Knee problems, advice anyone

Hi Gus,
I'm Stacey Mitchell from Baltimore Maryland,USA. I had (have) Knee problems
I used to run and I used to ride an upright bike. I had both knees done in
surgery for torn miniscus. My physical thearpest has given me knee saving
advice. Stop running , stop riding an upright bike, ride a recumbent. I've
been doing that for 3 years now and as long as I ride my knees are OK! Stop
riding , they hurt again.
That's my two cents,
Stacey

"Gus" wrote in message
...
Not looking for a medical diagnosis but would like to hear from someone
who
has suffered similar knee problems. Have been to a specialist who
diagnosed
arithis. But i feel that there is probably alot one can still do to avoid
resulting pain (though he said its just wear and tear and there is nothing
I
can do about it). To be honest i'm not sure I believe the arithis is the
complete cause of my problem nor do i have alot of faith in the specialist
(a national health system specialist, free in the UK) I saw.

Last year I started having problems going up/down stairs where I would
experience knee pain right behind and immediately around the kneecap when
i
put pressure/weight on my left leg. Cycling and jogging which i continue
to
do did not seem to aggravate the condition at the time. This has now
improved probably due to the fact I have been doing some knee exercises.

Unfortunately I have started having similar problems again with my left
knee
but this time am experiencing alot of pain at the left and right sides of
my
knee cap. Slightly different than before when it seemed more immediate to
the kneecap. I notice that its very painful on the start of a cycle run or
restarting having rested for a bit. If i put pressure on the muscles at
either side it feels quite tender. The weird thing is that the next day
its
fine when i'm walking around. Running does not yet seem to have had the
same
effect. I should add I ride a mixture of BikeE, HPV Spirit and
Streetmachine
recumbents and have been doing so on and off for about 3 years now.

Any help would be appreciated
Gus

"Gus" wrote in message ...
Not looking for a medical diagnosis but would like to hear from someone who
has suffered similar knee problems. Have been to a specialist who diagnosed
arithis. But i feel that there is probably alot one can still do to avoid
resulting pain (though he said its just wear and tear and there is nothing I
can do about it). To be honest i'm not sure I believe the arithis is the
complete cause of my problem nor do i have alot of faith in the specialist
(a national health system specialist, free in the UK) I saw.

Last year I started having problems going up/down stairs where I would
experience knee pain right behind and immediately around the kneecap when i
put pressure/weight on my left leg. Cycling and jogging which i continue to
do did not seem to aggravate the condition at the time. This has now
improved probably due to the fact I have been doing some knee exercises.

Unfortunately I have started having similar problems again with my left knee
but this time am experiencing alot of pain at the left and right sides of my
knee cap. Slightly different than before when it seemed more immediate to
the kneecap. I notice that its very painful on the start of a cycle run or
restarting having rested for a bit. If i put pressure on the muscles at
either side it feels quite tender. The weird thing is that the next day its
fine when i'm walking around. Running does not yet seem to have had the same
effect. I should add I ride a mixture of BikeE, HPV Spirit and Streetmachine
recumbents and have been doing so on and off for about 3 years now.

Any help would be appreciated
Gus

Gus use shorter cranks. Maximize leg extension in your pedal stroke
and take all that stuff everyone else is talking about. Kelly

Looks like all pretty good advice, but if the problem persists, I
agree with Ian. A proper Sports Physio can often recommend stretches
and exercises that will help.

john riley

My wife and I have had similar problems with "You're just wearing out"
diagnoses recently. I had been unable to cycle for more than 5
minutes without pain that persisted for several days and had been that
way for over ten years without getting a doctor to take me seriously.
Try the physical therapy route; if it works it's a great deal better
than surgery. If it fails or if the cartilage damage is too
pronounced (your doctor should be able to estimate what grade it is
from the MRIs; Grade 1 is reversible, maybe. Grade 2 is some tearing,
Grade 3 is cartilage that looks like crab meat, and grade 4 is exposed
bone) there are options available for cartilage repairs. Abrasion
arthoplasty or microfracture are used in Europe and occasionally in
the US to regrow cartilage. Carticel or other techniques use
transplanted cartilage or grown and implanted cartilage. Sites like
kneeguru or knee1 discuss them, or you're welcome to email me and I'll
pass along the list of sites we used when we were trying to decide
what to do.

One note that US doctors often fail to mention: Non-steroidal
anti-inflamatories, NSAIDs like Advil, are being linked to cartilage
damage. Prolonged use seems to make arthritis worse. Glucosamine has
actually been found to do better over long use.