patellofemoral arthralgia, tree work, and misalignment

L

Lupin_IV

Participating member
Location
St Paul
I’ve been having knee pain for the past 6 months or so, pretty constant. Mostly left knee but also right. Finally got my life sorted and went to the doc yesterday (one I halfway trust) who told me his first thought is “patellofemoral arthralgia.” Generally caused by repeated bending on one knee or activities with lots of squatting, it’s also caused by misalignment which was his first line of reasoning.

Rewind 10 months - saw a massage therapist who told me they can feel and even see that my body is offset. Left shoulder forward, left hip forward. I.e chainsaw position. I was in a lift for the better part of 3 years dismantling dead ash, no crane until the very end so lots and lots of cutting. Too busy to adjust my body or do any other kind of maintenance. After hearing my doctors thoughts yesterday, my mind jumped to this line of thought right away.

Funny how the lift is supposed to save your body but just opens up the door for intensive production leading to situations like this. I’ll resist the Marxist outcry tho, my own fault anyway.

Anyway - does anyone have a good resource online or otherwise for general body alignment or anything they might think relevant to this line of thought or situation? I don’t much trust the internet these days so would love some input to supplement what I find. Alternatively a book suggestion would just about make my life.

We have a great pretentiously unpretentious yoga studio in my area which i always hope to practice more, but I’m hoping to dive into anything else that may assist with our great failure of a medical system as a supplemental last resort.

I’m reluctant to see a chiropractor for similar reasons against relying on a system I can’t practice myself, but I’d love to hear success stories if they relate to this.
 
Last edited:
I suppose I shouldn’t have said “reluctant to see” but “reluctant to rely solely on”

I intend to see one in addition to anything else tried. Coming from an industry where people constantly undermine professionals vs helmetless crackheads in cutoffs, I value a professional opinion :b
 
Chiropractic is quackery. I used to go weekly for 15 years, and I don't feel like it did anything but offer momentary good feelings. If anyone has some links to actual studies showing the efficacy of chiropractic, I am eager to see them, but there is no evidence beyond peoples anecdotes that it does anything besides pop some knuckles. They are useless at best, and have the potential to cause more harm.
 
I would be inclined to see a good physical therapist. You can usually see one directly without a referral from your doctor. I would expect to see one a few times to get an evaluation and education about what the problems are and how to address them. Then I would spend a long time doing the stretches and exercises on my own at home until I felt the need to return for more advice or to measure any improvement.
 
Physical therapy is what you want for sure. I would maybe also talk with an orthopedic specialist. Stretching offers benefits that all fall off after a few hours, so you need to do it regularly through out the day, but strengthening the muscles will do the bulk of the work. Which muscles and how is what you want to see the doc for.
 
You see, I have done all that physical therapy and it did nothing for me, stretch this, do this, do that, appointment after appointment, wasting precious drinking time in the evenings.
Absolutely pointless.
I go to see a good bonecrucher, who listens and we work together and bingo, back to work feeling like a new man.

Different strokes and all that, but without it I’d have to have stopped this work 2 decades ago.
 
Matias said:
Physical therapy is what you want for sure. I would maybe also talk with an orthopedic specialist. Stretching offers benefits that all fall off after a few hours, so you need to do it regularly through out the day, but strengthening the muscles will do the bulk of the work. Which muscles and how is what you want to see the doc for.
Click to expand...
“which muscles and how”

Good way to put it. Physical therapy is also imminent. My doctor is respectful, kept calling me a tree surgeon which is a little funny considering his profession but ignored the idea that I climb the trees and haven’t been on a ladder in 5 years lol. I hope addressing which muscles and how is a little easier with the PT.

So far this conversation can be distilled as “Don’t just drink the one kool aid, drink all the kool aids”
 
You can't stretch and exercise your way out of a bad diet. Doctors and chiropractors can, at the best, only relieve symptoms.

As I aged I started having increased knee pain that lingered after climbing and became significant. By the time I hit my mid-60s, my knees were so bad that I was scheduled for a bilateral knee replacement. (that's both knees)

Prior to that surgery I decided to strengthen my ligaments and tendons to reduce the recovery time. Check out Knees over Toes Guy. Don't be afraid of deep squats!

Changed my diet to remove all inflammatory foods. The actual truth on this is not the conventional recommendations and bullshit supplements. I'd say more but I'm already walking the line on giving 'dangerous medical advice'.

Today in my 70s I still have both original knees, pain free and am in better physical health than I've been in decades and am still climbing.
 
Hi Lupin IV,

Sorry to hear about your setback, BUT glad to read that you are starting your path to correcting the issue(s)

I'll put my 2 cents in and hopefully in an order, to make the understanding a bit more visual for you. I really wish you well moving forward (pun included)

"Compensatory movements" from your work in the Bucket, ect, have caused some muscle Imbalances that explain your current "out of balance" posture.

"Kinesiology" IS the study of human movement.

An "Orthopedic Surgeon" for your concerns IS the next in line for a Consultation and Evaluation. A GOOD one!

He/She will take some baseline x-rays, and get your history, as well as examine/test you further in office.

Thereafter, the next step is being referred to a Physical Therapist by that Orthopedic.

I can't overstate this enough that the P.T. has to be a very good one with 10+ years of experience, and is known for rehabilitating the "Tougher more challenging Cases" and strong background in Kinesiology and Biomechanics.

The PT will have you do specific exercises and stretches, AND in a certain "Order" to get your "Balanced" again.


A friend of mine that is a many time world champion and Olympian in Men's rowing was an amazing Physical Therapist, with a deep knowledge of Kinesiology. He so often talked about muscle imbalances, weaknesses and would use a car analogy...... when muscles are weak, it is like a car with broken springs. no longer riding on the springs....you are riding on the chassis...and then you have the "Wear and Tear" issues to follow.

Trying to make this visual and easier to comprehend.

Last example from personal experience. Some of the people I strength trained for Speedskating were women, and almost always they had a "Common Imbalance" caused by wider hips, and as a result the Knee's Patella would not track properly in it's femoral groove. They would end up with knee pain similar to yours.

The common corrective tool was to better train and "Isolate" the "Vastus medialis" quadricep muscle on a leg extension machine, getting the last 15 degrees of the muscles range of motion in extension. Over a course of weeks to months their issue was resolved, no pain and muscles keeping a "Balance"

That VM muscle developed better tension, and held the knee cap (patella) in it's proper line.


A Chiropractor mostly performs "Manual Therapy" and they do have there place for sure, but your issue is beyond their reach and education.


Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Lupin_IV said:
“which muscles and how”

Good way to put it. Physical therapy is also imminent. My doctor is respectful, kept calling me a tree surgeon which is a little funny considering his profession but ignored the idea that I climb the trees and haven’t been on a ladder in 5 years lol. I hope addressing which muscles and how is a little easier with the PT.

So far this conversation can be distilled as “Don’t just drink the one kool aid, drink all the kool aids”
Click to expand...
and recognize that you may not like every flavor. I may like lime, but you may find it disgusting. maybe you like grape, which I find a bit overbearing. whatever makes you feel good is what matters here.
 
DSMc said:
You can't stretch and exercise your way out of a bad diet. Doctors and chiropractors can, at the best, only relieve symptoms.

As I aged I started having increased knee pain that lingered after climbing and became significant. By the time I hit my mid-60s, my knees were so bad that I was scheduled for a bilateral knee replacement. (that's both knees)

Prior to that surgery I decided to strengthen my ligaments and tendons to reduce the recovery time. Check out Knees over Toes Guy. Don't be afraid of deep squats!

Changed my diet to remove all inflammatory foods. The actual truth on this is not the conventional recommendations and bullshit supplements. I'd say more but I'm already walking the line on giving 'dangerous medical advice'.

Today in my 70s I still have both original knees, pain free and am in better physical health than I've been in decades and am still climbing.
Click to expand...
Do you have any favorite meals to share that have helped you ? I wanna climb in that age bracket someday , I’ve got a reputation to upkeep! ;)
 
Beef, butter, bacon, eggs and small amounts of cheese. Any combination you like. No fruit, fiber, greens, grains or carbs of any kind. Not on most peoples to do list, lol.

I've been eating this way for 3 years now and feel better and climb better than when I was in my 50s.
 
DSMc said:
Beef, butter, bacon, eggs and small amounts of cheese. Any combination you like. No fruit, fiber, greens, grains or carbs of any kind. Not on most peoples to do list, lol.

I've been eating this way for 3 years now and feel better and climb better than when I was in my 50s.
Click to expand...
Hows your cholesterol? I only ask because all my metrics are awesome except that one, so I'm trying to moderate my saturated fat intake.
 
Last edited:
DSMc said:
Beef, butter, bacon, eggs and small amounts of cheese. Any combination you like. No fruit, fiber, greens, grains or carbs of any kind. Not on most peoples to do list, lol.

I've been eating this way for 3 years now and feel better and climb better than when I was in my 50s.
Click to expand...
Hey whatever works for you! Sounds lubricating in some regards. If you’re feeling great and healty that’s a win I’d say.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Kask Stihl NORTHEASTERN Arborists Wesspur TreeStuff.com Teufelberger Westminster X-Rigging Teufelberger
Back
Top Bottom