In the previous entry, I noted that in my first week taking glucosamine/chondroitin I had no change in pain from when I started. Last Sunday I noticed something about my knee. It made crunching noises.
This was nothing new. My knee has made crunching noises for some time and I was used to it. It was like an audio Post-it reminding me that all was not right in that joint. But this was louder. It was the difference between crumpling a chewing gum wrapper and an empty plastic bottle.
With nothing to go on but a hunch that it might be scar tissue build up or (hallelujah) some new cartilage, I started doing a knee exercise that I'd had to do throughout rehabbing my knee when I had my ACL replaced. Lying on my back with my toes pointed upwards, I lift my leg straight up and then flex my knee, pulling it toward my chin. When the knee will bend no more, I point my toes down and straighten my leg. When the leg is straight, I point my toes back up and repeat. I did three reps of this 20 times each.
After I finished, the crunching noises in my knee mostly disappeared. The joint also felt more flexible. During the week, I noticed that certain things like getting in and out of my car or going down the stairs had less pain or fewer stabs of pain. When pulling my foot up to my butt to stretch my thighs, I could do so with easily bearable pain although it still gave me a good shock when I would release my foot to go down.
So, until yesterday, it was a mixed bag of results. That was better than the bag full of coal that I had the week before.
On Thursday, I played basketball with my kids. No quick movements or high jumps, but I experienced a bit of pain on quick stops and changes of direction on defense. It was a warning that I am definitely not ready for full court with grown men.
Yesterday morning I went jogging. I was feeling sprightly, but I wasn't sure how my knee would respond. Through warm-ups and stretching, everything was mostly pain free. After one-half of a mile, my knee felt great. I decided to run the long course. Three miles. My knee felt so good I even did high knee raises on the home stretch. After a little icing, no swelling at all.
Today, I worked out on the exercise bike and did leg exercises: quads, hamstring, and leg press. I think two days in a row was too much. The nagging pain was back going down the stairs and when I straighten my knee from ninety degrees, it hurts. It was not quite back to square one, but it reminded me to take it slow.
No problem. Since I am only in week 2, I feel that the progress I have seen is sufficient. It is uplifting to believe that after another two weeks I might be able to work out two days in a row or even run full court, pain free. With the help of the glucosamine/chondroitin, maybe time will bring back what time's broken down.
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