Biking With Swollen Knee

[deerfencer]

I've been having some issues with my right knee for a while now; the
problem seems to be centered in the outside tissue area of the knee.
Early this week I did a brisk but fairly easy (no steep grades) 30-
mile ride on my S750X and the knee felt surprisingly good the next
day.

What's weird is that it blew up on me the day after the day after, IOW
about 48 hours after the ride, very swollen, and now here it is
another couple days later and it's still fairly swollen, even though
I've been taking it easy the past couple days.

Hope to see a doctor on Monday but am wondering if a very easy e-ride
this weekend would do any harm. The knee is not particularly painful
at this point, just swollen and a bit stiff from the swelling.

Has anyone out there had experience with this type of knee injury, and
would mild, non-impact exercise be harmful or helpful at this point?


LH

[Tikit]

I would recommend rest and no exercise, not even mild.

[Ken Cline]

I don't expect any of us can predict whether light exercise will help your knee or aggravate it, but pain is usually a good indicator of damage. Active rest can be a very useful approach to recovery from injury at is promotes blood flow and gently "reminds" the body that it need to adapt to motion rather than immobility. Personally, if I avoided activity whenever something hurt, I would never exercise at all! Use good judgment. Have a plan that allows you to take the stress off your knee as soon as it starts hurting (e.g. ride with enough spare charge so you can get home without pedaling if necessary). Pay attention to you knee, and follow that plan if warranted.

I would never presume that we have the same knee problems, but I have had knee pain that sounds similar to yours. In my case, instability in my foot-ankle-knee allows the knee to wander towards the body centerline under heavy stresses, pulling the kneecap outwards where if rubs on the sharp edges of the femur (or is it tibia?). The simple fix was proper wedges under my cycling cleats and orthotics in other shoes, along with a lot of conscious training to keep good form (knee stability) when exercising.

Have a speedy recovery!

[Bike_On]

Swelling is to make you rest it. However, to promote healing, swelling has to subside. Thus, ice aggressively for 20 min, 3_4x a day and recovery will be faster. Sorry to hear of the setback. Emoto, no pedal if desperate to get out. :)

[cakey]

R I C E

[lowco2]

For those who didn't recognize the acronym: Rest Ice Compression Elevation. Best overall therapy bar none. Add antiinflammatory drugs if so inclined, but those four will do wonders. Not that this means much, but I have observed that the worst pain, swelling, etc often comes about 48 hours after overdoing it. The day after an event, big race, whatever, will often feel great. Then it hits you.
Get well soon. I'm sure you'll be back in no time.
John

[Ken Cline]

RICE is fine for vegetarians, but I often prefer MEAT!

The Movement-Exercise-Analgesics-Treatments protocol is a recognized alternative with some promising support in early studies.

A nice comparison can be found here: [http://www.thesportsphysiotherapist.com/rice-or-meat-protocol-for-acute-ligament-sprain-treatment/]

From the article:

"REST – Whilst rest should more accurately be taken as ‘Relative Rest’, some take this to the extreme. Complete rest would be disadvantageous for the treatment of most acute soft tissue injuries."

"The RICE protocol hampers soft tissue healing, whereas MEAT encourages healing"

To be clear - I am NOT advocating walking off a badly sprained ankle. Just saying that in a case like Larry's a little activity is likely beneficial, and, after identifying the cause of the problem, significant (but controlled and sensible) activity may well be best.

[remf]

Interesting comparison though I wouldn't have thought that the 2 protocols are mutually exclusive...why not RICE *and* MEAT? RICE in the hours after the injury and onset of swelling followed by MEAT once swelling subsides in the days following. Seems to be a natural progression, depending on the type & severity of the injury.

Heal quick Larry !!!

[Ken Cline]

Choose what works!  Absolutely.  For example, I still ice when doing MEAT type rehab.  My point is that RICE is not sufficient to heal many problems - at lest in my personal experience.  It can be a good starting point, though.

[Paul_G]

Take a sock and cut the toes off, slide it up and over your knee when you sleep.

The extra heat will make it feel better and the compression will force out the extra water....that also works on great my elbow pain.

Paul G

[deerfencer]

Thanks for all the great advice and tips guys. I did some mild yard
chores yesterday--firing up the lawn tractor for the first cut of the
year, pruning some minor dead wood out of two peach trees--and still
managed to aggravate the knee, so today will be rest and ice therapy.
Worst pain was this morning waking up; knee was extremely stiff and
achy. The NY Times crossword puzzle and an ice pack beckon.

LH

[deerfencer]

Happy to report the ICE method worked like a charm! Thanks for the
good advice.

LH

[lowco2]

Good to hear you are improving. The body has an amazing ability to repair itself if we just stop beating on it.
 --John

[deerfencer]

> The body has an amazing ability to repair
> itself if we just stop beating on it.

Yup. In college I was housemates with one of the guys on the UNH ski
team. His idea of a good workout was pushing himself to the point
where he tossed his cookies. Talk about self-abuse!

Larry