do you have knee problems? - Page 2 - Snowboarding Forum

SnowRock · 11-16-2012, 04:28 PM

My right (back) knee sucks... blew out my acl/mcl and had replacement surgery back in the late 90's and then had a meniscus (I think my medial) clean up mid 2000's.

I was actually slated for another scope this summer but I postponed it and then my MD ended up retiring from doing surgeries. I had been working on some ball exercises and got into mt biking and my knee was feeling great (no swelling, no pain outside of arthritis).. so when I met his partner who would be my new MD he suggested we see how things go.

I wanted to avoid a 3rd surgery on the same knee given i haven't even hit 35... but I just got back from a trip where I did quite a bit of surfing and hiking and shit is not right. Going for an MRI monday at a place that supposedly has a better magnet since its not easy to see things on a knee that been operated on before. Hopefully be more informative...

gjsnowboarder · 11-18-2012, 09:22 PM

First things first. Practice a little RICE(Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Give it a several days of not using it hard. Next back off of any high impact (i.e.running) or heavier than body weight lifting. If it starts to feel better you can slowly start increasing your workout again. If it doesn't, continue to limiting lower body exercises, or go see a doctor/treat it easily for 2-3 weeks ( I normally wait 2-3 three weeks before I consider seeing a doctor, unless the pain or instability is very noticable).

If it was a ligament, chances are there wouldn't necessarily feel pain, but instead a sense of instability. If your knee has swelling(ie. non-serious strains/bursa sac, a torn miniscus, or cartilage damage the pain could be an indication of the injury sustained.

Do remember that a GP(general physican) doesn't specialize in that type of injury and may need to refer you to an orthopedic dr. And that if you have doubts a doctor is always better advice then us Internet nerds.

sleev-les · 11-19-2012, 05:07 AM

You need to rest or you will not recover. I'd see a specialist. How often were you "pushing yourself" in the gym. What were your recovery times? Your knees take a lot of stress, especially when lifting. Soccer is also a big killer for knees. Not to say its the same issue, but the back of my knee used to hurt if i tried to squat low (mainly in the winter when it was cold). Sucked trying to strap into my board or get up from the ground. With a lot of stretching and correct leg workout at the gym and taking Orange Triad (good multi and joint sup) I haven't had the problem come back as its gotten colder again. I can prove that taking a joint sup helped, but more towards strengthening my legs correctly. Just because you beat your ass up at the gym, doesn't mean your body can handle it.. Go see a doc man, especially if your knee hasn't changed in a week with rest... Could be multiple things.

breathingdust · 11-21-2012, 10:23 AM

You definitely need to take some time out to rest it. Unfortunately knees are one of those things that take a long time to heal.

I just got over a case of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome caused by running too much without training my supporting muscles.

It took about 3 weeks for the pain to go and that's with me doing as little as possible with my knee. No walks longer than 15 mins and lots of stretching and strengthening exercises.

A physiotherapist will help a lot, my Doctor just told me to stop running. My physio gave me more practical advice and a programme of exercises.

jml22 · 11-21-2012, 11:08 AM

Go see a sports Chiro with a CCSP diplomate. There's a reason why these guys take a leading role at the Olympics, because they know their shit.
Everyone's advice is great and all but it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

First of all going balls to the wall training in something you haven't done for awhile or something new can and will always increase your chances of injury. So remember to always ease into things.

Giving advice without seeing the person in patient is near impossible. There are 10 more questions that someone would want to ask before they should even consider giving an opinion. First of all we don't even know his/her age. There's a big difference between someone 20 vs someone 50.

When you say inside of your knee, that could be like 5 different spots which all have different mechanisms of injury, and treatment plans. Keep in mind that one treatment plan will most likely aggravate the area more if it's not the right one.

Go see someone now before it gets worse, and dont take some half ass answer from some schmuck, be informed and investigate the doctor before you see them. MRIs are often warranted for knee problems.
Go see someone now.

LuckyRVA · 11-21-2012, 12:14 PM

Knee probs from soccer here as well. I'm a fairly active/athletic person and have all but stopped doing heavy squats. Now on leg days I do high rep squats using a bosu ball standing on the platform side. I normally hold a 30-40lb dumbell under my chin for 30 reps. For heavier weight I only do sumo front squats. For some reason front squats feel much better on my knees and the duck/sumo position of my feet when squating feels much more natural to me. I never load up more than 200lbs.

lonerider · 11-21-2012, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheepstealer

This thread is twofold, one for anyone who might have knee issues - why not create a thread for a common snowboard injury - and two -for myself.

The inside of my right knee is a little tender/sore. This is mostly me being paranoid, but do I have anything to worry about? The tenderness is on the inside - if you were to sit down, knees at 90 degree angles, and feel that "ball" of cartilage on the inside of you right knee...thats whats sore for me. It hurts if I press on it, especially lower towards the back of the knee. I can walk on it fine.

Within the last couple of months I started lifting hard, something which I have not done in many years. I'm athletic and so wasn't too worried about ramping up to a fairly intensive core/strength routine to get ready for the season. I started out the first couple weeks with lifting smaller weight, and got into REALLY pushing myself the last two weeks, up until now. I've also been hiking and playing soccer the last two weeks, mixed in with lifting (squats, lunges, jump-rope).

So, should I be worried? I'm guessing I should just rest it and chalk it up to a tendon strain, although I know the MCL is on the inside of the knee too.

Do any of you ride with a knee brace?

Thoughts/advice are appreciated. I'm banking on hitting the doctor for a physical sometime soon anyways, so maybe that will help?

Thanks.

You should worry about it... as I got older I started getting knee soreness like this... the next few years I had a bunch of knee injuries (ACL and both MCLs) and that was a warning sign... so I started learning a lot about biomechanics and physical therapy (I was there so often I start asking questions).

Turns out my quads were super tight and thick and too strong compared to my hamstrings. A tight quad and/or IT band will literally pull on your kneecap and cause it not to track properly in the groove of your knee.

You should get a foam roller (they are cheap at Walmart) and start rolling like this. I've even saw some pro riders using the foam roller in a one of those pre-ride timelapse skits in a snowboarding video (might have even been Travis Rice's Art of Flight...)

Also stretch out your quad... I found the resistance stretching technique, which was used by 42-year old Olympic swimmer Dara Torres to be really effective. I know this guy seems a bit... frou-frou, but trust me... this stretch really works better than the standard quad stretch

MarshallV82 · 11-23-2012, 04:26 PM

My Knees are thrashed due to Basketball and Construction work.. I do high reps with light weights, wall sits, and anything else I can do to improve my leg strength. It really seems to help!

I tore my ACL/MCL as well, I have a lot of discomfort when I leave the gym out my daily routine for months on end...

SnowRock · 11-27-2012, 09:45 AM

Well.... we are getting a little bit of snow here in the northeast, especially in northwest jersey where my commute began this morning. So while that is great news, my meeting with my Ortho yesterday as a follow-up to my MRI was not so hot. He is 95% certain that my ACL is torn, or that my old graft is basically shot and just hanging on... oh and my meniscus is torn as well (which is what I expected).

Since there is no single event that happened which I can recall this re-tear of my ACL, he told me if I wanted to try and ride this winter and schedule the surgery for April to give it a shot. I was on a surf trip at the beginning of the month, just rode 15 miles on my mt bike Saturday so he thinks its about pain management and that if I feel something get noticeably worse, call it quits and head in for the surgery early.

Going to see if I can upgrade my brace (with some insurance $$) and going to get into a good routine with some ball/balance exercises and give the season a whirl.

gjsnowboarder · 11-27-2012, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnowRock

Well.... we are getting a little bit of snow here in the northeast, especially in northwest jersey where my commute began this morning. So while that is great news, my meeting with my Ortho yesterday as a follow-up to my MRI was not so hot. He is 95% certain that my ACL is torn, or that my old graft is basically shot and just hanging on... oh and my meniscus is torn as well (which is what I expected).

Since there is no single event that happened which I can recall this re-tear of my ACL, he told me if I wanted to try and ride this winter and schedule the surgery for April to give it a shot. I was on a surf trip at the beginning of the month, just rode 15 miles on my mt bike Saturday so he thinks its about pain management and that if I feel something get noticeably worse, call it quits and head in for the surgery early.

Going to see if I can upgrade my brace (with some insurance $$) and going to get into a good routine with some ball/balance exercises and give the season a whirl.

Bummer man, that sure sucks!!! I'm sure he told you this, but be carefull getting air born, especially with flat landings. I do know that you can ride with a blown out ACL and torn miniscus, I did it for a little over a month. Definitely try to get get an upgrade brace that will help out both the miniscus and ACL. If anything the Miniscus is the most worriesome part to damage further. They can't exactly replace those. I would probably look at a lot of swimming and low impact exercises like biking. Did he give you a list pre-hab exercises? I know that with my first knee surgery I did a month of pre-hab prior to the surgery to try and lessen the impact of immobility after the surgery.

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11-16-2012, 04:28 PM	#11 (permalink)
SnowRock -LIFETIME MEMBER- Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NW NJ via NYC Posts: 163	My right (back) knee sucks... blew out my acl/mcl and had replacement surgery back in the late 90's and then had a meniscus (I think my medial) clean up mid 2000's. I was actually slated for another scope this summer but I postponed it and then my MD ended up retiring from doing surgeries. I had been working on some ball exercises and got into mt biking and my knee was feeling great (no swelling, no pain outside of arthritis).. so when I met his partner who would be my new MD he suggested we see how things go. I wanted to avoid a 3rd surgery on the same knee given i haven't even hit 35... but I just got back from a trip where I did quite a bit of surfing and hiking and shit is not right. Going for an MRI monday at a place that supposedly has a better magnet since its not easy to see things on a knee that been operated on before. Hopefully be more informative...

11-18-2012, 09:22 PM	#12 (permalink)
gjsnowboarder Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Grand Junction, CO Posts: 539	First things first. Practice a little RICE(Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Give it a several days of not using it hard. Next back off of any high impact (i.e.running) or heavier than body weight lifting. If it starts to feel better you can slowly start increasing your workout again. If it doesn't, continue to limiting lower body exercises, or go see a doctor/treat it easily for 2-3 weeks ( I normally wait 2-3 three weeks before I consider seeing a doctor, unless the pain or instability is very noticable). If it was a ligament, chances are there wouldn't necessarily feel pain, but instead a sense of instability. If your knee has swelling(ie. non-serious strains/bursa sac, a torn miniscus, or cartilage damage the pain could be an indication of the injury sustained. Do remember that a GP(general physican) doesn't specialize in that type of injury and may need to refer you to an orthopedic dr. And that if you have doubts a doctor is always better advice then us Internet nerds.

11-19-2012, 05:07 AM	#13 (permalink)
sleev-les Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 333	You need to rest or you will not recover. I'd see a specialist. How often were you "pushing yourself" in the gym. What were your recovery times? Your knees take a lot of stress, especially when lifting. Soccer is also a big killer for knees. Not to say its the same issue, but the back of my knee used to hurt if i tried to squat low (mainly in the winter when it was cold). Sucked trying to strap into my board or get up from the ground. With a lot of stretching and correct leg workout at the gym and taking Orange Triad (good multi and joint sup) I haven't had the problem come back as its gotten colder again. I can prove that taking a joint sup helped, but more towards strengthening my legs correctly. Just because you beat your ass up at the gym, doesn't mean your body can handle it.. Go see a doc man, especially if your knee hasn't changed in a week with rest... Could be multiple things.

11-21-2012, 10:23 AM	#14 (permalink)
breathingdust Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 7	You definitely need to take some time out to rest it. Unfortunately knees are one of those things that take a long time to heal. I just got over a case of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome caused by running too much without training my supporting muscles. It took about 3 weeks for the pain to go and that's with me doing as little as possible with my knee. No walks longer than 15 mins and lots of stretching and strengthening exercises. A physiotherapist will help a lot, my Doctor just told me to stop running. My physio gave me more practical advice and a programme of exercises.

11-21-2012, 11:08 AM	#15 (permalink)
jml22 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 201	Go see a sports Chiro with a CCSP diplomate. There's a reason why these guys take a leading role at the Olympics, because they know their shit. Everyone's advice is great and all but it's like shooting fish in a barrel. First of all going balls to the wall training in something you haven't done for awhile or something new can and will always increase your chances of injury. So remember to always ease into things. Giving advice without seeing the person in patient is near impossible. There are 10 more questions that someone would want to ask before they should even consider giving an opinion. First of all we don't even know his/her age. There's a big difference between someone 20 vs someone 50. When you say inside of your knee, that could be like 5 different spots which all have different mechanisms of injury, and treatment plans. Keep in mind that one treatment plan will most likely aggravate the area more if it's not the right one. Go see someone now before it gets worse, and dont take some half ass answer from some schmuck, be informed and investigate the doctor before you see them. MRIs are often warranted for knee problems. Go see someone now.

11-21-2012, 12:14 PM	#16 (permalink)
LuckyRVA Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 1,099	Knee probs from soccer here as well. I'm a fairly active/athletic person and have all but stopped doing heavy squats. Now on leg days I do high rep squats using a bosu ball standing on the platform side. I normally hold a 30-40lb dumbell under my chin for 30 reps. For heavier weight I only do sumo front squats. For some reason front squats feel much better on my knees and the duck/sumo position of my feet when squating feels much more natural to me. I never load up more than 200lbs.

11-23-2012, 04:26 PM	#18 (permalink)
MarshallV82 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Golden, CO Posts: 416	My Knees are thrashed due to Basketball and Construction work.. I do high reps with light weights, wall sits, and anything else I can do to improve my leg strength. It really seems to help! I tore my ACL/MCL as well, I have a lot of discomfort when I leave the gym out my daily routine for months on end...

11-27-2012, 09:45 AM	#19 (permalink)
SnowRock -LIFETIME MEMBER- Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NW NJ via NYC Posts: 163	Well.... we are getting a little bit of snow here in the northeast, especially in northwest jersey where my commute began this morning. So while that is great news, my meeting with my Ortho yesterday as a follow-up to my MRI was not so hot. He is 95% certain that my ACL is torn, or that my old graft is basically shot and just hanging on... oh and my meniscus is torn as well (which is what I expected). Since there is no single event that happened which I can recall this re-tear of my ACL, he told me if I wanted to try and ride this winter and schedule the surgery for April to give it a shot. I was on a surf trip at the beginning of the month, just rode 15 miles on my mt bike Saturday so he thinks its about pain management and that if I feel something get noticeably worse, call it quits and head in for the surgery early. Going to see if I can upgrade my brace (with some insurance $$) and going to get into a good routine with some ball/balance exercises and give the season a whirl.