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I don't know where this knee pain is from, but it feels like a combination of soreness plus just plain pain. I dance and we sometimes have choreography involving getting up and down on our knees. It never used to kill me (aside from a few bruises) but now its just really painful. It even hurts to walk up and down stairs.
What should I do? I'm trying to avoid seeing a doctor in case I can simply just nurse it on my own.
I had my first serious knee pain in my late 20s. Luckily I was in grad school and eligible to go to a great teaching hospital (for free) and see a top-flight ortho. My right knee felt hot and was swollen and stiff.
Here's the first question he asked me: does it hurt more to walk down steps than to walk up? My answer was yes.
Next question he asked me: how often do you change your shoes? My answer was, I'm a destitute grad student and only own a couple pairs of shoes. The walking shoes wore on campus all-day-every-day were on my feet.
Next he had me stand up and he measured my legs. He didn't even take x-rays and he delivered his diagnosis on the spot. Chondromalacia patella.
He said the problem was common in young adults, particularly females because they carry their weight with more stress on the knees, but also seen often in young men who are very active in sports. It's stress to the knee causing the cartilage surrounding it to rub against the kneecap. The more it rubs, the sorer and more swollen the cartilage becomes. And the more swollen it becomes, the more it rubs. The goal is to reduce the swelling ASAP. The doctor prescribed an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and told me to ice my knee and stay off it as much as possible until the swelling reduced.
He also gave me some practical information that I have used in the ensuing years and the problem has never returned to any great degree. He said the fact I was female was exacerbated in my case by the fact that my right leg was a tad shorter than the left. That made me prone to throwing more weight on my right leg, due to my inclination to lean. Also, since I was wearing the same shoes every day, I was locking my knee into one position, which is bad. He said the shoes I was wearing were good, but not if I wore them constantly. He told me to change shoes at least once a day. He didn't care if I wore flats or heels, just that I should alternate them. Since my pain was more in the inside of my knee area, he told me to sit with my toes pointed inward, which creates immediate pressure on the outside of the leg and takes stress off the painful side.
I have obeyed these rules for years with great results. Anytime my knee starts to hurt I ice it and take Alleve. And I make sure I am following all the other directives.
If your symptoms match mine, give these simple directions a try before you spend a ton of money on a specialist (who will probably want x-rays and an MRI). Good luck.
I had my first serious knee pain in my late 20s. Luckily I was in grad school and eligible to go to a great teaching hospital (for free) and see a top-flight ortho. My right knee felt hot and was swollen and stiff.
Here's the first question he asked me: does it hurt more to walk down steps than to walk up? My answer was yes.
Next question he asked me: how often do you change your shoes? My answer was, I'm a destitute grad student and only own a couple pairs of shoes. The walking shoes wore on campus all-day-every-day were on my feet.
Next he had me stand up and he measured my legs. He didn't even take x-rays and he delivered his diagnosis on the spot. Chondromalacia patella.
He said the problem was common in young adults, particularly females because they carry their weight with more stress on the knees, but also seen often in young men who are very active in sports. It's stress to the knee causing the cartilage surrounding it to rub against the kneecap. The more it rubs, the sorer and more swollen the cartilage becomes. And the more swollen it becomes, the more it rubs. The goal is to reduce the swelling ASAP. The doctor prescribed an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and told me to ice my knee and stay off it as much as possible until the swelling reduced.
He also gave me some practical information that I have used in the ensuing years and the problem has never returned to any great degree. He said the fact I was female was exacerbated in my case by the fact that my right leg was a tad shorter than the left. That made me prone to throwing more weight on my right leg, due to my inclination to lean. Also, since I was wearing the same shoes every day, I was locking my knee into one position, which is bad. He said the shoes I was wearing were good, but not if I wore them constantly. He told me to change shoes at least once a day. He didn't care if I wore flats or heels, just that I should alternate them. Since my pain was more in the inside of my knee area, he told me to sit with my toes pointed inward, which creates immediate pressure on the outside of the leg and takes stress off the painful side.
I have obeyed these rules for years with great results. Anytime my knee starts to hurt I ice it and take Alleve. And I make sure I am following all the other directives.
If your symptoms match mine, give these simple directions a try before you spend a ton of money on a specialist (who will probably want x-rays and an MRI). Good luck.
wow, thanks for all that! I have a mild case of scoliosis and I have all sorts of hip and leg pain here and there. Not sure if that contributes to the knees as this is the first time I've had this problem and right now my left knee hurts more than my right. I switch my shoes out almost daily since I go all over the place every day. I dance with only what they call "foot undiez" so it feels more like I'm dancing on my feet without tearing my skin apart.
It hurts more when I walk up the stairs than downstairs.
Also I can't be off my feet very much since both my jobs require me to be on my feet the whole time. At school I'm obviously sitting down so that's a non issue.
i was diagnosed with this issue in my right knee at age 18 ... after extensive therapy and attempts at conservative treatment, at age 20, I had the surgery that modifies the tendons to allow the patella to track better.... have not had a SINGLE problem with that knee since.....
started having problems with my left knee at age 35 (i'm 50 now).... again, extensive p.t. and treatment with nsaids until my stomach could no longer tolerate them... i had the knee "scoped," which worked for about a year.... had the more invasive surgery and was good for another year or 2.... i have not gone back to the SEVERE pain and stiffness, but the knee is not 100% either... not like the right one ....
and THEN about 1-1/2 years ago, I dislocated the left knee.... just can't seem to win with this leg.... i was reading the article jukesgrrl linked to and got a chuckle when i read the part about people having had a patellar dislocation being more prone to this issue.... mine worked exactly opposite.....
i suspect that my situation is a worst case.... i know that there are a LOT of people out there that have this problem, but with therapy and exercise, are able to overcome it....
and i hope that for you, op and continued success to you jukesgrrl.....
i have problems running for 1 minute or walking fast for a couple minutes. i get pain in my knees, shins and ankles. i tried glocusomine and chondroitin and believe them to be no more than a scam. my solution has been to not run or walk fast. also, if i ever get attacked, running isnt an option for me.
this issue began at the age of 19 and i still have it at 30.
I don't know where this knee pain is from, but it feels like a combination of soreness plus just plain pain. I dance and we sometimes have choreography involving getting up and down on our knees. It never used to kill me (aside from a few bruises) but now its just really painful. It even hurts to walk up and down stairs.
What should I do? I'm trying to avoid seeing a doctor in case I can simply just nurse it on my own.
This is what a doctor will probably tell you.
Rest/bandaging, 600mg ibuprofen 2-3x/day for 6 weeks. Make sure you don't have alignment issues and are wearing proper shoes.
If not better in 2-3 months go to the doctor for x-rays / MRI to rule out ligament, tendon, and meniscal problems.
However, if you landed on your knee really hard it is possible to have fractured your patella.
I don't know where this knee pain is from, but it feels like a combination of soreness plus just plain pain. I dance and we sometimes have choreography involving getting up and down on our knees. It never used to kill me (aside from a few bruises) but now its just really painful. It even hurts to walk up and down stairs.
What should I do? I'm trying to avoid seeing a doctor in case I can simply just nurse it on my own.
Male or female; girls jkust have bad knee problems.
I delivered and packed out snacks onto high and low shelves for 28 years,the last 10 years of it I had knee pain and trouble standing after kneeling.Since retiring I started taking 1200 mg of fish oil twice a day my pain is much less and they no longer crack when bending them.
hi my name its beatrice am 24 years and i have knee pains it started some years after i moved to another country for studies the place its too cold ..so the pains is periodic it comes then after sometime i forget about it but i mostly feel more pain when i sit for a long time and then stand and i also get pains when i go to sleep the pain is less when i walk ...so what do you think ..please advise me on what to do ..the knee its not swollen nor does it feel hot ...
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