Knee Pain - feels like someone's prying my kneecap off after I work out?

Question

I'm just getting back into working out after a long break - hate to even say but its been about a 2 year break which included a rough pregnancy and now my daughter is 16 months old - so I can't say its her fault anymore because I've had more than enough time to get the weight off. I have 20lbs i MUST lose so I can stop being disgusted w/ my self. 15 still from the pregnancy & 5 from before -

So to my point. I used to be a runner. I HATE to exercise but running is the one thing that I do enjoy if I must do something. Biking has always killed my knees so I quit that long ago. Now I've started working out again - Day one I did 1/2 hr on the cybex (s/p) - similar to an eliptical I guess and by bedtime my knees were killing me. Yesterday I ran/walked on the treadmill for a 1/2 hr & did weights and felt the same. Then by morning its better.

Why are they doing that??? ANything I can do for relief? Heat seems to help so yesterday I sat in the sauna after I worked out.

Answer 1

You're on the right track using heat to help the pain. running is extremely hard on the joints. if you can swim that would be a much better exercise for you, without causing so much pain. if not walking in water will help ease the harsh impact on the knees.

I highly recommend Yoga. Not only does it exercise all of your muscles, you will lose weight very fast. And it does not have a hard impact on the joints.

Continue using heat, such as a heating pad on your knees. Try to cut back on the exercises. Give your muscles and joints a rest.

Answer 2

Good for you for getting back out there. Based on the prying your kneecap off comment, I'd say you are have patellar tendon pain. Here's a couple of suggestions:

- Rather than throwing yourself right back into running/elliptical training, you should start off with long walks. Walking is great exercise, start with 30 minutes, then move your self to longer walk times if you have no issues. Once you have done the walking a few times, trying throwing in a minute or two of easy running every 10 minutes or so. Run more as you get more comfortable.

- Ice is what you are looking for, right after you work out.

- Biking is by far the easiest on your knees, as you are not bearing any weight. If that hurts your knees, plus everything else hurts, you should see a professional. Perhaps you can start out with a free consultation at a Physical Therapist. They will typically give you a free evaluation to assess your problem. Your next stop is the family doctor, or an orthopeidist if you have one. Problem with knee docs is most are surgeons, that's what they do, how they make their money.

- Bike fit is a key component to easy biking. If your seat is too high or too low, that can cause knee pain. Another suggestion is working with a professional training to get a program set up specifically for you. You don't have to have a trainer for every day you work out, but you can hire one for once a week for a few weeks to set up a good program and good form for your excercises. Good form is the key to working out with out hurting.

Good luck

Answer 3

I have something called Osgoodslaughters Disease. This is where over time, calcium deposits build up in the knee joints and cause the tendons to stretch out further causing pain. I was told there are 2 things to help with this, 1-Surgery to remove the deposits 2-Continue to use the joint and it wears down the deposits. I chose 2 and it works. I have always been active but had been out of commision for some time and the deposits came back, and I had to wear them back down, Ibuprophin works well to help the irritation. Sounds like you may have something similar. Generally if you have a tear or something like that in your knee, it will feel like an intense Burning.

Answer 4

I always answer people' knee questions on here as I just had my 13th surgery so I am a seasoned knee injury veteran. And I will tell you what I tell everyone else. See an orthopedic (bone and joint) doctor. He/she will discuss your symptoms with you and take xrays and an mri scan. The xrays will probably show nothing, but the mri will give you your answers. The knee is a very complicated joint with 4 main ligaments and tons of cartilage including the meniscus. People on yahoo answers will give you their best guess and say "I had the same thing!" but you will never know without getting images of your knee taken. I am very knowledgeable on the subject, but I wouldn't begin to tell you what is going on without looking at images of your knee. Well, with that said I have to take a guess since I know a lot about knees. My best guess is you have cartilage damage on the cartialge that covers the underside of your patella. So please, see a doctor and get it checked out....the earlier the better....you do not want to be like me and have 13 surgeries and huge scars...trust me. Good luck to you.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Not sure if you have significant damage to knees but I would take the pain as nature's way of telling you to do exercise that is not stressful and painful like swimming perhaps. Yes and whatever works like heat in the sauna is good. Best wishes and Congratulatioins on your daughter!

Answer 7

Sounds like Condro Malasia....when cartilage in your knee caps wears down causing the bones to rub together.
You should try to find exercises that will strenthen the thigh muscles. It will help alleviate the stress on the knee cap.

Answer 8

well you could ask your Dr., but it could just be because you have not ran\walked like that in a while. You could take Advil and put a heating pad on you knee when it does that, but I would call the Dr. if it is still doing that in a week, because you could have injured it and did not realize it.