Woke up to a hurting knee

I woke up this morning to a hurting knee. That may not seem so unusual to a lot of the readers of this column but for me it was a wakeup call……I’ve never had knee pain before that I can remember. I know, I’m spoiled rotten; but I am thankful! This is in great contrast to my wife who suffers knee pain almost daily. Finally, I can empathize with her. I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.

At least I know why I had the pain this morning and I’m pretty sure it will be gone tomorrow. Yesterday, one of my sons invited me to go with him on a 7 mile hike in preparation for an Army competition he has entered. He’s been training for a few weeks now by hiking a 7 mile route with a 40 Lb backpack while wearing extra heavy boots. I didn’t weigh myself down like that but I did manage to keep up with a pretty decent pace. I didn’t give it a second thought until this morning when I got up. Aha, so this is what my wife has been complaining about for so long!

That got me thinking enough to do some research this morning on my trusty WebMd site: www.webmd.com/pain-management/knee-pain/picture-of-the-knee. This particular page has a wonderful two view graphic of the knee with understandable explanations of various knee ailments and what can be done to correct them. Of course , as seniors, most of us are familiar with Osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis, and often affects the knees. It’s caused by aging and wear and tear of cartilage; osteoarthritis symptoms may include knee pain, stiffness, and swelling. I was intrigued to read that one of the best treatments for it we can do at home and was called it RICE therapy. I thought it might involve some exotic rice ointment or something. Turns out they meant:

•Rest (or reducing daily activities)

•Ice

•Compression (as with bandage support) and

•Elevation.

According to WebMd, RICE is good initial therapy for many knee conditions.

Like I said, I’m quite sure this pain will be gone tomorrow . But if I had to put up with this kid of discomfort on a chronic basis, I’d be making a beeline to my doctor’s office to talk to him about knee surgery or whatever other treatment may be appropriate. Two mental pictures come to mind. One is a retail clerk who waits on me on a regular basis. His knees must give him excruciating pain all the time; it hurts me even to watch him walk! Another is the Wal-Mart crowd. On any given visit you can see seniors struggling with knee pain. For many of them I’d say the first therapy should be a diet to take about 50 Lb or more off of their knees to see if that helps. But then, I’m not their doctor.

Here in America, we seniors are so blessed to have Medicare and medical technology available to us so that most of us don’t have to suffer with chronic knee pain. So, If your knees hurt you on a regular basis, talk to your doctor sooner rather than later. Then maybe you can accompany your son on his Army hike too!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors…..see you next week!

Bill Milby, CSA, is a Certified Senior Advisor and a Director of Visiting Angels® of Macon, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA/.