Injury/alignment condition, or Indiana Jones gets sidetracked

[kheret]

Hi all,

 

I've been reading the blog for a few weeks now and I decided to finally join the forums to get support for an issue I'm having, and encouragement to keep working on my health.

 

Up until about 3 weeks ago, I was a pretty active person with nary a care in the world except for the odd stiff back attributed to being in my 30s. I'm an archaeologist by profession (hence the above Indy reference), 31 year old female.

 

My usual routine has been to bust my butt during field season (May-November) and then pretty much not exercise at all during the winter, except to walk the dog. This year I wanted to change that! So, I made a pact with myself that I would exercise every day, mainly to strengthen what I perceived as my weak lower body. I figured a body weight program would be a safer place to start, so I committed to daily yoga practice, having done yoga in the past and liking it. Well, everything was going fine for about 10 days and then...

 

I hurt my knee. Minor LCL sprain in the left knee, probably from a misaligned squat. Urgent care doc wasn't too worried, suggested rest and ROM exercises. So I do that, and the left knee does continue to improve, but all of a sudden my right knee is hurting something awful.

 

I go to a primary care doctor, and she notices that my knees turn inward ("squinting patella"). She is shocked that I haven't been in more pain, as she seems to think it's pretty severe. I tell her that I have had some intermittent pain in the past, but it's been very mild and goes away on its own, so I attributed it to work-related overuse. She theorizes that I'm only in minor pain because I'm not overweight, and that maybe putting more weight on the right knee (due to the left knee injury) caused it to flare up.

 

I'm trying to make a physical therapist appointment. There's some possibility that muscle imbalances could be at play, but the internet self-diagnosis I'm doing doesn't look positive. At this point, I'm not only worried about not being able to do yoga or work on physical fitness anymore, but also that I may eventually be unable to do field work, which would be absolutely devastating.

 

I have been trying to keep up work on my core and my upper body, thanks to the "no excuses" mindset. I'm here to seek encouragement to keep doing what I can do, and help in being proactive with my PT to try to do things that actually help. Any PT success stories also welcome, since I'm not seeing a lot of those across the wider internet for this particular affliction.

 

Thanks and may the Force be with you.

[Jayniana Jones]

I injured my ACL and had to have it rebuilt about 3 years ago. The recovery from surgery resulted in about ten months for PT. I actually went to a chiropractor after the initial injury happened because the doctor I went to gave me an immobilizer, a pain killer prescription, and told me to ice it and stay off it for a few weeks. The chiropractor was my second opinion. Before I went the surgery route (this was before an MRI was done when we discovered my ACL was gone), he used K-tape on my knees. If you aren't familiar with k-tape do a search for "K tape for knees" and you'll see pictures of what it looks like. The tape worked well and as long as I didn't pivot my foot it felt completely normal. If you have a minor injury in your LCL this might help give support. I was able to do taekwondo with the tape and the missing ACL with no problems (in hindsight I probably shouldn't have since at the time we didn't know my ACL was completely gone). My dad has a torn meniscus and uses the k-tape to support his knee which also has helped him keep hunting and hiking in the woods. 

 

It's sounds like going to a physical therapy will help you get an idea of what is going on. If it doesn't keep going to doctors until you find someone who will help you find a solution.

 

I think your approach to trying to keep something going is good and the discipline can help with your recover. Be careful with yoga though. Many of the yoga poses might be too much for your knees at the moment since they're giving you problems. However, some of the floor poses like cobra, forward fold variations, and gentle leg raises should be okay. Mountain pose might be helpful just to help focus on equally distributing your weight on your legs. I wouldn't do any poses that could cause you to fall and twist funny. Chair yoga may be something to consider as well. It's a bit slower paced, but the core is engaged quite a bit as you move. Some pilates moves might be another thing you could explore for building core as long as you avoid twisting.

 

Knees take awhile to heal so be kind to yourself. Taking care of your injury is number one, so going too crazy could send you backwards more.

 

Also, if you haven't done it before, it may be worth consulting a chiropractor about your back. I had back pain for years that every doctor I went to dismissed it as me getting older (at the time I was 25ish), or related to a climbing accident I had, or scoliosis, or (the one that really irked me) because I was female. The pain was always present but went in spurts of really bad to just nagging. When I finally tried a chiropractor it turned out things weren't in alignment and I didn't have scoliosis. After a few months of treatments the pain went away. It might be worth investigating. 

 

Hope that helps.

[kheret]

Hi Jayniana, 

 

Thanks for your response. I just got back from my first PT appointment and it sure was interesting. Apparently I have hypermobility in my hips, knees and elbows but insufficient mobility in my ankles due to old injuries (not work-related, ironically, I mostly hurt myself when I'm trying to have fun). I walk entirely on my forefoot with no heel strike (thanks, ankles) and have a lot of lumbar lordosis (thanks, mom) which causes me to put all of my weight forward, putting a lot of strain on my knees. I also have a mild case of patella alta, but not enough to be a huge issue.

 

Basically, I have to work on my core and my glutes. I've been getting by on the job through my upper body strength, but I have weak hips which is causing a lot of joint stress. Not at all an uncommon situation for women. I've been given a resistance band and body weight exercises to do, as well as some ankle stretches. But yoga is counter-indicated - I don't need to work on flexibility but rather stability. Tai chi or pilates might be an ok alternative for the relaxation/breath work side of things. 

 

I'm actually pretty grateful to my minor yoga injury for helping me learn these things about my body!

[Jayniana Jones]

It's always interesting what things come from our workouts. It sounds like you definitely got some good information to go from. Hopefully, it helps alleviate the discomfort your body is giving you.