Knee update

[Kay/NC]

Mike took Winn with him to get the cattle waterer bolted down in the new pasture this morning. Deal was I needed to get a quick telephone call done and carry a letter to mail out at our roadside box. I decided to walk it out, which is a half-mile round trip.

This is something I simply couldn't have done without a lot of pain just a few weeks ago. As I strode along, I decided to pick up the pace to a slow jog. Don't remember how long ago I quit that. Ten years, at least.

Made it out and back comfortably. After we finished the waterer, we took a refreshment break, then ran about 1000 feet of divider electric polywire, splitting the new pasture into two paddocks. Probably walked another half-mile or more, then another good stretch back to my car. Not a hint of pain.

Mike had mentioned yesterday, at our fuel pitstop on the way back from VA, that I don't hobble across to the restroom and back anymore. I actually walk pretty normally, and am taking stairs in stride now, too.

I attribute this improvement to the training and performance stretching my trainer has done with me over the last two months.

Never thought I would feel this good ever again. Still a long way to go to realize my full fitness goals, but if this is all the improvement I ever get, it would still be a quantum leap from where I was.

Have also realized something I should have noticed long ago: many of my everyday sneakers are bent down on the outside of their heels, especially on the bad right side. I have been using them, because the uppers still look great. If you look at the row of pairs I wear in a week, you can see which ones are " broken" in this manner...has to be adding stress to a joint that already has been challenged too much.

Mike noticed it, and told me to throw them away. Hard for me to do, but I think he's right. I had bought a new pair a couple of weeks ago, in a different, better-supporting brand. The usual shin pain in my right leg has stopped, because I was wearing this new brand ( Brooks) that my trainer recommended for me.

Didn't know that different shoes are made to correct pronation or suppination. If you read the product details on a site like Zappo's, you can learn a lot that really helps with such issues. No telling if the wearing of the meniscus on the inside of my right knee wasn't made worse all along by wearing the wrong shoes, or wearing rundown ones too long.

Feeling so much better, and that has a way of having a multiplier effect. The better this knee, the more I can move, the better I can burn off weight and tone up. .

[Suey73]

My knee has been feeling better to.   Unless I'm doing stressful/physical work  I'm not wearing my knee brace.   Less  ibuprophen too.  Not sure what to think.   I've had an MRI  but haven't heard anything.   I waited 5 weeks  before going to the doctor waiting  to see what the problem was.   It still pops and creeks a little.   But down to just a dull ache at night.

My husband was having lots of knee pain.   He is bowl legged.   Orthopedic doctor  had him put special inserts in his shoes.  As long as he isn't climbing ladders his knees don't bother him now.     To help some of my leg and ankle pain  I use inserts for my arches.   Makes a lot of difference.   I even have them in my rubber work boots.    It is so nice to feel less pain and wanting to get work done. 

[Kay/NC]

The more I deal with this problem, the more I realize how a family tendency to walk diwn the outsides of our heels wears out everything up the skeleton. This right knee is complicated with a very bad ankle fracture ( 5 breaks in one slip) in 1993.

The nice thing about feeling better yesterday came up over supper last night. We got that pasture watering sustem completed, then ran the step-ins and polywire to divide it, working with Winn and our daughter. He has a big time helping us, and the time we spent together was very reminiscent of taking our own three to the hayfields way back when.

Mike brought it up, and it was a very emotional memory, of course. He has relied on me to have all the pieces of this puzzle laid out, but he had done the rest of a demanding project without my direct physical help. He was just so relieved when they walked thise cows across the path ti fresh grass yesterday afternoon.

I hate how much my limitations have held us both back, for so long. I wish I had had access to this therapy a long time ago. The trainer is on,y 24, and has only been back here from college for a couple of years, so I really woukdn't have found it here but so much sooner. Still, I find myself thinking about how different life could have been, if I had been feeling better and more able to ambulate.

[turkey feather]

This has really touched me. I threw away a pair of shoes I had been wearing in the house when I noticed how worn one was on the heal only a few days ago. I wear Easy Spirit but I will check out Brooks. I have so many shoes that I cannot wear now with my leg being .75 inches short. An insert brings it up .5. The next option would be a built up shoe.

We were at the attorneys office this week for a deposition with the other attorney and now will meet with a mediator. We hope to avoid a trial but will do that it the settlement is not good. I consider myself a 'tough old farm woman' as stated by one of my doctors. But when I really think about all the things I can no longer do it is a long list. I am not even sure I could live here by myself.

[manureseller]

Spend the $$$$ on good shoes and you will not go wrong.  For tennis shoes I buy New Balance or a rare pair of Adidas.  For boots I'm still looking for another pair, I've been a Ariat fan but it seems their quality just isn't there any more.  For nice shoes it's either Born or Naturliazer unless I find a shoe of a different type that I like.  Right now I'm on the hunt for a pair of brown sandels and I've been looking for about 5 years now.  I have a pair that I love but they are no longer in business which sucks!  I did splurge last year and bought a pair of Mendle hunting boots and man I love those to the point that I've been looking at other Mendle shoes.  Expensive but so worth the money. 

[Ruby Lou]

I used to have alot of knee problems too.  I had my chiro adjust my leg bones below the knee.  Also keep my sacrum in line.  has been a world of differance.  I can feel my knee/leg go out and either kick it out to put it back in place or have him adjust it.  last spring I was having problems with my foot.  went to foot doctor and he said I have a neuroma.  Got some shots in the foot.  Didn't seem to want to go away...I wondered if it was my shoes worn out.  I have had my chiro adjust the bones in my foot and ankle and has been much better.  Not completely gone away, but manageable now.  If I wear certain shoes/boots it acts up.  (Yes manureseller - my Ariats) they aren't really even broke in yet.  Need new work sandals and shoes sooo bad!

[Ruby Lou]

Turkey....am sorry for what you are going through.  dealing with lawyers on injuries is no fun.  Yes, I am injured, yes it hurts, but I still keep going, because that is who I am!  Was filling out paperwork for the rheumotologist and one question asks what I cannot do....I wrote "FUNCTION"! that is what I feel.  When ya gotta do, what ya gotta do...you just do it!!!

[wt51015]

I ditto that manureseller. Good shoes mean good foundation for our body. Justin boots have been good in the past, but I haven't bought any lately. New Balance are my go to tennis shoes and I buy a couple at a time to reduce shipping costs. Don't wear fancy shoes much so don't spend much if anything on them (maybe once every 3-4 yrs). Would only buy a classic shoe if I was going to buy a good fancy shoe. Just watch out for those sales.

[SLC]

I had an ACL replacement about 10 years ago and for a long time prior and after the surgery I was so careful about that knee..  then several months out, I suddenly realized I was not limping or favoring  it anymore.   What a wonderful feeling!   I agree on shoes being very important.   You can save in a lot of places but don't scrimp on your shoes.   Ariat & New Balance are good.  I also found Sperrys to work well for me.. with an Ariat insole - which I believe is the key to me.  

[Kay/NC]

I tend to move from one brand, usually a certain style I like gets phased out, then on to another brand. The shoes that are worn out now are all Adidas.

The new ones that have such nice arch support are Brooks minimalist runners, which have a band across the arch and instep. In reading about them on Zappo's, I see that some styles are for pronators, others for suppinators, some are neutral. There is even some difference as to mild or more pronounced degrees of the heel slant.

I got back with the trainer today, and she can get the lower half of me pretty well worked over in 15 minutes now, leaving the other 15 minutes for my shoulders, neck and back. She used the Arnica oil I carried in today. It helped with skin friction, but the pain of her kneading into the muscles and connective tissues was pretty bad...she says it's a wreck.

When I got home and started climbing out of my bucket seat, there was no strain or pain in my knees at all. I would love to think my upper back and neck will improve as much as quickly.