I am in the early stages of training for a triathalon in May and was worried about my knee. 2 years ago I tore my acl...although I experience NO PAIN from this injury, it lingers in the back of my mind that it could give out on me at any time. I am slowly starting to run and I will have to kearn how to swim...I fear my mind won't let me past the possibility of injury. Anyone who has done a tri with this and knows what I'm describing, please help.
Thanks

I am 15 years old and have a total of 4 knee surgeries, 1 on my left knee and 3 on my right knee. My passion in life is to play basketball and i have since i was about 4 or 5 and i went to my first dayof basketball the other day for summer and my knee dislocated again and i probally wont be able to play basketball again. I am absolutly crushed my first year of high school basketball and it messed up, I wasnt able to play but 1 1/2 years of middle school because of my knees but i was wondering if anyone knew of a sport that i could play or something to get my mind off of this. Thanks so much.

Has anyone had open realese to the knee joint
I would like to here from you thanks

Ouch, just reading the comments gives me a twinge in both of my newly replaced knees. Yes, I was one of those yahoos who did not look after some knee injuries that started in my youth. Hockey primarily, a goaltender and later a defenceman. A catcher in baseball. add to that several years on a motorcycle in cold, wet Maratime weather, and several years as a floor installer, all of the above definite"knee-killers". I'm only 61. Arthritis runs in my family with a brother & three sisters who have had various joint replacements, particularly knees. So here I am today after several scopes and now two new knees, but still rockin' on. Keep on playing people, you only go through once.

The study referenced in this article appears to be very similar to another that I encountered in a coaching symposium last fall.
The initial study I saw was done with basketball athletes, but the results were found to be applicable to some other sports as well (most notably volleyball).

The key difference noted was that women's knees tended to move inward on landing, towards a "knock-kneed" position. This produced a significant strain on the knee that was attributed as the cause of higher knee injury rates in women. The men consistently landed jumps without this inward knee movement, and had lower injury rates within the activity context.

The good news was that the women were able to successfully train their landing mechanics to avoid the inward knee movement, with the end result being a significant reduction in injury occurences.

I ran a 50k in february, the next weekend was a half marathon, the next weekend was an 8 mile night race and since my knees kinda hurt. However, I ran a marathon last november in Tulsa, OK and my knees hurt after that, but they recovered in less than a month. I think my problem is walking to school too much...honestly. Walking sucks, running is so much less painful. Is this possible?

I'm a 17 year old female, and I just had my 4th knee surgery on the same knee. Two of the surgeries were only scopes removing some cartilage, but my first surgery was an ACL reconstuction and meniscal repair. The latest surgery I had was about a month ago and it was an ACL reconstruction, meniscus transplant, and cartilage restoration. Let's just say I NEVER want to have to go through something like that again. It pretty much looks like I'm done with sports, and I can't even play my senior year of volleyball!

I participated in a fire drill at my new office building and was not aware that there were two staircases per floor, which meant that there was lots of turns that I needed to deal with at a quick pace. I ended up hurting my knee. It feels like my knee is going to dislocate at certain times. I slipped and dislocated my other knee years ago, so I am familiar with the sensation.

Thank you for researching this condition.

I have a place to start. My docter did not have much to say when I went to see her.

Yours truly,

Mary Mac Millan

I have played hockey and soccer for number of years and unfortunately pay the price. I have had a total of 6 knee surgeries, ranging from ACL repair to MCL repair and cartilidge removal. The most serious of them all was a omplete rupture of the patella tendon.... this was a direct result of a cortisone injection into the tendon for tendonitis. If I could offer any information or insight to anyone who is considering this procedure I would advise NOT to do it. The resulting surgery was excruciating as was the follow up surgery from a broken knee cap and lateral release of the extensor fascias latta due to the tendon repair not being fully processed. Having said all that, apart from the odd twinge and wobbly feeling from time to time, I run three times a week and play a competitive level of soccer. I attribute this to squats and leg presses ( not leg extensions ) with emphasis on the VMO, vastimus medialis muscle,( inner quad ).

Having led a fairly active life, I have suffered with my fair share of kneee injuries. I always attributed discomfort to the long term effects of playing rugby for many years. Having given up the contact sport, I took up running and competed at cross-country and half marathon distances. Once again, I think the constant jarring did me no favours at all. Finally I settled down to indulge my passion for cycling. Still my knees ached. One day (during an overnight stay at a bed and breakfast) I was pointed in the direction of Glucosamine Sulphate. I now take a dose of about 1500 mg a day. All I can say is that my knees used to hurt. I cycle further and more frequently now than ever (around 150 Km per week during the winter and over 250 Km per week for the rest of the year). Nothing else has changed except that I take Glucosamine AND... my knees don't hurt.
For me, the issue was never to give up being active. The only question was which sport?
I suppose when I finally lose my ability to balance, I will simply invest in a racing tricycle.
Keep the faith - stay active.
Simon Pont

I had an ACL reconstruction in 1997 after seriously damaging my knee playing squash. While my family doctor advised that I not have the surgery because I am not an elite athlete, I went ahead with it anyway and am glad I did. Knee stability is really important to participate in sports, and I've actually become more active since the surgery. However, I've restricted myself to sports that won't put the ACL graft in jeopardy - no court sports, no football and no downhill skiing!

In the past few years I've noticed that my knees ache and my left knee (the non-injured side) will swell if I try running after being sedentary for a few months. I'm only 30 and hope this isn't a sign of bad things to come! After a bit of research, I found a solution to knee fatigue, which may fly in the face of current wisdom but has worked very well for me. I have exchanged my heavy, motion control shoes with elevated heels for light racing flats and have forced myself to land forefoot/ball first instead of heel first, so my calves take all the shock. This has helped my knees tremendously - they no longer swell, and I am completely pain free. My calves get a bit sore once in a while, but this goes away with training...hopefully this change of technique will allow me to run for the rest of my life.

I have never run a marathon, but I have participated in the Brantford Classic Run, doing the Walk. I have had trouble with my knees since grade school. Last March I started taking a supplement made from the Mangosteen fruit, it is a juice. My overall health has improved and so has my joint health. I thought I may have to have my right knee operated on, as I had been having more and more difficulty with cycling and climbing stairs. Since I started on the Mangosteen juice, I am pain free 90% of the time and my energy level is great!x Best of all, no more pain pills.

To Bud:

I've experienced similar knee pain, and was told by probably the best trainer that I've ever had that it might be IT Bands (they run along the outside of your hips) rather than my knees themselves. The trainer gave me a great stretch that I now do twice a day, and it has made a huge difference. No gaurantee that it will work for you, but it's worth a shot, right?

Lie on your back, knees bent, and feet as far apart as you can.

Slowly collapse your knees in towards each other.

Hold for 30 seconds.

Repeat.

Best of luck!

I've had ITBS on both sides and what saved me both times was strength work. The stretching and massage helped, but the missing piece was correcting the muscle imbalance between the IT and the vastus medialus which is the muscle that runs down the middle of the quad and ends on the inside part of the knee. It was too weak, and the cure was leg curls. Now I have patellar tendinitis in my right knee, which is a real drag. I get pretty stiff after I run. 10ks are fine, but I'm not sure about a marathon training cycle. I'd love to do the marathon here in August. Vamos a ver!

In the mid-1970's I was diagnosed with bilateral chondromalacia patella. In 1978 I underwent the first of 5 knee surgeries over the next 25 years. Every time I tried running again I looked over my shoulder and saw the surgeon chasing me with a scalpel. I was doing it all wrong: I would decide it was time to start running again, strap on a pair of shoes and go too long, too far, too fast.

In December 2004, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and had to start running to manage my weight and control my disease. I started with a walk-to-run program. I have since completed two 5K, a dozen 10K, two 10-milers, six half-marathons, one 30K, and the 2005 Honolulu Marathon. In two weeks I will again be running the Around the Bay 30K in Hamilton and on May 6 I will complete my second marathon. So far, no sign of the surgeon chasing me! Maybe the key to successful running is a proper approach to training, proper shoes, and pay attention to your body.

I am also assisting with a local learn-to-run clinic for the second year in a row, trying to help new runners avoid the mistakes I made.

I have been very active in sports for most of my life (skiing, hockey, rugby, running, biking, squash, tennis, golf, volleyball, basketball, baseball... ), and have never had a serious knee injury. I am now 38, and, with having three kids, have cut back on the sports dramatically over the past 5 years. I still play hockey, but only about once a week and don't do much else (only for a time until the diapers and sleep deprivation get back to normal). Unfortunately, despite my lack of knee injury, I seem to suffer from significant knee pain when I do any kind of running or even serious hiking. I can run 5k at a steady and fast past from a cardio perspective and feel like I could keep going, but the knee pain by the time I hit 4 to 5 kms prevents me from being able to go further... I used to play ball hockey (running around on cement inside a full size arena) in the summers too, but this just kills my knees. They tend to swell up the day after these types of activities and I am literally limping around in pain. I can play ice hockey as much as I want without any problem... Does anyone have any ideas about what I should do to try and resolve this problem. I have tried investing in expensive shoes... I would really like to train for and run a marathon, or even do a triathalon as well.

I felt my first ITBS ping a couple of months ago during a training run for what would be my first marathon. I tried everything. Icing, stretching and a foam roller. I even stopped running - missing more than a month's worth of long runs. I did my first run yesterday - about 6K and eventually felt the familiar tingle on the outer leg, running along the side of my knee. At this point, I realise I will not run my marathon but I've also made peace with it according to the following terms:

1) There will always be another race
2) Being able to run (at all) is better than attempting to get training in while you're injured
3) There's no joy in attempting to race while injured
4) I'd rather return to training when I'm injury free and reach my time goal than rationalise a six hour finish

Also, time away from running 'ain't such a bad thing. I've taken stock of a lot of other areas of my life. Realised that I might need balance (to my drive) and finding out that running won't go away. It's there for me whenever I am ready to return.

I have had my share of knee pain having played 16 years of rugby. 2 ACL operations (and numerous other knicks and dings) and I dropped rugby for running. At that time knee pain was almost chronic. I now do 8-10 half marathons or longer each year and my knees only hurt on cold/damp days. I attribute that to age (42). In other words my knees are stronger as a runner than when playing rubgy. Genetics is part of it, but proper conditioning, shoes and form is also important.

I am 10 days out of the reconstructive ACL surgery (hamstring tendon) and apparently my recovery is going pretty well. Having done five marathons and an ultra, I opted for the surgery because even though I am not a spring chicken at 41, I want to keep running trails and moderate 40-50k weeks for as long as I possibly can. My research tells me that if I am smart about the physio/rehab, then the odds are with me and I may yet see the jungle trails of Singapore once more. Running never bothered my knees and yet a fun volleyball game with my colleagues will lay me up for many months - yes, it is that easy!

Although I run only a third of your distance in a year my joints are good, while the other 45 year old I train with fall apart. Same as you but my ancestors rocky paths were in Ireland. Good shoes have made the difference with me. I once talked to a fellow who had tied to train for a duathlon and gave up as he had shin splints. When I suggested that he invest in a good pair of running shoes and what they would cost he suggesed I might be crazy.
I guess he didn't want to train very badly.
Dan O'Brien

Ugh, Bad knees.

I'm a 22 year old female, and last May I ran my first marathon in Vancouver.
Since then, I've been back and forth to the physiotherapist and podiatrist (high arches), trying to fix the patellar-femoral syndrome that developed in my right knee.
I'd really like to run again, and maybe do another marathon, but from here, it looks like it's going to be even a while yet before I can even run a 5K without monster pain the next day.
Those of you with good knees are truly blessed.