Search results matching tag 'knee'

Re: Exercise

SgtCedar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:49:22 GMT

You are right about up and down steps. My apartment is on the second floor of a ninteenth-century building with a store on the first floor. I often get out of breath walking up the steps but my knees normally only hurt when I go down the loooong steps.

I do not know how much weight is taken off the knees when you lose 10 pounds. I will ask my reumatologist when I see him next month. Four pounds sounds reasonable.

You never realize how uneaven the sidewalks are until your knees hurt. The city put in the wheelchair ramps a few years ago when they got money to replace all the traffic signals and street signs with overhead fixtures. While the signals and signs were all done by one company the ramps were done by several companies. I do not know how many different designs and shapes there are.

The city has a lot of shade trees. The result is many uneven walks. While the city replaces some old sidewalks they did not replace the curbs in most cases. I knew we had a lot of curbs that were not concrete but I never realized how many. Some have very durable granite curbs like old banks and some old churches but most of them are slate. The slate curbs are almost gone in most places. The sidewalks that the city redbuilt seem to have been built with a normal slope toward the street. However some owners hired a contractor to do the work rather than paying the city. If the curb was almost gone they simply put the walk at any crazy angle to meet the top of what was left of the curb.

Most people probably never realize how bad the sidewalks are. It is only those of us with arthritis or knee injuries who suffer. The good news though is today I managed to walk two miles with no pain in my knees. It did not even take two blocks for my knees to stop being stiff.

Re: Exercise

SgtCedar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:24:51 GMT

I have not needed surgery yet. I am sure it is a matter of time. I am hoping if I can lose enough weight it will take enough strain off the knees to push it way down the road.

It is funny in a way that getting a diagnosis of diabetes was needed to motivate me to get my weight under control. My doctor has been after me for years. While I was not given early retirement from the National Guard because of my weight, it was a problem way back then (about 9 years ago). I atribute success this time to two things.

I have a friend who has had diabetes for many years and she really suffers from the effects of neuropathy. I caught the diabetes early and I am determined to avoid the kinds of problems she has. She went looking for a doctor who would give her a magic pill. When one doctor told her there was no easy treatment she went to another doctor, then another, and so on.

My family doctor (the same doctor my friend goes to) and the endocrynologist agreed my family doctor could control diabetes when it is caught this early. Since I like this doctor I am sticking with him. He listens to what you say.I do not believe in magic cures.

The other reason I think I am having more success controling my weight this time is the endocrynologist set me up for diabetes education classes and with a dietitian. I have thought for years instead of just telling me to eat less and exercise more that I needed someone to tell me what to eat.

Re: Exercise

SgtCedar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:31:45 GMT

I hurt my knee last Saturday while walking. I had to cut back on my walking. I went from walking at least 2 miles every day to 1 mile Sunday. Today I upped my milage to 1.5 miles. I found my knee stopped hurting as much after about two blocks. I made sure I stayed close to home in case trouble developed.

I will limit my walking to 2 miles until I am sure things are healed. I hated the reduction in activity but I figure things could be a lot worse if I continued to push my knees which already have arthritis.