatment plan. I don't plan on ever getting off my board no matter what happens with my knee/s but it's a bummer.

So, are there any other peeps here that have an arthritic knee that can share there experiences and what treatments seemed to work? I read that NSAID pain relievers like Aleve work well and I ran out and got some yesterday. I popped a couple last night and they worked very well - no pain at all this morning.
 
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#68 ·
Thanks for the tips!!

Days 8 and 9

Things are going much better since I backed off a little on my activity level. I still do all of my exercises but I don't trot all over the building while at work. I've been spending more time at my desk with my leg elevated and ice it 4-5 times per day. No real pain in the joint and my range of movement is still increasing while the stiffness is decreasing. I'm going to stay the course and ease my way into some of the more advanced exercises over the weekend. I see the ortho doc next Friday and I'm hoping to be back out doing some light riding (if things keep improving) in the early/mid part of February.
 
#69 · (Edited)
Days 9 and 10

Things are still going well but when I over-do it my kne lets me know about it. Yesterday I went down to Chicago with the GF and while she took her daughters to American Girl (what a racket that place has going) I wandered a few blocks to the North Face store and then another couple of blocks to the Burton flagship store. By the time I got back in the car my knee was aching. Got home last night and took some ibuprofen and iced it up. Felt pretty good by the time I went to bed. Woke up this morning to about 4 inches of snow and went out to shovel. Got back inside afterwards and the knee was stiff and hurting a bit. It's going to be -20 tomorrow and I wanted to get the snow cleared before it's gets brutally cold. On the couch right now icing it up and am gonna relax the rest of the day.

I'm able to bend the knee well past 90° now and am going to try some of the more advanced exercises starting tomorrow.
 
#70 ·
Days 11 and 12

Range of motion is almost back to normal but there is a bit of stiffness/pain when I really bend it. Other than that, pain is almost nonexistent and my limp is almost gone. I see the orthopedist Friday afternoon so he can check on my progress and remove the stitches. I'd love to do some light riding this weekend if he says it's OK but I'm thinking that the weekend of 2/8 is more likely.
 
#73 · (Edited)
Days 13, 14, and 15

Range of motion continues to improve and am working on getting my leg flat when trying to straighten it out. Seems a bit stiff when I do that but it's getting better each day.

Shoveled some snow last night which seems to make my knee angry but not much I can do about it. Took some ibuprofen and iced it and it was OK this morning.

Went to see the orthopedist today and got my stitches removed. My knee feels much better with the stitches out, the pull on my skin was creating more pain than anything else which is a bit odd. The only pain that I feel in the joint now is when I hyperextend it which the doc thinks will go away as soon as I can get my leg to completely straighten without any pain. I saw the photos of the inside of my knee - they were pretty cool and I'm trying to get my hands on digital copies of them. The doc removed about 25% of my medial meniscus and found a little arthritis. He said I could start riding as soon as my knee feels right - it's really up to me. I did ask for a single rehab appointment to make sure I'm doing all of the exercises properly and will try to get in this week. I decided go to the gym tonight and got some light leg work in and it feels pretty good right now.

I'm going to wait until next weekend before trying any light riding. I just bought a pair of Flow NX2-RS bindings with the 2.5° canted beds and will install them next week. I normally ride 12/0 but I think I'm going to open up my rear foot a bit. I think that my stance has contributed to my injury over the years and want to remove as much stress from my knee as possible. I'm heading to the Vitamin Shoppe tomorrow to get some of the Zyflamend that BA recommended so I hope that helps out as well.
 
#75 ·
I ride regular stance like you, i have knee issues for a long time along with my lower back. Riding for four seasons now and i just opened up my stance width to 22.75" from 21", switch my angles from 12/-12 to 12/-9 and had been riding this stance for two weekends now and my knees (especially my right knee) is not as sore like they use to be, and that's a plus for this 45 yr.old guy:laugh: Goodluck with the rehab and your soon to be "return to shredding" day:thumbsup:
 
#76 ·
Days 16 and 17

Thanks for tips and good vibes - it's much appreciated. :thumbsup:

I started on some of the more advanced strengthening exercises yesterday and the knee is holding up well. I noticed a pretty sizeable improvement today and am walking without a limp. I still have some pain when trying to bend my leg fully and straighten it out completely but it felt almost normal today when I was out and about.

At this point I'm gonna be riding this coming weekend for sure, maybe even Wednesday night. I'm gonna start slow and just get a feel for how far I can push it.
 
#78 ·
Days 18, 19, 20, and 21

Not much to report on days 18 and 19, just more rehab. Decided to get back on my board last night with a few people from work who are in for training. Did the bunny hill a couple times and the main run once and felt OK - strength felt good and no instability issues. It did swell up a bit and was a little sore but some ice and ibuprofen fixed that up. I feel pretty good today and am thinking about going again on Saturday or Sunday.

So, from under the knife to back on my deck in 20 days. I'm not 100% but I've got another 5 weeks or so (minimum) left to my season so I should be able to get there if all goes well.

I didn't have a chance to put my new canted Flow NX2's on this week and am hoping to have them on for the weekend.

Thanks to all for the good vibes - especially jml22 and t21 - it's much appreciated.
 
#81 ·
Put my new Flow NX2-RS bindings on the TRice and went to the hill on Saturday. I'm not quite back to full speed yet but I'm getting close. I think the 2.5 degree canting and my tweaked binding angles (went from 15/0 to 15/-9) are going to help quite a bit. Felt pretty good when I woke up on Sunday and I'm hoping to get back out a couple times this week and the weekend for sure.

I'm glad that I only missed about a month and can take advantage of all of the snow we've gotten!! :yahoo:
 
#83 ·
:thumbsup: Great news! Glad to hear your op, rehab, and best of all New Gear, worked out and improved things for you.
 
#85 ·
Thanks guys. I'm going again this morning and it will be interesting to see how it feels after consecutive days. It's -4 right now but it's a beautiful sunny morning so I'll just add a layer and roll with it. :)

I've put on 5 pounds over the past month or so since I couldn't do much cardio but I'm gonna get back at it this coming week. I've been taking Zylflamend for the past couple of weeks and I'm hoping that it helps with my joints.
 
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