Minor Arthritis of my Right Knee

[Ryan Canfield]

I'll start by saying that I've had a lot of problems with my knees. I'm a long time sufferer of Iliotibial Band Syndrome, and particularly my right knee and my right medial meniscus have been bugging me as of late. In 2006 I had a Meniscus Repair on my right knee and recovered just fine.

 

However, i've recently been having some swelling and more joint pain that was triggered by simple hikes and scrambles I did in September. In the last month, I have visited 2 orthopedic surgeons and had both MRI and X-Ray on it. They do not think it's a meniscus tear, rather some minor arthritis of the knee.

 

I'm wondering if anyone here has minor arthritis and still climbs just fine? What have you found that works well to manage the pain and prevent further issues?

 

The doctors say that i should still climb but slowly get back into it since i've been inactive for 2 months.

 

I'm still young, healthy, only 23 years old, in great shape, and used to be a long distance/marathon runner in High School and Junior High. I'm into alpine mountaineering and grade 3-4 climbing. Stuff like the Kautz Glacier on Rainier, Reid Headwall on Hood, etc.

 

Looking for some advice and stories of others with similar conditions.

Thanks all

 

-Ryan

 

 

[genepires]

"used to be a long distance/marathon runner in High School and Junior High" says it all. Hope you get better. MAybe muscular imbalances? Maybe try to figure out ways to promote more muscular balance in legs and hips areas. (work hamstrings and glutes?)

[summitchaserCJB]

I used to do long distance running (marathon, half ironman, half marathons). They are fun but your body pays the price in the long run I think. Think moderation.

[Water]

in the long run? was that a pun? hope you feel better. have you tried good ol vitamin I? not necessary a long term solution but might do enough to help a noticeable degree.

 

[summitchaserCJB]

Yes it was. I am prone to those.

[Bronco]

Gene is on the right track. What does your current training program consist of?

 

My knees were achy yesterday, I blame the weather.

[Ryan Canfield]

Yeah ive tried just about everything you could think of. Strengthening muscles, ibuprofen, rest, ice, stretches, yoga, more physical therapy, but nothing really seems to help.

 

I don't even think it's arthritis, but the doctors do.

The MRI Technician said it looks torn to him, but both doctors dont think so. They think it "looks torn" on the MRI scan because i've had meniscus surgery in the past.

 

It feels more like a slight meniscus tear to me. I may have them cut me open just to get a better look at what it could be.

[Doug]

I got diagnosed with Arthritis just about 2 years ago. It's taken a while, but modifying my training and more importantly what I do after exercise has helped immensely. I've found cycling to be a great substitute for the running I used to enjoy. Fact is after I started cycling, my knee improved to the extent that I can run shorter distances (5 - 10k) without much difficulty. Ice and compression along with Ibuprofen post running or climbing seems to keep it managed.

 

Jeebus man, 23 and arthritic. I feel for you.

Edited November 17, 2010 by Doug

[Ryan Canfield]

So i had surgery on my right knee (the knee that was bugging me) on this last friday. They went in and discovered that i certainly do not have any arthritis, and i finally found out why my knee has been in pain recently...

 

As i mentioned in my first post, I had surgery on my right meniscus before. Turns out, they stitches came undone and the tear was opened again. So i basically re-tore it.

 

But now i'm on the road to recovery and am sure glad it's not arthritis and that i now have it figured out.

[billcoe]

I'm wondering if anyone here has minor arthritis and still climbs just fine? What have you found that works well to manage the pain and prevent further issues?

 

A lot of us here deal with it. I went to the Dr just 4 weeks ago thinking I had cancer and he tells me osteoarthritis. Once I got over my happiness at not having cancer, I say: "no way dude, I have a little arthritis in my fingers and it doesn't feel that bad." That gets him to looking at my fingers: "Yeah, he says feeling my fingers up, "you have significant arthritis in your fingers"...with a twinkle I'm all like, "hey buddy, no one said "significant", you introduced a new word here and it's unneeded and unwanted - we are talkin minor"...LOL. He smiled. Later I get to looking at them myself, they've been hurting bad in little finger cracks, the things I use to have loved the most, sure enough, it was like I was seeing them for the first time. They're not so good.

 

The discouraging thing for me was looking it up on the Mayo clinic site and seeing stuff like: "use larger handled utensils that are easier to grab" as the only remedy for it....what shit. They don't even talk about what caused it.

 

The encouraging part is that I just need to drop 30 lbs and get my shit together again. I was out recently with a real good guy to hang with who's not a spring chicken yet who is still plugging 5.12, and as he munched some Ibuprofen to start the day (looking over at my scowl:-) he said he'd had surgery that had totally removed his meniscus, and he's like 44 years old. Yet he's also in great shape, works out a lot and eats right. An inspiration for sure. So at only 23, you seem too young for this.....and yet you've appeared to have the medical thing checked and rechecked so it's hard to say.

 

-so here's the important part: -

 

I do know one person, the late Roger Smith, who was a bit of a strange duck in many respects, who fell off the top of a pinnacle (Rooster Rock). He bounded to a near unconscious state and landed far enough out into the Columbia River that he hit head first into the water which was luckily at 100 year flood stage or so. An amorous couple picnicking on the banks saw this horror show and rushed out and gently floated him to shore, saving his life. About everything he had was broken. Neck, arms, leg, etc etc. He survived this mess, yet his recovery was very, very long. Finally he was healed up and eventually started climbing again. Yet the pain persisted for years and in time became worse. He was in extreme pain by the time he was at your age (he was 16-17 when he fell into the river) which they then finally diagnosed, re-diagnosed and confirmed as arthritis. (it was knees, arms, everywhere). The Dr's told him there was No hope. None. That he was bound for a life of pain with no hope and a wheelchair by the time he was 35. In a bookstore he saw a book by an old black man about raw foods. He became enchanted and he turned to an all natural diet that was no cooked foods or animal. Not even milk. His health came back and he became uber fit and finally even pain free. It was an amazing miracle. Yet there was a price to pay. Nothing in life is free. His bones became extremely brittle as well. Once he even broke a rib just shimming over a chain link fence from the pressure of his body weight alone. Yet he keep with it. He started the mornings out swimming, and could almost run up Mt Hood with a 50 lb pack. No on could keep up with him, even us guides who were up there all the time. He liked it solitary anyway and was convinced that speed was safety.

 

I was on Hood once soloing in January, as was Roger. He and I saw each other across the slope at a distance, the only 2 idiots stupid enough to get out during a respite between ice storms in early January, yet he didn't respond to my wave. Later, I bumped into him and asked about the diss. He said he had no gear, figured I didn't have any either, and that he wanted to see what he could do alone, without the encumbrance of another. Uhhh, OK...that was Smitty but like I said Roger was just a strange guy. We'd climbed before and we'd climbed together after. He headed up Castle Crags route. He said that where it got steep, he kept on, but was not able to get his points to penetrate at all in the steep, cold verglas we were faced with that day. The crampons were skittering off. A hard stopm was getting them to stay put....barely. He continued Piolet Plant, flat footed, as his front points were not penetrating - and unable to climb higher: finally forced to downclimb the steep ice he had barely been able to climb up. He said that he chanted the mantra of what Chouinard would do and believed himself to be Chouinard that day, and that is what got him down alive. We did some nice climbs together, and had some screwed up moments as well like the summer we sat immobile for 10 hours next to the F^%Xing freeway trying to hitchhike up to do the Pickets traverse and all we got was sunburned and no rides, but Roger had courage.

 

Yet he later went a tad crazy and killed himself with a shotgun. Can't say if it was related to the diet or the LSD. I suspect the latter and not the former. In high school, he was an early adopter of LSD, and took more that any head would call prudent. He smoked pot for most of his life too, but the lsd at an early age I do not believe was a good thing.

 

Sorry if I went off too long, but it seemed germaine to the issue at hand. Just pointing out that perhaps diet is your issue?

[stevetimetravlr]

A vegetarian diet does wonders for your health, especially the older you get. I've been eating primarily vegetarian(some fish) for about 15 years now and still think I'm like 18.

Vegan diet is supposedly even better for you, but I just love cheese to much!

[Lisa_D]

Glad to hear it wasn't arthritis!! Have you thought about this? http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/01/different-strokes/

 

Also, sometimes getting a PT or Chiropractor who is an expert in helping endurance athletes makes the difference. There is a guy named Steve Noble in Bellingham who does amazing (and legit) work with supplements, chiropractic treatment, nutrition, and more. He helps a lot of cyclists I know. Eric Moen is a PT in Kenmore who also does amazing work.

 

Of course I'd recommend switching to cycling as cross training rather than running, but I'm biased because I love my bike One advantage it has, though, is that you can go for 2-3 hours within the first few months of your training. With running, you can't physically go for that long. It builds a lot of endurance and burns many more calories.