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Hi there everyone *waves*
My hubby & I want to do Kokoda again in 5 or 6 years time. Problem is, he has gammy knees. No specific problems, just gammy knees in general.
He is 6ft 2", so when we did Kokoda last year in October, his knees gave him a fair bit of grief downhills. 1 packet of Panedeine, 1 packet of Voltaren tablets, an entire tube of Voltaren emugel, a soak in the ice cold creeks when we camped and 1 knee brace later, he made it.
What sort of exercises could he do to strengthen his knees/allow his knees to cope or hold up come our next trip? Plenty of time to prepare, so any suggestions would be good. Closer to the date he will be seeing a physiotherapist, but we're trying to do as much as we can on our own as finances are still recovering from last year's adventure…
So if you've had problems with your knees, share your experiences with us on what worked, what didn't and what helped get you through.
fluppy
Knees are a tough one fluppy, as I'm sure your hubby can attest. It really all depends on what his problems are.
I know you said finances are a problem, but I'd really suggest he gets a full diagnostic done prior to any sort of exercise regime and work in consultation with the physio to at least set him up properly – he may not need to keep going back. Hubby needs to be careful as the wrong regime can make worse any pre-existing knee injury / defect he may have.
That said (and if you don't want to take my advice
) there are exercises that can strengthen muscles around the knees and stretches to prevent injury. My knees aren't the best and I've found this website has some good info. But you hubby seems to be in a worse state than me…Tell him to at least minimise any sort of impact (no running / jumping) in the meantime.
http://www.bigkneepain.com/knee-exercises.htmlThanks Rocky – link is fantastic
He said his knees were hurting just walking around today at work. I wonder if he'll let me go to Kokoda without him…
I did the trek about 2 years ago & over half the trekkers in the group had Knee problems – mainly from going down the mountains. One of them had to be carried for the last 2 days.
Hi fluppy, one word……….glucosamine. My knees werent great, but this stuff made all the difference, you cant hear my knee's when I walk now, they used to click.
Definitely see a specialist – strain on an untreated "condition" (if you'd call it that) can result in long term damage.
Slightly off topic, but what type of glucosamine do you use peterh13? I've tried glucosamine chondritin but have not seen any benefits
I use Thompsons ultra glucosamine 15 plus. My knees used to make clicky noises going upstairs and people would turn and look at me (true story). Now I use these and my kness are fine. Ive been on them for years. I had no knee trouble on Kokoda at all.
Thanks for that! I've got hypermobility of the joints pretty much all over my body so knees, hips and ankles click alot. Although I wonder what the difference is between glucosamine chondritin and it's "ultra" counterpart.
Did it take a long time for the glucosamine to "kick in"? I've been on it for a year so perhaps thats not long enough yet…
I think it was about 3 or 4 months before all the clicking came to an end. Im glad it did though, my wife refused to walk up stairs with me, it only happened on stairs.
I also take a couple of fish oil tablets a day as well, Im not sure why, but it makes me popular with my neighbours cat.
The ultra probably means nothing and is just an advertising gimmick. My Dr says that it works for some and not for others.
When are you heading off to PNG ?
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