ow, knee pain in the middle of the night!

[michpc]

So yesterday I went skiing in the lovely fresh snow we had in New England. Obviously negotiating the piles of powder is a little harder on the knees than the typical East Coast hardpack day, but by the end my knees, especially my right one were fairly sore, but not to the point where I needed to end the day early or anything. And I couldn't have cared less since I had a blast!

Flash forward to the middle of the night: I woke up with excruciating pain my right knee. I could barely move the leg without pain. Knees are a little sore today, but to be expected for me: I've had various minor knee injuries, IT band issues, and I have early osteoarthritis. My knees are a touch sore today, but I walked over a mile this morning to the dentist and then to the subway and it wasn't bothersome at all.

Anyone else experienced something like this before? I would prefer not to again! I probably should have iced or something when I got home and I'll have to try that next time. And I know I'm a bit out of shape at the moment and need to ramp up my gym routine. This was also my last day in my too-big boots. Will the new better fitting boots help? I probably need help with my form as well, and should be taking a lesson in the next few weeks sometime since I haven't had one in ages.

 

[volklgirl]

Both better fitting boots and lessons will help some with knee pain. Let ice and ibuprofen do the rest . If the pain continues, I'd definitely have your GP or Ortho take a look, though.

 

[toughgirl]

i have knee issues as well. Better boots helped. But mainly my routine is Advil and ice. Then at night before bed I heat up a Bed Buddy https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=10573050 and let that sit while i read a few chapters

 

[michpc]

ooh, toughgirl, the Bed Buddy sounds great. I may have to pick one up.

 

[WildKitten]

I have an old fashioned ice bag that I bought in Stowe 2 years ago that has become my best ski buddy (next to DH of course!).

I have IT band issues, osteoarthritis and have had meniscus repair. I ski with a custom made brace. At the suggestion of the PA in my ortho's office I apply ice 15 minutes right after skiing and apply moist heat 15 minutes at night. I also take Aleve 2-3 times a day.

My husband and I also receive treatments from a myotherapist. He has suggested to me that I don't s-t-r-e-t-c-h my muscles. I warm my muscles up with gentle easy motions before we go out skiing.

Last week was the first week in 2 years that I've been able to ski 4 days out of 5, so something is working.

 

[Gloria]

You know Ihave awoken to pain like this a couple times. I think more hiking related though. What I do if I feel I have overworked my knees is to put a pillow between them if I am sleeping on my side or to simply elevate them while reading a book for awhile before I fall asleep. As I recall the pain was meniscal and the pillow helped quite a bit actually

 

[Ski Tripper]

I ski despite knee problems (patella-femoral pain syndrome). I, too, end each day (especially after skiing powder like I did Sunday at Sierra-at-Tahoe) with aching knees. I do the exercises that I received from my physical therapist to strengthen the inner quad muscles. I wear knee braces (they're just the nyoprene sleeves); however, I'm not sure if this is good to do or not...I've also heard that there are special action-knee tights. Has anyone tried these? Do they help? Thanks!

 

[michpc]

I ski despite knee problems (patella-femoral pain syndrome). I, too, end each day (especially after skiing powder like I did Sunday at Sierra-at-Tahoe) with aching knees. I do the exercises that I received from my physical therapist to strengthen the inner quad muscles. I wear knee braces (they're just the nyoprene sleeves); however, I'm not sure if this is good to do or not...I've also heard that there are special action-knee tights. Has anyone tried these? Do they help? Thanks!

If you're talking about the CW-X tights, I have a pair of those, but I bought them more due to IT band issues I've had. I don't think that they really reduced knee pain while skiing, but I did notice less hip pain after wearing them. However, they do have pretty tight compression, so I imagine the would have a similar effect on your knees as the neoprene braces since those are basically just compression. However, I have the PerformX version of the tights and there are others, such as the Stabilyx ones that I believe are more geared towards helping the knees. As a bonus, I find them quite comfortable!

 

[missyd]

I have osteoarthrosis in both knees and kneecap .... I have knee pains since I was a teenager .... I did a lot of sport like skiing, snowboarding, played amercian (tackle) football, went to the gym like a maniac ..... different doc sent me to specialists more than once to have my knees chekced, x-rayed and even MRI scans where taken. There is nothing wrong with them apart of the osteoarthrosis, tendons a little bit long, and sometimes little parts of my meniscus float around the joint and these little parts can block the knee totally. I gave up using ice/heat/remedies etc etc .... the pains are part of my body. Just like the tinnitus/ringing in the ear that can't be cured and I tell people that the pains and tinnitus are my best friends .... always near and with me!
But I am 48 already and too old to bother but if you are younger I suggest to get your knees checked ifthe pain does not go away after 2-3 days!

 

[michpc]

I have osteoarthrosis in both knees and kneecap .... I have knee pains since I was a teenager .... I did a lot of sport like skiing, snowboarding, played amercian (tackle) football, went to the gym like a maniac ..... different doc sent me to specialists more than once to have my knees chekced, x-rayed and even MRI scans where taken. There is nothing wrong with them apart of the osteoarthrosis, tendons a little bit long, and sometimes little parts of my meniscus float around the joint and these little parts can block the knee totally. I gave up using ice/heat/remedies etc etc .... the pains are part of my body. Just like the tinnitus/ringing in the ear that can't be cured and I tell people that the pains and tinnitus are my best friends .... always near and with me!
But I am 48 already and too old to bother but if you are younger I suggest to get your knees checked ifthe pain does not go away after 2-3 days!

I think we're actually the same person . I was also diagnosed with early osteoarthritis when I went in to have my knees checked. It ended up that the particular pain in question was ITBS...add another to the list! I also have loose tendons; my knee caps occasionally dislocate as a result if I bend my knees to far, but that used to happen more when I was a kid. I played rugby, so pretty close to football . I too have come to accept the pain as a part of my life, but that middle of the night was rough! Next time I have a powder day I'll probably do some icing just to try to stop at least the excruciating pain.