I started jumping rope 4 to 5 times a week last August. I made the mistake of moving to the concrete side walk when the soil I had been using started getting soggy(the end of September). Last October I started having pain in both knees. The hard surface (that I was dumb enough to jump on) I decided was what pushed my knees over the edge so I stopped jumping rope and about a week later they started feeling better(as in it didn't hurt to get out of a chair every time I sat down). Edit:However, I am still haveing problems with them.
I have never had particularly good knees but I had not previously had any trouble with them. Some days are better than others. Sometimes I have pain in only one knee. I have not been able to isolate any particular activities that aggravate them or help them. I want to continue training my legs but I am not sure what exercised to do.
I have been looked into supplements like glucosamine, chondroitin , msn etc and I have not read much of anything that convinces me that they are worth spending money on. I have also been taking fish oil several times a day and I have not noticed much improvements.
rowers, ellipticals, bikes used for sprints are a good idea.
use no or very low impact machines, see how they feel. take it slow, don't do it a bunch of times a week yet.
don't ever jump rope on anything but a heavily padded surface again, preferably earth + padding. don't try to do it 5 times a week either. only try roping again if your knees check out and doctors OK it.
ask your doctor about starting this. she has the final say.
i've had similar problems for a while w/ knees, ankles, shoulder. i used to do a lot of jump ropes when i was younger (34 now) and was pretty dumb in the way i did it too. now i only do them on mats at home and i don't even do that too often.
i also take fish oil and glucosamine and w/ fish oil i do see other benefits but don't know if i see either one helping my joints much. i try and do joint exercises (this seems to help) and wear knee pads for bjj.
the only ones i know are from scott sonnon's "body flow". i'm sure you could google either his name or "body flow" and you'll have no trouble finding it. i didn't pay attention to the whole thing but the exercises are good warm ups and i usually feel better after doing them. you should probably talk to someone with more expertise before doing any of the exercises to make sure they're safe for your knees though.
Arthritis-inflamation of a joint. Yes of course it's inflamed I could have told you that. I hear crap like this all the time they just don't want to really deal with you some they try using a big term that you might not understand give you a drug you can buy over the counter then bill your insurance hundreds of dollars for an office visit that could have been avoided by listening to some jackass on MMA.tv
I wonder about her sometimes stbjj... I am a full time student and I get my medical through the V.A. right now so who knows what I am dealing with :( However I don?t pay very much to have these visits. Sometimes I feel I am getting exactly what I pay for?
Shit the VA... the government fucking the troops yet again. You already pre paid. How much time did you spend in the service, that's how much you paid.
Well I got some X-rays taken and the results indicate that I have a 'narrowing of the joint'. This narrowing can cause irritation and inflammation of the tissue associated with the joint. I have an appt with the physical therapy department so we will see how that goes.
it can be caused by a thining of the cartalage but is not a conclusive diagnosis due to the fact they don't know what your knee look like before you had symptoms. There is a chance your knee always looked like that.
There are double-blind studies that show some benefit to glucosamine with chondroitin. My knee surgeon recommended it at dosages of 1500mg glucosamine and 1200mg of chondroitin daily.
If your problem is caused partly by weak hips allowing your knee to turn in, physical therapy can help with that. They will have you put an elastic band around your ankles and take sideways steps to work the hip abductors (the side of your hip). They'll also have you do lunge/split-squat type exercises. If you're using your quads more than your hips with the jump-rope, that just makes things worse. My therapist is having me work up to 3 sets of 20 single-leg jumping squats. I'm supposed to keep my weight on the heel and use the hip more than the quad.
Unfortunately Docs don't know alot about soft tissue.
it could be muscular and I agree with ROR lay off the impact work especially on hard surfaces.
I would look into a concept that we use called self myofascial release with foam rollers, med balls, and etc.
go to wwww.perfrombetter.com and look under training artciles and you'll find it. I and my peers have saved countless people from going to the ortho.
I'm not saying I'm a doc. and doc.s are needed but given your age etc. I know for a fact MIke Boyle saved a 19 year old basketball player from the knife.
with foam rolling and massage. They were going to do exploratory knee surgery on her. He found out it was here glute medius.
Muscle strains and overuse injuries can mimic knee pain. The other thing I suggest is if find a good massage therapist or physiotherapist.
SpiritHorse, they're split squats with your back foot resting on a stability ball. During the squat, you have to keep your knee still, over the middle of your foot. When your knee can't move, you have to push mostly with your hip. You arch your back and pull your shoulder-blades back, like with regular squats. I hold my arms out a little for balance, but that's not required.