Knee Problems

[Spencer Bullen]

Greetings,

through a combination of various factors, mainly work related injuries, I find myself needing a long
course of treatment/surgery on my knees. I have cartilage damage, with associated ligament and
tendon damage, some nerve damage, and due to this my muscles have been overcompensating and are
themselves damaged. Sadly, my physio has told me to avoid cycling on the whole, whilst at the same
time lose weight. This is a shame, as cycling is about the only exercise I enjoy and can stick to
(the other is rowing, and that's a big no-no)!

Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
mainly road work?

Any views and advice greatly appreciated.

T.T.F.N.

SPENNY

 

[Toby Barrett]

"Spencer Bullen" <[email protected]> wrote in
news[email protected]:
> Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> mainly road work?

Might be worth getting a second opinion.

I've known two people with knee injuires - both were told to use cycling as part of their recovery.

Toby

 

[John B]

Spencer Bullen wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> mainly road work?
>
> Any views and advice greatly appreciated.

This is probably one instance where the Dark Side cannot help :-(

I fell flat on both knees onto concrete a couple of days ago and both are now scrazed and very
swollen with a fair bit of fluid. I've had to move back to the DF :-((

John Buckley

 

[Just Zis Guy]

Spencer Bullen wrote:

> Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> mainly road work?

No experience, but that's not going to stop me addressing this specific point

Suspension will not do anything to save your knees. To give the knees a real treat you need to use
very low gears, at which point you fall off. Unless...... you ride a (recumbent) trike! Several
USians over on the recumbent newsgroups have stated that they can use recumbent trikes despite knee
injury, by twiddling along in the granny gears. If you think you've seen granny gears on a wedgie,
just wait till you see how low they can go on a touring trike. You can ride at 5000 furlongs per
fortnight without falling off :-D

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

 

[Tony W]

"Spencer Bullen" <[email protected]yonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> Greetings,
>
> through a combination of various factors, mainly work related injuries, I find myself needing a
> long course of treatment/surgery on my knees. I
have
> cartilage damage, with associated ligament and tendon damage, some nerve damage, and due to this
> my muscles have been overcompensating and are themselves damaged. Sadly, my physio has told me to
> avoid cycling on the whole, whilst at the same time lose weight. This is a shame, as cycling
is
> about the only exercise I enjoy and can stick to (the other is rowing, and that's a big no-no)!
>
> Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> mainly road work?
>
> Any views and advice greatly appreciated.

I would be inclined to talk it over with your doctor & physio again -- making it clear that cycling
is prefered because you enjoy it and will stick to it. What, pray, form of excersise are they
expecting you to do? Thumb twiddling won't put any stress on the knees but is not exactly an
effective CV work out.

I would suggest they need to be sufficiently flexible to provide a programme that you are happy with
and will stick to.

Gentle cycling in nice low gears is not excessively stressful on knees -- and perhaps your physio
can provide some kind of physical support to minimise the risks. No-one is suggesting you try the
Ventou in top gear. Certainly I would think gentle and controlled cycling is as good, if not better,
on the knees than most CV alternatives -- certainly it will be easier on the knees than walking or
running. Swimming is perhaps what they want you to do -- though I find swimming can tweak my knees.
Other than that I suppose its the hand stand marathon and Tarzan impressions

T

 

[Frank]

"Spencer Bullen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> Greetings,
>
> through a combination of various factors, mainly work related injuries, I find myself needing a
> long course of treatment/surgery on my knees. I
have
> cartilage damage, with associated ligament and tendon damage, some nerve damage, and due to this
> my muscles have been overcompensating and are themselves damaged. Sadly, my physio has told me to
> avoid cycling on the whole, whilst at the same time lose weight. This is a shame, as cycling
is
> about the only exercise I enjoy and can stick to (the other is rowing, and that's a big no-no)!
>
> Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> mainly road work?
>
> Any views and advice greatly appreciated.

I have bad knees and have trouble walking long distances and can't run at all. However I have
never had any problems cycling, this is also pretty much the case with my mum whose knees are very
bad, her only worry about cycling is if her knee is strong enough to support her when she stops
and starts.

I went to an osteopath with my knee (probably a mistake, I think his expertise was backs) his basic
advice was that if cycling didn't hurt it was probably OK.

 

[Clogicrogerc]

<<basic advice was that if cycling didn't hurt it was probably OK.>>

They call it traffic light rule -

Activity increases pain = Red Light Activity makes pain no worse = amber light (proceed with
caution) Activity allows or encourages the pain to diminish = green light, keep it up

To be honest, a good sports physo is likely to have a better grasp of this than a cyclist in a
newsgroup - if you think your physio isnt up to it, try another one, thats my advice - thats what
Ive done with running problems.

There are many different knee problems - tendon damage may be exacerbated by cyclinbg, esp if its
the patellar tendon - thats an injury I have experienced and cycling DID aggravate it. However, a
PBS patellar brace from mobilis.co.uk did help a lot.

Good luck - I hope you get it fixed - usually time does heal these things, together with a good
specialist sports physio in whom you have faith.

Cheers

R C

 

[Huw Pritchard]

On Mon, 13 Jan 2003 11:54:01 +0000, Spencer Bullen did issue forth:

> Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> mainly road work?

Personal experience (patellar tendonitis) has shown SPDs to be problematic as they didn't have
enough float for me. I switched to Time ATACs a couple of years ago now, and I'm glad that I did so.

--
Huw Pritchard | Replace bounce with huw | to reply by mail | www.secretworldgovernment.org

 

[Stephen Gower]

Tony W <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Spencer Bullen" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> through a combination of various factors, mainly work related injuries, I find myself needing a
>> long course of treatment/surgery on my knees. Sadly, my physio has told me to avoid cycling on
>> the whole, whilst at the same time lose weight. This is a shame, as cycling is about the only
>> exercise I enjoy and can stick to
>
>I would be inclined to talk it over with your doctor & physio again --

Yes, do this! I've knee problems (not as severe as yours) and was told to continue cycling,
combined with other excersies and adjustments to the height of my saddle. Obviously your injuries
are different from mine, so the advice given to me isn't for you, but if there is some way they
can get you on your bike, they will!

--
Selah

 

[John B]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:

> Spencer Bullen wrote:
>
> > Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> > currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> > mainly road work?
>
> No experience, but that's not going to stop me addressing this specific point
>
> Suspension will not do anything to save your knees. To give the knees a real treat you need to use
> very low gears, at which point you fall off. Unless...... you ride a (recumbent) trike! Several
> USians over on the recumbent newsgroups have stated that they can use recumbent trikes despite
> knee injury, by twiddling along in the granny gears. If you think you've seen granny gears on a
> wedgie, just wait till you see how low they can go on a touring trike. You can ride at 5000
> furlongs per fortnight without falling off :-D

True. My 9" bottom gear means it will take me a month to cycle to work. And the knees would still
hurt. On the DF they don't - so much. It may be something to do with being able to vary leg
position more.

Some years ago I had very bad 'tendonitis' in my right knee - so much that i could not use stairs
for about a month except by bouncing down on my rear.

John Buckley

 

[John B]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:

> Spencer Bullen wrote:
>
> > Does anybody have experience of cycling with knee injuries? Would new pedals help reduce risk (I
> > currently use SPD's)? Is going from hard tails to full suss a good idea, even if I happen to do
> > mainly road work?
>
> No experience, but that's not going to stop me addressing this specific point
>
> Suspension will not do anything to save your knees. To give the knees a real treat you need to use
> very low gears, at which point you fall off. Unless...... you ride a (recumbent) trike! Several
> USians over on the recumbent newsgroups have stated that they can use recumbent trikes despite
> knee injury, by twiddling along in the granny gears. If you think you've seen granny gears on a
> wedgie, just wait till you see how low they can go on a touring trike. You can ride at 5000
> furlongs per fortnight without falling off :-D

(full message - last posting was sent prematurely - an errant mouse)

True. My 9" bottom gear means it will take me a month to cycle to work. And the knees would still
hurt. On the DF they don't - so much. It may be something to do with being able to vary leg
position more.

Some years ago I had very bad 'tendonitis' in my right knee - so much that I could not use stairs
for about a month except by bouncing down on my rear. The answer was to ride fixed - with one crank.
It worked. Just.

John Buckley