knee problems

Will Eccentric Exercise Cure You?

 

Will eccentric exercise cure your patellar tendinosis?

 

-- Even using the ideal protocol for eccentric exercises, one may or not be completely cured. However, there are success stories in some medical journal articles where people who have had many years of patellar tendinosis have outstanding success after a program of eccentric exercises.

 

-- These exercises put a lot of force on the patellar tendon, so they must be done very carefully over many months. If done improperly, they can lead to a worsening of symptoms. These exercises should be used only for chronic cases, should not be used for inflammatory tendinitis, and should be done only under the recommendation of an appropriate physician.

 

-- Even if you are not completely cured, however, your pain might be reduced substantially and you may be much happier. Your pain may be reduced to such a low extent that it does not bother you much. And, there may be more times of the day when you have no pain, or much less pain. In my case, the exercises have helped me to reduce pain a substantial amount. I feel much more normal, with more of the day without any pain. The times I do have some pain, it is much more tolerable -- and I am much, much happier.

 

-- The exercises may help you to have no pain or substantially less pain while you do certain activities, such as walking down stairs; driving a car; walking for long distances; bicycling, etc...

 

-- Even if you find you are not completely cured, eccentric exercise may still be a substantially better alternative than most other kinds of treatment, including surgery, other kinds of physical therapy, certain chiropractic techniques, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, prolotherapy, sclerosing treatments, etc...

 

-- In my opinion after reviewing the medical literature and trying a number of different kinds of treatments myself, I believe eccentric exercise is far better than other alternatives. The success rate is generally much better. Furthermore, other kinds of treatments, such as surgery, may lead to irreversible adverse effects.

Creaky Knee Syndrome

Actually there is not such a problem, but it sounds kind of cool..  After playing a lot of soccer my knees started making creaky sounds when I was going up the stairs.  I'm in good alignment, wear orthotics, etc.  so I wanted to know if I had any knee damage (specifically -wearing down the cartilage between the leg bones).  An x-ray revealed normal joint spacing.  Yeah!  The moral of this story is that joint noises aren't an indicator of joint damage.  I don't know if long term noises are associated with more damage, but I suspect this to be true.  I don't want to find out so it's time to take my glucosamine regularly and do my eccentric knee exercises.

First Steps

1. Reduce the amount of sitting at one time and in total during the day. Do this by getting a pedometer and shoot for 10,000 steps per day. The more you sit, the worse it is for your spine. If you must sit, use an inflatable beach ball (with just a small bit of air in it) behind your lower back. This will give your spine support and help reduce the forces on the back side of the spine. Sit less and walk more.
2. Every two hours, lie down on the floor and place your lower legs on a Swiss Ball. You may need to place your trunk on a couple of pillows. In this position, slowly roll your legs back and forth a very small amount (as soon as you feel your buttock come off the floor, stop the motion and go the other way). The excursion is usually only a couple of inches. It should be relaxing and easy to do and not painful. Do this for 10 minutes.
3. Learn how to "Lock and Load" and use it everyday. Lock and Load is a phrase we use to describe the process of engaging the spinal stabilizer muscles. Some people call this "drawing in" or "hollowing out" the abdomen but it's not either of those things. To learn how to get your abdominals and spine muscles to work, lie on your back again with your feet on the Swiss Ball. Place your hand on your lower abdomen. Now, imagine a burning candle a few feet in front of you. Purse your lips and try to blow out the candle. You'll feel tension in your abdomen. This is the kind of tension you need in your abdomen all day long, every day, for the rest of your life. You must learn how to produce it and vary it according to the task. If you're sitting in your chair, you need a very light amount of tension. If you're going to lift a heavy box, you need a lot of tension. This is a key step. Without mastering this, all other exercises become very difficult to do.

This is good advice wether you have just injured yourself or are having chronic pain. We always want slick and immediate solutions to our health problems;  most of the time it's the slow and steady  changes that we make that ultimately get us better,