You all probably know by now that Kevin Ware recovered rapidly enough to climb the ladder and cut the basket strings. But that has since been replaced with the images of limbless Boston Marathon runners, all of which just strengthen my resolve to troubleshoot my knee ailments.
As I sat in the waiting room of orthopedic clinic, I began to mentally jot down any stupid choices I made in the past for the doctor's notes--jumping from a 4 foot wall, signing up for a hockey class in college, jumping in that that kid's bouncy castle when I was still very overweight. Anything that could've pushed my knees to their brink.
On the way to the clinic, I nothing of the demographic with whom I'd be sharing the waiting room. The name "sports medicine" didn't help clarify things any further. I wasn't involved in any heavy physical activity, but I was relieved learned that I was but a variety: High school and college athletes, adult athletes, adults with joint problems and elderly. As expected with the environment, a few patients were walking around with crutches or other walking aids.
Finally it was time to see the doctor, who asked me the usual questions ( "What meds are you on? Any family history? Any past injuries?") before sending me for x-rays. Remembering the crutched patients outside (not to mention one sitting next to me in the x-ray room) the idea of surgery haunted my mind. Not the idea of having it per se, but the problems recovering from it would cause. My knees were impacting one of my jobs, so being on crutches for a month would impact it more. Walking like an old lady seemed like the better choice at the moment.
Before I was relived to dash those thoughts, because it turned out my pain that seemed so was more common for people my age than I realized-- misaligned knees caps. These alignments were very common in people with flat feet.
[I had a pic here, but I need a new one. Bear with me until I get one. Thanks.]
Imagine your knee caps were your eyeballs. Normally your knees should be "staring" straight ahead, like your irises. Now think of what happens when your left eye is looking left and the right eye is looking right? Well, it would be hard to see clearly, right? Well, that's what the kneecaps are doing--making it hard to walk.
Thankfully, all my memory jogging and descriptions of my ailment paid off. Better yet, I didn't need corrective joint braces or even surgery. All that was needed was a weekly commitment to the clinic's physical therapy program.
One of the first regiments was the simple reintroduction to normal walking and stepping patterns. Because my knees were misaligned, I felt pain every time I put weight on a bent knee, so I conditioned myself to lift my body up steps in an abnormal rhythm so to avoid the pain as much as possible. The physical therapy helps build back the knee muscles and reduce that pain. No surgery, no braces. Just structured exercise. And I can still go to work in the process.
As of this blog post, I'll be awaiting my first appointment with the physical therapist, but check in until my third installment of this ongoing saga!
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