Get a handful of marbles and put them in a bag. Jiggle the bag. Now grab some dry leaves and rustle them. Mesh those two sounds, and you have an approximation of what my left knee sounds like when I go up the stairs. And, yeah, it feels like it sounds.
After months of the knee issue getting worse, taking a break while I stayed at my parents' house (which has no stairs), and then resuming with angrier intensity when we returned home, I finally broke down and saw the random primary care doctor my insurance company had assigned me to. I went to this appointment with both babies, by the way. Dr. Random was a pretty nice guy. He bent my knee about fifty different ways and then ordered some x-rays. Having witnessed the cranky x-ray tech telling me I would have to come back without the babies after waiting at least thirty minutes, a kind lab lady offered to watch them while I went in the room o' radiation.
The good news: It isn't arthritis! Yay!
The bad news: Dr. Random thinks it's Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, which is something hikers get. I haven't been hiking in, oh, about three years. So I've developed this from walking up and down the stairs THAT. MUCH.
Why do I go up and down the stairs that much? Cloth diapers. Unless we want to enjoy the wafting aromas of poopy diapers while we're eating, downstairs is out for a diaper pail, so that means that with every diaper change, I've been going up and down the stairs a total of six times (take Baby A up, go back down for Baby B, take Baby B up, change diapers, take Baby A down, go back up for Baby B, take Baby B down). Nevermind taking the diaper laundry up and down the stairs.
The prescription: weight lifting for my quads and hamstrings to strengthen the muscles that support that joint, wearing a knee brace, and laying off the cloth diapers.
I love cloth diapers. They're wonderful, but for now we're on a break.
The moral of the story: Stairs suck.
Ugh! Sorry your knee is so painful =( Stairs do suck...I wish we had a ranch house sometimes...ok, all the time. Hope your exercises help and it feels better soon!
ReplyDeleteYikes! I am all too familiar with that sound and have been dragging my feet to do anything about it. Last time I went in with knee issues I ended up with surgery (dislocated my knee in HS and years later it needed work again). I think i'll save the money and try your program :) Good luck and hopefully this helps a ton!
ReplyDeleteI'm late to this post, but... can you put the diaper pail outside, like just by your back door? If that's an option, seems like it would solve your stair problem as well as keeping the diaper smell away from your living areas. Good luck either way with your knee - nothing worse than mobility impairments when you have littles to chase!
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