only me
06-17-2008, 08:02 PM
Here’s the story.
Female, now 39, active ‘normal’. Suffered with a stiffness in my legs after bending down and always referred to it as ‘seizing up’. Apart from that could run, jump etc. My sport involved running, short sprints, crouching etc. (and no, not being your typical sports person I never warmed up. Ever).
Another thing I have had for as long as I can remember is an aching lower back (sometimes). Sometimes I could feel a little discomfort/pain in my knees, (plural). Didn’t really bother me as I consider myself to have a high pain threshold and I’m a regular tufty!
The above has gone on for years. In my wisdom, I took the plunge and decided to go to a Chiropractitioner. She told me I had 8 vertebrae out and proceeded to ‘fix’ my back. She explained that the knee pain was merely excess pressure exerted on the knee because I stood lop-sided. (Don’t picture me as a freak, I looked normal, honest!)
After a months of treatment, 10 minutes, one a week, my back felt better than ever. Indeed, to this day it has never given me grief since. However, here’s the but …
I ran for a train, something in my knee went ‘ping’ and I have never, ever felt so much pain before. (don’t forget, high threshold for pain blah blah). I could not place my foot on the ground without a tremendous pain shooting up my leg. I cannot stress how painful this was. It went on for weeks. I could not place any weight on my foot at all. When, after weeks, the pain subsided, I could place my foot on the ground but could put no weight on it. My leg would tremble. If, for example, I stood on a mat and someone shunted the mat with their foot, the pain in my knee would be amazing. (amazing not in a good way! :-})
I went back to the Chiropractitioner and she said … (you’ll like this), I don’t know what caused it, I don’t know what to do.
I did my own online research and came to the conclusion that the following happened:
She corrected my back, the muscles (or whatever), in my leg/knee where stretched and on the brink, I ran and ‘pinged’ something. – Just my theory. Like I say my Chiropractitioner didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.
Someone suggested a sports massage. I went to a guy, one hour a week, for many, many weeks. He said the problem was not in my knee but rather that my muscles were too tight. His therapy was to gently push with his finger tips the muscles in both the front and back of my leg. I have to say that when I walked out of there, I felt a springiness and lightness to my step, unfortunately, many months on the progression wasn’t enough to warrant the time and money I was spending.
Along the way I have had an x-ray and that showed as normal.
It has been about 4 years now and I have not been able to take part in the sport I once loved. Nor can I run, I have mastered a kind of jog that doesn’t overly involve my right knee. Walking up steps causes a little pain. It has got better, at one time both walking up and down stairs was a big problem because of the pain. Sometimes my knee will give way. Overall it doesn’t hurt unless I jolt it and then the pain is felt in my knee. (The pain is always at the front, just under the knee cap).
More detail: Imagine this. I sit on a chair. Depending on what height and therefore what angle my leg is, I can only lift my lower leg up so far before the pain kicks in. If I am upright then I can bend and straighten my leg with no problems at all. (It is like my leg gets so far and then won’t go any higher. If I ‘lift’ it past this ‘dead’ area, then it is ok again. If I lay on my side I can bend and straighten my leg with no pain whatsoever. The angles at which I cannot lift/straighten my leg without pain I can ‘mechanically’ move my leg (i.e. hold the weight of it in my hands), and this causes no pain. – If I gently place my finger tips on my knee cap I feel a grindy notchyness to the movement. (this is not present in my other knee).
I have been to the doctor, - eventually – and he says the most probably words, go for an operation and they’ll take a look. Yeah, anyway.
If anyone can offer some help and advice I would be grateful beyond belief. Do you think this is something that is fixable? I foolishly thought that ‘time is a great healer’ - well not for me it bloody hasn’t been.
Please help, otherwise I am just going to get fatter and fatter!
Female, now 39, active ‘normal’. Suffered with a stiffness in my legs after bending down and always referred to it as ‘seizing up’. Apart from that could run, jump etc. My sport involved running, short sprints, crouching etc. (and no, not being your typical sports person I never warmed up. Ever).
Another thing I have had for as long as I can remember is an aching lower back (sometimes). Sometimes I could feel a little discomfort/pain in my knees, (plural). Didn’t really bother me as I consider myself to have a high pain threshold and I’m a regular tufty!
The above has gone on for years. In my wisdom, I took the plunge and decided to go to a Chiropractitioner. She told me I had 8 vertebrae out and proceeded to ‘fix’ my back. She explained that the knee pain was merely excess pressure exerted on the knee because I stood lop-sided. (Don’t picture me as a freak, I looked normal, honest!)
After a months of treatment, 10 minutes, one a week, my back felt better than ever. Indeed, to this day it has never given me grief since. However, here’s the but …
I ran for a train, something in my knee went ‘ping’ and I have never, ever felt so much pain before. (don’t forget, high threshold for pain blah blah). I could not place my foot on the ground without a tremendous pain shooting up my leg. I cannot stress how painful this was. It went on for weeks. I could not place any weight on my foot at all. When, after weeks, the pain subsided, I could place my foot on the ground but could put no weight on it. My leg would tremble. If, for example, I stood on a mat and someone shunted the mat with their foot, the pain in my knee would be amazing. (amazing not in a good way! :-})
I went back to the Chiropractitioner and she said … (you’ll like this), I don’t know what caused it, I don’t know what to do.
I did my own online research and came to the conclusion that the following happened:
She corrected my back, the muscles (or whatever), in my leg/knee where stretched and on the brink, I ran and ‘pinged’ something. – Just my theory. Like I say my Chiropractitioner didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.
Someone suggested a sports massage. I went to a guy, one hour a week, for many, many weeks. He said the problem was not in my knee but rather that my muscles were too tight. His therapy was to gently push with his finger tips the muscles in both the front and back of my leg. I have to say that when I walked out of there, I felt a springiness and lightness to my step, unfortunately, many months on the progression wasn’t enough to warrant the time and money I was spending.
Along the way I have had an x-ray and that showed as normal.
It has been about 4 years now and I have not been able to take part in the sport I once loved. Nor can I run, I have mastered a kind of jog that doesn’t overly involve my right knee. Walking up steps causes a little pain. It has got better, at one time both walking up and down stairs was a big problem because of the pain. Sometimes my knee will give way. Overall it doesn’t hurt unless I jolt it and then the pain is felt in my knee. (The pain is always at the front, just under the knee cap).
More detail: Imagine this. I sit on a chair. Depending on what height and therefore what angle my leg is, I can only lift my lower leg up so far before the pain kicks in. If I am upright then I can bend and straighten my leg with no problems at all. (It is like my leg gets so far and then won’t go any higher. If I ‘lift’ it past this ‘dead’ area, then it is ok again. If I lay on my side I can bend and straighten my leg with no pain whatsoever. The angles at which I cannot lift/straighten my leg without pain I can ‘mechanically’ move my leg (i.e. hold the weight of it in my hands), and this causes no pain. – If I gently place my finger tips on my knee cap I feel a grindy notchyness to the movement. (this is not present in my other knee).
I have been to the doctor, - eventually – and he says the most probably words, go for an operation and they’ll take a look. Yeah, anyway.
If anyone can offer some help and advice I would be grateful beyond belief. Do you think this is something that is fixable? I foolishly thought that ‘time is a great healer’ - well not for me it bloody hasn’t been.
Please help, otherwise I am just going to get fatter and fatter!