Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Knee problem?? What the heck??

Help!
I've been hiking all my life. I'm getting ready for my first Whitney try this September. I went to the summit of San G. and back a couple of weeks ago and for the first time in my life had major knee pain on the way down. Stared again within an hour this past weekend on another San G. hike. My knee stiffens up and kills me with every down step. Seems to only hurt though when I take the pressure off of it. You know what I mean. I'm afraid that if it continues that there's no way I'm going to make it down from the Whitney summit. I'm in my early 30's and use poles on every hike. No knee injuries....nothing that would explain it. Anyone have any cures or fixes? Do those knee straps I see people wear work? I'll be at the Portal in 6 weeks...I'm desperate and perplexed.

Thanks

I recommend going to see your DR. He/She can recommend some excersizes, meds and knee braces that would be good for you, it all depends on what is going on with your knee there are a pleuthora of knee ailments to choose from.

Here I am , at age 48 still hiking when I know I should not. Why you ask, within 5 years I will have both my knees replaced. Hikinfool all I can say is just take it easy coming down hill, thats where you will get the most pressure on your knees. Also make sure your hiking poles are the right size for you and use them as two extra legs. It sure helps with me. Remember its not a race to get down. Happy Hiking

hikinfool,

A knee brace is not a bad idea. But more important, is the reason behind why your knee hurts. An orthopedic surgeon might be able to throw better light on that, besides being able to recommend a good brace/rest/physio-therapy for the knee. After this is done, you might also want to excercise your Quads and Calves so that your muscles can take the weight off your ligaments.

For the Whitney hike, make sure your pack is as light as it possibly can get, if you are going with someone get them to carry a bit of your load. Hike slow on your way down and use the hiking poles.

Good luck!

I'm 42 and will be doing a day hike on August 9. I summitted on August 11, 2001 -- my first time -- and I experienced considerable knee pain on the way down. Going up is no problem (at least with respect to the knees!). I used Leki poles, which were essential. I also used two knee braces on the way down. I don't know whether they helped -- can't conduct a controlled experiment with myself. But I'd like to believe they helped. I have been running 5 miles a day 7 days a week for the last five years, which certainly doesn't help my knees. The bottom line is, you will experience knee pain. No way around it. But for me at least, it was passing. Within less than 48 hours after the hike my knees felt fine.

I recommend trying the knee straps. My knees hurt (bothers me the most downhill) and I have been training for our 8/7 hike to Whitney, using the straps, which help quite a bit. The strap is intended to put pressure on the tendon which keeps the knee cap (patella) in-line. I bought mine at the pharmacy and most sporting good stores have them. I am also going to use the treck poles. Good luck.

I have a bad knee and I accidentally left my knee brace at home. What worked for me was stopping to ice my knee periodically (just dipped a wash cloth in the cold stream) and taking plenty of Advil (or ther anti-inflammatory). I also used a treking pole which I found very helpful for distributing my body weight to my upper body and giving my knee a rest.

My knee hurts mostly downhile but I kept it iced most the of evening in Outpost camp even though it didn't hurt. I saw a physical therapist years ago for my back and ever since then I use ice and a big dose of Advil for injuries - works like magic.

Same thing happened to me on my first long backpacking trip.
I was in my mid 20's and in good shape with no prior knee problems. An underestimation of the pressure my knees were going to take that first day, (Copper Creek Trail out of Kings Canyon into Granite Basin) and not hydrating properly led to a hideous case of tendonitis. I couldn't bend my leg and ended up stiff legging a 10+ mile hike downhill. Painful.
I learned a lot from that trip. Drink more than you think you need, and then drink more. Also, I take Aleve (Naprosyn) daily and wear knee braces.
Haven't had the tendonitis since. The doctor gave me the Naprosyn as a preventative. Two Aleves works just about as good.

Possible problems could be with your patella-femoral joint, that is the interaction of your knee cap and the bottom of your femur. Straps may help, but I would seek out a physical therapist that can instruct you in taping of your knees. If you live in So Cal, I happen to know of a good one!

Good luck.

Advice: contact the nearest high school football coach and ask him about knee braces. They weigh almost nothing and will brace againstlateral movement and allow up and down. They'll help tremendously.

Also, trekking poles will save your knees big time by transferring weight to your arms. You can buy them at the portal store. My knee started giving way last month and once I learned prudent pole plants the pain went away.

Have fun and stay safe!

I spoke to my doctor about this and he recommended taking Ibuporfen for 3X daily for two days prior to the trip to reduce any inflamation in my joints. Then take a dose 30 min before the downhills during the trip.

And I know from experience that poles and braces also help a lot.

52 years old, did Whitney last year. My left knee always hurts on the downhills. Stopped at a store in Mammoth and bought one of those elastic knee braces. My knee felt great on the Whitney hike. Didn't hurt at all.

Now if I cold just fix the right hip that hurts on the uphills.

I agree with the good advice that others have given you to see a sports medicine or orthopedic doc and find out what is going on. Until you understand the real cause, you are just guessing about what treatment will work.

In addition to knee braces and poles, both of which are good suggestions, you should also consider some orthotics in your hiking boots.

Many MD's will tell you take six weeks off and take motrin,in my opinion her knee pain is not due to a lack of motrin.One of the most common causes would be wear and tear from overuse.Two ways that happens 1.
lack of training then a sudden burst of activity
such as climbing San Gorgonio or 2.chronic overtraining-such as running 7 days a week as one of the people above does. The best is a gradual building up with 4-5 days or max of 6 days a week of working out with a gradual increase in the length of the hike/run done probably on the weekend. That is how I got through 5 ultramarathons from jan-may of this year with no pain of any kind.

Poles will likely not help you at all. They provide some stability and lateral support but actually take very little moment of load from the knee. They are more useful for people with ACL types of injuries and yours sounds like like garden variety patellar tendinitis. See an ortho, get a script for an antiinflam or possibly Skelaxin (metaxalone) and start doing some cross-training such as cycling, to strengthen the quads and glutes. At your age this will be necessary in order to forestall ending any downhill hiking or surgery with a questionable outcome. BTW, the patella knee straps (especially the ones with magnets!) are so much snake oil. Good luck and happy hiking!
Andreas

Contrary to what andreas hinterstoisser posted, poles DO HELP. Actually, the problem is that most people don't use ENOUGH poles. Usually, you need to use at least 3, and maybe 4, if you have a knee problem. You need to hold two in one hand, so that they form an upside-down v shape, in front of your body. If you use 3 poles, hold the 2 in one hand in the hand on the side of your body opposite to your bad knee. What also helps is that if you do wear one of those knew straps, tie about a 3 foot-length of rope to the strap, and the other end of the rope to your pole. That way, if your knee starts to give out, and you are going to fall, you can plant the pole, and it will take the pressure off your knee. I hope this helps.

Yeah, that's very funny "JoeHikeMan". Most of the folks on this board are trying to help this poor fellow out, but you make sport of it! Actually, your multi-pole approach will create an effective ligthning rod--another negative aspect of poles which doesn't get talked about much. I stand by my earlier comments.
Andreas
P.S. In my home country, there is serious consideration being given by the mountain guides guild to forever outlaw hiking poles...

I want to thank everyone for their opinions and advice. Looking back after reading Andreas' response, I would say that I probably came back a little too strong after a long layoff. I'd taken a lot of time off from hiking and did 16 miles up and down the Vivian Creek trail on a whim. That's when the problem started. Hindsight is 20/20 right. I think what I'll do is rest and start working out my legs a little more at the gym. Thanks again and good hiking! Maybe I'll see some of you at the summit.

I have had similiar injuries. They have all been of an acute nature as you described yours. I wouldn't worry about braces and such at this point. You either have an internal "bruise" or a displacement of a tendon or possibly a nerve from its normal position. If it is a bruise it needs to heal by inactivity or light non-weight bearing, ie. cycling on a stationary bike. If it is a type of displacement, some type of manipulation is needed. I have had success with swimming and cycling, in "puttin the joint back in place". I would definetly consider a chiropractor if you do not get complete relief within a couple of days. In any event do not continue with pain, you can turn an easily treated acute injury into a nagging chronic injury that will be stubborn to heal. Over the counter NSAID are very effective, or go to your doctor and get Vioxx, it works like magic. You are not taking these medications for its analgesic effects, but for their antimflamatory properties. Good luck, be patient, you will be back to 100% before you know it.

All these replies and no one has mentioned Glucosamine/ Chondroitin supplements. These have been very good for me. General ease of joint movement and long term improvement of several specific joint problems.