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Kneesavers

03.18.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

It’s fascinating what you can learn from the cycling community.

Last week, I was battling a painful bout of gout in my left knee. I couldn’t bend the knee without it hurting, and I walked with a pronounced limp.

That’s all in the past now. A steroid injection into the knee and some time on the bike has done wonders. I’m walking normally again. The more time I ride, the better the knee feels.

But while I was laid up, I got lots of interesting advice. One item didn’t apply to my gout, but it’s interesting enough that I’m going to look into it anyway. It’s called the Kneesaver.

The idea behind the Kneesaver is simple. It’s an extension to the pedal axle, just 20, 25 or 30 mm long. The company says that added width to the pedal (what it calls the “Q factor”) can reduce or eliminate pain in the hip, knee, ankle or foot.

The Kneesavers web site (www.kneesaver.net) has testimonials from satisfied users, but I put more stock in the unsolicited testimonials from riders in my club whose experience I respect.

One said he bought them to help alleviate pain in his hip that came on after a crash.  Not only did the pain go away, he said, but his knees felt younger, too (he’s in his upper 50s). When he started riding his “rain bike” during colder winter weather, the hip pain came back. He moved the Kneesavers over to his rain bike, and the pain went away. “A wider stance on the pedals will more closely approximate your ‘at rest’ standing position and that’s where you will have the most comfortable knee rotation,” he said.  “It’s an old guy thing.” He was so happy with his experience that he’s buying another set for his wife.

Lending even more credibility to the worth of Kneesavers is a comment from another club member, who happens to be a physician. He also complained of hip pain after long bike rides. “What put me onto it was I noticed that long rides on our tandem didn’t give me this problem,” he said, “so when I checked I discovered that the Q on the tandem was an estimated 30% wider–because they use a MTB crankset (MTB cranksets have a significantly wider Q). When I measured my ‘standing Q’ it was 10cm wider than my road bike, so I increased it the minimum.”

One thing to watch for if using pedal extenders is the increased possibility of “pedal strike” in corners. You can’t lean the bike as far without the pedal hitting the ground. But since we’re supposed to corner with the inside pedal up, that shouldn’t be a problem.

This post is not to be considered an endorsement for Kneesavers. I haven’t tried them yet.  But I’m not getting any younger, and anything that keeps me going in comfort is worth a look.

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Categories // Accessories, Injury Tags // Accessories, Injury, knee, pain

The Knee Will Get Better

03.04.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

I was wondering there for awhile. Wednesday was just as bad, if not worse, than Tuesday. But my doctor has evening office hours Wednesdays, and I got in to see him.

The verdict: No meniscus tear, but rather, a “frictional effusion.” In other words, fluid on the knee caused by rubbing. That’s what made it impossible for me to bend my knee.

The prescription: A “steroid blast.” Prednisone, in large doses last night, the same amount spread out over the day today, then declining amounts over the next four days until the pills are used up. That, combined with heat.

So I took the big Prednisone dose last night, and wrapped my knee in a heating pad. What a difference! By the time I was ready for bed, I was able to walk with almost a full range of motion in the knee — not limping with the leg held out stiffly.

It ain’t perfect. I did the heat wrap again this morning before leaving for work, and it was good. But a day on the job — walking around, up and down stairs, which in some cases are unavoidable — took its toll. I’m stiff-legged again.

But I’m home, with the heat wrap out again, and tomorrow is my easiest work day of the week. So I’m looking forward to a good day.

But the bummer is the weather. Spring has decided to come to Texas. It was 68°F (20°C)  today, and the forecast looks equally good over the weekend. But I’ll be off the bike. I’ll make the sacrifice now, in order to be able to ride on my schedule for the rest of the year. It’s driving me nuts.

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Categories // Injury Tags // Injury, knee

My Knee is Killing Me!

03.02.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

A while ago, I wrote about the sorry state of my cleats. Finally, over the weekend, I did something about it. I bought new ones.

That night, I sat in front of the TV, diligently swapping out the old, worn cleats for the sharp, bright new ones. I even took time to trace the outline of the old cleats with a magic marker, just like Jeff Hemmel suggested.

Sunday, I did a 33-mile club ride on rolling hills. It was my first time on this route this year, although it’s one we do often. I found that the winter has taken its toll on me — by the time I finished, I was spent.

Monday morning, I woke up and rolled out of bed — and recoiled at the sharp pain in my left knee. Holy cow, did it ever hurt! And throughout the day, it got no better. Walking up and down stairs really was a chore. Downstairs, worse than up.

The biggest problem was, I couldn’t get comfortable with the knee regardless of its position. If I stretched it out straight, it started aching after a bit. If I bent it to relieve the ache, that worked — for about two minutes. Then that position became uncomfortable.

Monday night, I went home and grabbed my left bike shoe. I think I knew exactly what caused the problem. I walk with my feet splayed out a bit. With the old cleats, I positioned the left one so the left foot pointed a bit outwards when clipped in. For some reason, the right foot is just fine pointed dead ahead. But when I installed the new ones, I guess I didn’t pay close enough attention to positioning the cleat so that the left toe would point out a little. Dumb.

This morning, I woke up to more pain in the knee. If anything, it seemed to get worse during the day. I posted my dilemma to my club’s bulletin board, and got a lot of helpful responses, but only one that really addressed my problem. A doctor suggested taking Ibuprofen at the maximum dose. If I could tolerate it, he said the pain would subside after a couple of days.

When I got home tonight, I did exactly that. The Ibuprofen does seem to help. As I write this, I have less pain in the knee than I’ve had, but I’m not out of the woods yet. We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days.

The worst case scenario is, I tore the meniscus in my knee. That’s happened before, in my other knee, about 16 years ago. I had arthroscopic surgery then to deal with it. I hope to avoid another round of that now.

What’s worrying me is that I might be knocked off the bike for awhile. I’ve got the MS 150 coming up next month, and now is the time I have to start building my mileage. A number of other organized rides are on the horizon too, rides that I’d like to take part in. I’ve already decided to skip Pedal Thru the Pines, a wonderful hilly ride through some state parks near Bastrop, Texas this weekend. It would kill me to miss more.

So for now, Bike Noob is out of the saddle. I’m pretty grumpy, and I’m not making things easy on my wife. “For cryin’ out loud, you”re 59!” she told me this evening (my birthday is Thursday). “Stop pretending you’re 29.”

Can’t help it. Biking has made me feel a lot spryer than I’m probably entitled to.

I’ll keep you posted on my recovery.

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Categories // Injury, soreness Tags // cleat, Injury, knee, soreness

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