Glucosamine

“anyone take it for minor knee pain? i think i took it for awhile on the AT. it seemed to help”

“Yeah for about 10 years now.”

“what is it? i may need to”

“theyre nutritional supplements”

“My dogs get it.”

“CB is a regular wealth of information.”

“Get it @ Sams Club-super cheap”

“condroiton

I just wanted to say that.”

“the first few months after i get back from the states are going to be the hardest ive hit the trail since doing the AT. gonna get me a bottle when i get home. i just wondered if anyone had an opinion”

“condroiton

I just wanted to say that

say some more. do you think its better than glucosamine? or to be taken with glucosamine?”

“depends what is wrong w/ you

I took the combo stuff b4 and it helped. I have mild arthritis in my hips from overuse (sex and karate). Expect mild benefits for arthritis pain. Anything else, not so much.”

“taken w/ crash.”

“ps - never do karate and have sex at the same time. She'll take your nunchucks and give you numbnuts.”

“by combo stuff, do you mean theres a tablet that combines the two, or did you just take both tablets (does it really matter?)”

“cb do you have OA?”

“the 1st one

also, wait til your first day - don't load up before

it works quick, but not forever imo”

“cb do you have OA

by oa, i assume you mean osteoarthritis. i dunno. i have some mild to moderate pain hiking downhill. knee-brace helps some


also, wait til your first day - don't load up before

it works quick, but not forever imo��

that makes sense. after awhile, the benefits plateau, and after a while arent benefits anymore. or something like that, right?”

“looks to me like building quad and hamstring strength would help just as much if not more...but I'm basing that strictly on the wikipedia definition of the stuff.”

“i dunno. i have some mild to moderate pain hiking downhill. knee-brace helps some

my guess is this won't do a lot of good, and likely instead of deteriorating cartiledge, you have slightly torn cartiledge, or a ligmant issue. w/ oa you'd probably notice it other times.

take Aleve and ice, remember RICE
last edited: 1/24/08 6:58:17 PM”

“does this tell you anything, sarge? my first symptoms occurred in the smokies. i'd hike for awhile, then if i stopped for a break, upon starting again, the pain would be very high, but would subside with movement. this was any kind of walking. uphill, downhill, level. those symptoms went away after awhile. some time after the AT, the new set of symptoms were mild to moderate pain, on downhills only, and only if i plant wrong. its not with every step. but i still have to be careful”

“I'm not sarge...but...my vote....ligament”

“based on that i'd definitely echo what GNM said. I think strength w/ help offer support. I still say it's likely what I said above, but there is no way to tell w/o x-ray or other scans.

Your muscles relax ... you loose compression and support.

Seriously, the shake and squeeze ice packs are good. I keep them in my 1st aid for bping. Screw the extra weight..”

“From someone who was the recipient of a dead person's ligament in the knee, I'm voting ligament too.”

“i guess now i have a real good reason to hit the gym”

“crash ... do you hike with two poles? properly used they can lift a whole lot of stress off the knees. In addition to workout and supplements you might want to give that a try if you don't already. But to really be effective you need two poles with wrist straps ued the right way.”

“they did a study that found that most of these suppliments contained far less of their active ingredient than they advertised. some had almost none! so if you decide this stuff is good to take be aware that the dosage you will get is very dependant on the brand. i don't recall which brands are good.

i took this for while for knee pain. what i decided was:

1. it did not help enough that it was worth the terrible cost of the pills.
2. taking it prevented me from getting real treatment which prolonged my injury.
3. my wife gives it to our dog. i have seen no improvement in the dog.

personally i don't take the stuff anymore. i do strength training to support the knee joint and it has made a world of difference... but it wasn't a quick fix and it didn't come in the form of a pill.”

“There is medical evidence that Glucosamine works, but not for condroiton. I use glucosamine and works well on my gimpy knees.”

“Definatly strengthen the muscles in the knee. Thats what I was told when I tore my ACL compleatly when I was a kid. Braces only make the knee weaker if you rely on them (thats what I was told by a doc anyway) Glucocemine never really helped me in any way.”

“yes, i have two trekking poles. and i will look into strengthening my knees”

“http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/patellar-tendinitis/DS00625/DSECTION=2

Crash, I bet its patellar tendonitis, got to runnersorld.com and goto injury prevention and click "where does it hurt" or "where it hurst" you will get loads of info.

Downhill pain is the key indicator for patellar tendonitis, supplements wont help it. Rest and a "cho-pat" help to rduce swelling but time off of the knee is key. Strengthening the joint SLOWLY will help, no impact or weight bearing is key to allow the joint to heal. Cycling, real or stationary works wonders, rowing is good too. Use the joint but dont make it take hard stress. Stretch.

I just went through this, email me if you want more detailed "knee-hab" info.”

“that's 3 possible ligament votes

btw - surgeons can fix that pretty easily if that's it. (just torn). Itmay be coming unaligned, in which case ... build muscles.

For this, Stand on books or a stair. Keep bad foot off platform. Lower your hip so foot drops below platform. Raise hip back up. lather, rinse, repeat.

easy, but you need that”

“btw crash, if you need exercises, email ME. I have the best ones.”

“i'll second cycling. the stationary bike was great because it was aerobic, was low/no impact, and i could gradually increase resistance as i built strength. i did a hill program and started out with little hill and build up to large ones. it was a good deal. now that my knee is much better it's leg press and curl and the stair machine. good stuff.”

“how do you know yours are better? :P”

““how do you know yours are better? :P”

GatherNoMoss

Wouldn't you like to know?

hubba hubba”

““how do you know yours are better? :P”

GatherNoMoss

Wouldn't you like to know?

hubba hubba”

“crash bang - I found hiking in GSMNP worked for me. I would start with backpacking trips on easy trails and work my way up.

When I would leave Floida, I would be experiencing a lot of trouble with stairs. I would use a railing and go up or down one step at a time. First with one foot and then with the other. Then I would attack the next step.

After about six to eight weeks in GSMNP I would do parts of the AT. At that point I could do the five to eight miles between most of the shelters and I would improve further as I would hike along. After returning to Florida I would be able to go up and down the same steps without assistance with one foot on each stair. That is a noticible improvement. Since the knees are shot, it has to be the stronger leg muscles that improve my walking ability.

But I need to find the right exercises to do after I return home each time. I plan to talk to some of the pofessionals at the gym.

While backpacking I would diet as well. The weight losses could only help my walking.”

“If you believe the charlatans whose very effective marketing has got people pouring their hard-earned cash into this snake oil, then I have a really good investment for you, guaranteed to make you a 43% return, year after year, with no risk.

Just send $29.95 - in 3 easy, monthly installments - to OWC, P.O. Box 10000000000, Cayman Islands.”

“I use glucosamine/MSM, about $13 for 300 @ Sam's. I only take one a day but if I lay off I return to minor pain. This the result of meniscus tears in both knees; both trimmed.

Knee strength is the key to helping and there are lots of resources for exercises out there. All can be done at home you just need to get some ankle weights that have weight inserts so you can start with less weight and add as strength increases. All exercises are 3 reps of 10 until you can do 4 reps then increase weight or it gets too easy which is how I did it. Ice the knee for 30 minutes after exercise.

Start off all exercises with stretches.

Besides the usual exercises do stairs, lunges, and squats using 10# hand weights. Wall slides are a great quad burner.

Besides weight training it is very important to do flex exercises, stiffness can cause as much problem as lack of strength.

Having had both knees scoped I have been there and done that.”

“beyond 20min ice is likely extra..”

“i think what i'll do is visit the local sports medicine doc when i get back”

“You'll want it for the LT. It took over a month after hiking the northern half of it that the knee pain went away. Sherpaman still is complaining about pain in his knees and the hike was over a year ago.”

“I took gluc for a year or so a few years back, but I never felt it did anything for my lame-o knees.”

“Good idea crash. You'll notice that only some people had success with G/C, depending on their ailment- likely you won't with what you are describing. Have them do a hi-res scan of your knee if you'd consider surgery. Otherwise, you can just manage the symptoms and do the exercises people mentioned. I took the exact same thing (even from Sams) that sticks mentioned, it worked for a limited time, but like pitts indicated, not enough to warrant continue use for OA. For almost any possible related ailment, slow and easy strengthening exercises will help.... prepare to be bored, we're not talking about heavy lifting here - just slow repetitions over a long time.”

“

just slow repetitions over a long time.”
Sarge

That's exactly what I get doing mountain backpacking. And having a destination each day is nice as a goal to accomplish. Sometimes it is difficult to achieve the goal, but it feels good, when each one is reached.
last edited: 1/25/08 5:32:26 AM”

“it is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from needing surger. its just a little grating. and the good thing is, ive done a good bit of hiking in the 3 years since finishing the AT, and it hasnt gotten worse”

“Crash, i take Glucosamine/Chondoitin/MSM, have been for over a year now and i know that it works for pain because when i run out, the pain begins again.

i did some research online and found a brand that DOES contain the milligrams purported.
1500mg/1200mg/250mg

"Spring Valley" brand which you can find at WalMart, it's by Schiff. I buy the bottle of 72 pills and i only need to take 2 a day because it's triple strength.”

“I used to take it, however my PT said stop wasting my money, it really does not do anything.”

“i don't believe it creates or heals cartiledge, but i do feel less pain. it's anecdotal.

gotta go to work; see ya all later.”

“I agree with Pam. There is good reason to believe a placebo effect. Not really worth the money IMO.”