Injured my knee

Since my surgery I have had an almost flawless record of exercising every single day.  I think I'm afraid if I let myself skip once, it will be a slippery slope on which I will slide back into my couch potato ways.  :-/

However, this week I injured my knee on my walk.  Don't know how, I felt fine on the walk, it was a distance I had done before (okay, only twice--I was pushing just a bit), but as soon as I sat for a bit, the muscles around my knee clenched up tight and I could hardly walk--can't bend it far, and can't straighten it.

This has happened before, don't get me wrong.  This knee has a partial prosthetic replacement, and is quite arthritic.  But it hasn't happened since my surgery, nor since I have been exercising regularly.

Bottom line:  how do you all keep up your exercising when you have an injury?  Do you give yourself a break, or just try to exercise other muscle groups? 

Try focusing on arms and abs for a bit.  If you feel up to it just amble around some, not to a point of pain of course, but some form of cardio is still good.  Its not like you even need to push yourself to keep the habit going.  If you can walk up and down the block a few times [going as slow as you need to for as long as it is comfortable or as long as your normal workout would take] then you shouldn't really have to worry about losing the routine.  

I really wouldn't worry to much.  Don't do anything that will make it take longer for you to recover or could potentially hurt you worse.

I also have a tricky knee that sometimes allows me to walk for miles and sometimes is so stiff I couldn't do 10 minutes. I find swimming/water aerobics helped immensely when my knee was stiff. Otherwise, the elliptical or bike are good options too for non weight-bearing cardio. What you SHOULDN'T Do - which is something I would often do - is use your knee stiffness/soreness as an excuse not to do any exercise at all :) Good luck!

Thats a bummer.....If I feel any pain, I rest those muscle groups, etc. If I were you I'd workout my upper body for a week, give that knee a rest, then try again....If it keeps being an issue I would get into see if there is a bigger problem......Or get special exercises to build up the muscle around your knee....

Good luck, and keep us posted....Kelly

    Crap knee here, too!

I got broad-sided nearly 14 years ago - that caused lower back pain/problems with my sacriliac (sp?), and eventually the nerves and muscles down into and below my left knee.  I'm happy to report that my weightloss has done away with most of the back pain, but that darn knee...  Apparently (according to x-rays), my kneecap has been pulled off course to the outer part of my knee, so it's not 'gliding' in the groove it's meant to glide in.

Sometimes I can walk quite a bit just fine - a whole day at ValleyFair with no trouble!  Other times, I can barely get around the block with the doggies, without ending up in full-blown limp mode.   I deal by taking ibuprofen liquigels for extreme pain (Tylenol just doesn't do the trick, and the liquigel form is supposed to be less irritating to the pouch than regular ibuprofen tablets).  Sometimes I wear a knee brace.  But I completely agree, do NOT let it stop you from getting some type of exercise in!  Even if you choose to focus on your upper body for a spell, or your core - any and all calorie burning muscle building activity is GOOD for you!

GRRRRR!!

I originally posted this on 10/1.  Since that time the knee got better and I have been gradually building my walk time back up, and feeling great.

This morning I postponed my walk because I had a dentist appt at 7am.  I felt absolutely great getting up and ready this am, then I am sitting in the waiting room--JUST SITTING--and all of a sudden I feel the muscles constrict around my knee again.  I got up to try and shake it out, but they tightened up worse than ever before, so bad that my knee was buckling as I tried to walk back to the dentist chair.  I had to hold onto the wall to get there, and then call my daughter and have her bring crutches over!!

I have an appointment with my orthopedic dr. for Monday, but in the meantime I am a complete gimp!!  I am so frustrated with this!  I feel like I am finally doing the right things for myself and I am being punished for it.

I know there's nothing anyone can do, but I just needed to vent.  Thanks for listening.