Knee Advice

jontymo

Hi all, i'm looking for some advice

I'm 41 and a little overweight 6ft tall and 16 stone, for the last 8 years or so i have had problems on long decents when walking ie coming down from places like scafell/snowden etc where both knees give me major jip but the day after i'm ok

I've not been on my bike much lately but again i can guarentee i will get some major pain in one or other of my knees when going for a 15/20 miler which near me means a good few steep hills, i gave up on the mtbing for this reason.

Anyway today my misses who by the way keeps on at me to go to the doctors again, says my left knee is pointed slightly outwards when pedalling.

I have been to the docs who says there is nothing that can be done and due to a motorcycle accident where i ripped my knee open 15 years ago i must expect some athritis/rhuematism in my knee and this is the better knee.

Sorry this is a bit long winded, but can anyone point me in the right direction on what to do ie physio etc, i have Bupa cover through work so could use this if required!
Any advice will be taken seriously Thanks all.

Mettan

jontymo wrote:

Anyway today my misses who by the way keeps on at me to go to the doctors again, says my left knee is pointed slightly outwards when pedalling.

I have been to the docs who says there is nothing that can be done and due to a motorcycle accident where i ripped my knee open 15 years ago i must expect some athritis/rhuematism in my knee and this is the better knee

Hi - it depends on what the problem is - if you've got Medial knee arthritis???, your knee over time will start to show varus mal-alignment (knee/leg bowing outwards at the knee) - this in-turn causes excessive loading on your inner-medial knee compartment - one way to possibly reduce load on this inner compartment is to put some kind of lateral foot wedge in your shoe to transfer some of the load from your inner medial side to the outer-lateral side - there's conflicting evidence as to how effective this is at reducing load - but its something worth reading up on. (Your GP is best placed to diagnose your particular situation though). (Without a full diagnosis, or clear description, its not easy to offer advice). Regards physio, strong musculature can provide increased stability around the knee joint so general leg strengthening, in particular your Quads could provide increased stability. Using easier gears/higher cadence might be something worth considering aswell. And you could always build more rest days into your riding schedule, to give the knee pain time to calm down.