A
Anonymous
Guest
Hello all, I haven't been near the forum for a while but am returned so double hello.
Knees!
I received a mail about knees as I have a rather faulty one. I thought that it might make a good topic as they do go wrong ...
My knee problem is from a teenage motorcycle accident. The knee was ripped open when I took my motorcycle over the top of a car (door handle of a Pontiac - of all the cars to bump into in England) and put back together again. It always has been a problem. For me it is sideways movement that causes it to fail. The brace I use, a McDavid, has hinges on either side which ensures that the knee tracks and doesn't slip sideways. I find it really useful and still wear it if I overdo things.
It worked very well on my pilgrimage but caused other problems. I found that as there was almost no sideways movement I had difficulties on really rough terrain as I couldn't sway sideways. This caused me to stumble a number of times. Twice I twisted my ankle. The first time not too badly but the second time it was really bad. I kept my boot on, tightened up, as I knew I wouldn't get it on again if I took it off. I was miles from the nearest refuge. After a couple of hours rest I found that I could walk if I went slowly - the trick is to walk normally, if you limp you've had it as it gets worse. Anyway, you can't hop wearing a backpack (I bet you try it to see).
Strangely enough, although I get problems with my knee and still need to wear the brace at times, it feels better. As it isn't better I think that it is just that I now feel more confident about it or perhaps more accepting of pain? Not too sure.
I don't know if any of this helps... one problem is the inflammation of course and I found that an Ibuprofen gel was a wonderful pain killer to rub in to the area as it is the only painkiller to also be anti-inflammatory, so it actually heals as well. In the UK the tubes on display are 5% active ingredient but a pharmacist will sell you a 10% tube if you ask.
I think the trick to all this knee, lower limbs thing, is to not be fixed on daily distances and to have a couple of spare days 'tucked up your sleeve' to use as rest days if you need it. This will allow you to walk to the signals from your body rather than to a fixed calendar.
If you don't speak Spanish (I don't) it may be useful to have a full explanation of your problem and what you usually do to help it translated into Spanish before you go. This could then be flashed out at pharmacists/doctors if you need to get medicine/help for it.
That is the situation with my knee, and there are many different types of problems of course. A misaligned back, causing the hips to be slanted, can cause knee problems, as can too much weight of course.
Does anyone out there have any tips?
Knees!
I received a mail about knees as I have a rather faulty one. I thought that it might make a good topic as they do go wrong ...
My knee problem is from a teenage motorcycle accident. The knee was ripped open when I took my motorcycle over the top of a car (door handle of a Pontiac - of all the cars to bump into in England) and put back together again. It always has been a problem. For me it is sideways movement that causes it to fail. The brace I use, a McDavid, has hinges on either side which ensures that the knee tracks and doesn't slip sideways. I find it really useful and still wear it if I overdo things.
It worked very well on my pilgrimage but caused other problems. I found that as there was almost no sideways movement I had difficulties on really rough terrain as I couldn't sway sideways. This caused me to stumble a number of times. Twice I twisted my ankle. The first time not too badly but the second time it was really bad. I kept my boot on, tightened up, as I knew I wouldn't get it on again if I took it off. I was miles from the nearest refuge. After a couple of hours rest I found that I could walk if I went slowly - the trick is to walk normally, if you limp you've had it as it gets worse. Anyway, you can't hop wearing a backpack (I bet you try it to see).
Strangely enough, although I get problems with my knee and still need to wear the brace at times, it feels better. As it isn't better I think that it is just that I now feel more confident about it or perhaps more accepting of pain? Not too sure.
I don't know if any of this helps... one problem is the inflammation of course and I found that an Ibuprofen gel was a wonderful pain killer to rub in to the area as it is the only painkiller to also be anti-inflammatory, so it actually heals as well. In the UK the tubes on display are 5% active ingredient but a pharmacist will sell you a 10% tube if you ask.
I think the trick to all this knee, lower limbs thing, is to not be fixed on daily distances and to have a couple of spare days 'tucked up your sleeve' to use as rest days if you need it. This will allow you to walk to the signals from your body rather than to a fixed calendar.
If you don't speak Spanish (I don't) it may be useful to have a full explanation of your problem and what you usually do to help it translated into Spanish before you go. This could then be flashed out at pharmacists/doctors if you need to get medicine/help for it.
That is the situation with my knee, and there are many different types of problems of course. A misaligned back, causing the hips to be slanted, can cause knee problems, as can too much weight of course.
Does anyone out there have any tips?