Ask HN: Knee Pains, Reasons and Cure? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Knee Pains, Reasons and Cure?

4 pointsslowkid15 comments

To All of you, as hackers, what's the best way to 1- cure and prevent knee pains 2- cure and prevent knee swelling 3- when your age is >40 or <40 (i assume treatments will be different)

Thanks

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This depends on several things. First is what your daily activity is. If you are sitting at a desk all day the issue could be a lack of flexibility. This is because of the way the body is connected to itself. The knee swelling could be anything from diet to exercise related. If it is bad enough you should probably go to a doctor, chiropractor, or some other medical professional. That would at least rule out the obvious issues like torn ligaments etc.

I have three case studies right away. Male, Age 60, left knee pain, doctor says its aging, life style active. Male, Age 50, both knee pains, doctor says its uric acid, inactive life style. Female, Age 50, both knee pains, doctor says its aging, active life style.

Please advise.

I'm not a doctor so it would be unethical and irresponsible for me to diagnose anyone online. But I have a stretch therapy business and we relieve and reduce a lot of pain all over the body. Sometimes the person has pain in the lower back but the issue is tight hamstrings. I have also had people that have had issues such as different types of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, vascular arthritis, and bursitis is different locations of there body. Your case studies could try going to some specialist doctors or even going to a chiropractor. Just do your research for the chiropractors. Some are better then others and you should probably stay away from the franchise type locations. Not that the franchise locations are bad they just aren't set up to diagnosis any serious or hard cases. How are you involve in the case studies? I really don't have any context for anything you are telling me.

1- The case studies I mentioned are acquaintances. 2- I don't want to leak your business secret or any recpie for stretching but still can you explain basic stretching for joints(knees specially) considering two age brackets > 40 and < 40

I have small méniscal tears on both knees. I’ve found significant relief with three things:

- strengthening my quads (biking or elliptical)

- stand up desk with correct height keyboard and monitor

- switching to minimalist shoes. (I really like the comfort of my Xero shoes but their quality is really poor)

Ymmv. Good luck.

This is a great information and seconds what I've already learnt over time. 1- How to strengthen quads when age > 40 considering severe knee pain/swelling? 2- will do that 3- By that you mean weight must be very low or you mean sole of the shoes must be minimale?

Thanks

I like biking and elliptical for strengthening the quads. You don’t need to push hard but you do need to keep you knees aligned correctly. Start at a physical therapist to learn correct positioning if needed.

As for minimalist shoe, these are shoes with almost no sole and explicitly no soft cushion or “support”. The intent is to mimick bing barefoot. Human bodies have evolved sophisticated shock absorbing structures. Use them. Zero is pretty inexpensive to try these type of shoes out but their quality is lacking.

Note, you’ll need 3-6 weeks to get used to them. Your feet will hurt until you build the muscles and learn not to land steps heel first.

I know about my tears from xrays. The surgeon didn’t think they warranted surgery if I could mitigate with other methods since they were not bad. He said the surgery and recovery is painful so why go through it as a first choice. I’m thankful he said that.

thanks matt_the_bass!

Also how did you came to know that you have méniscal tears?

For _me_, dealing with knee pain requires heavy squats and stretching. Sometimes it is mashing out knots from muscles where the knotted muscle is pulling on the knee in a bad way.

As others have said, it really depends on the person. Medical abnormalities can toss a huge wrench into this. In general, if you don't use it, you lose it. Do things that cause muscle to build and support joints and do some mobilizing/stretching.

Thanks for your feedback. Use them or lose them. So for <40 age we can do what you advised squats and stretching. But what about >40? please suggest.

Also I want to add https://superuser.com/a/914862 the first comment of the accepted answer tells other side of the story(out of memory stuff). This is just for the analogy. What do you suggest for that?

40, 50, 70... If you can move, try expanding your range of motion. If you can do the range of motion, start adding weight. I don't think there is something magic that stops one from starting to be healthier at 40. I'm also a layman.

loved your thoughts! thanks alot

Even a doctor won't diagnose without having a look at the patient in question. You are asking laymen to come up with a medical cure/prevention. There are so many factors involved. All the life long choices contribute to the chronic conditions. You should go ask a doctor/specialist/diagnostician.

I agree with your feedback. Specialists are required here. But do you know any hack to improve joints quality specially knees under two buckets. 1- Age > 40 and 2- Age <40.

Thanks

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