Knee pain

[Welshman]

Will cycling with arthritis in your knee help, or make it worse in the long run. I find cycling two days in a row makes it flare up.
Giving it 2/3 days rest helps, but is frustrating.

 

[vickster]

Will cycling with arthritis in your knee help, or make it worse in the long run. I find cycling two days in a row makes it flare up.
Giving it 2/3 days rest helps, but is frustrating.

It might do or it may not. What compartment(s) of the knee are affected, inside, outside, middle bit around the knee cap?. How severe is the arthritis? How’s the range of motion? Do you use clipless pedals? Do you have a good stretching and physio type regimen. What else do you use to manage the pain and swelling? Medication, ice, heat?

If the rest helps, then that’s what you’ll need to do. Assume your bike set up and gearing are properly sorted? Do you use any orthotics to make sure your gait/feet are right?

It’s probably not helped mine in the past few years but Cycling helps me in other ways so I try to manage the pain as best I can

 

[Welshman]

Thanks for the advice, yeah I think recovery time between rides will do it,and of course, in the long run the more weight I shift, the less my knees have to suffer. ️‍

 

[raleighnut]

Have you got the saddle set high enough ?

 

[Tigerbiten]

I also have slightly bad knees.
I find it starts to hurt a lot quicker if I grind along at a slow cadence and high pressure on the pedals, I've learnt the painful way I've a maximum pressure on the pedals I can get away with.
But it also start to hurt if I spin at a high cadence for to long, I've now a maximum number of revs I can get away with.
Putting those two together, it's best if I ride at a slowish cadence, 60-70 rpm down from my more normal 75-85 rpm, but also keep a light pressure on the pedals at all times, so I now say "I've learnt to spin slowly" ......

You need to experiment a little on altering you cadence/pedal pressure a little each ride and see if it lessens the amount of pain your in.
It's little things like .....
Take it easy for the first couple of miles as they are your warm up, this is when I try and set my cadence/pedal pressure for the rest of the ride.
Don't attack hills, it has become a case of how little stress/strain you put on your knees while climbing. That's an easy to remember as more stress/strain equals more pain.
Try and stick within your limit, your better doing a very easy 5 miles per day rather that a fast 10 miles and then suffering for 2-3 days. That's the annoying one as I still want to do +50 mile days but end up hurting to much if I try.
An electric bike will probably lower the stress/strain on your knees and let you out more often/further.

Luck .........

 

[vickster]

Thanks for the advice, yeah I think recovery time between rides will do it,and of course, in the long run the more weight I shift, the less my knees have to suffer. ️‍

Most definitely if overweight. It’s also vital to have balanced muscles so your knee tracks correctly and the muscles are supporting the joint (and aren’t tight/shortened). Physio can advise and help. It’ll also depend very much where the arthritis is. Cycling can be troublesome if it’s around the kneecap and joint. But beneficial if on the thigh or shin bone surfaces as it’s a non weight bearing activity

 

[Welshman]

Have you got the saddle set high enough ?

Yeah seems right to me.

 

[vickster]

Yeah seems right to me.

No knee or thigh pain when pedalling?

 

[Welshman]

Most definitely if overweight. It’s also vital to have balanced muscles so your knee tracks correctly and the muscles are supporting the joint (and aren’t tight/shortened). Physio can advise and help. It’ll also depend very much where the arthritis is. Cycling can be troublesome if it’s around the kneecap and joint. But beneficial if on the thigh or shin bone surfaces as it’s a non weight bearing activity

When I stretch the knees I hear crunching noise, the left knee gives me the most discomfort, I drive for a living, done so for years,which has all added to the problem

 

[vickster]

When I stretch the knees I hear crunching noise, the left knee gives me the most discomfort, I drive for a living, done so for years,which has all added to the problem

Have you seen a specialist? How old are you?

 

[Shadow121]

Better see a specialist and take their advise, crunching is not normal
and you could end up not even able to walk.
If you get the ok to cycle, then there are things that help
such as a shorter crank, and of course the seat height matters
too.

 

[HLaB]

If you have everything set up right geometry wise I'd think gentle cycling will be good for the knee, keeping it moving, if there's no other damage done to it however, but see a true medical expert rather than listening to me and other non medical 'experts' on a forum.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Knees can be a pain..literally.

I have had knee pain, for a few months in my right knee, the one I had an op on to re-attach myquadricep tendon a few years back. I've today had a talk with my doctor about the result of the X-ray done a few weeks ago. She says there is no significant damage, and "just a few bits of debris floating about in there". From what i remember there is no particular benefit in doing anything about that, and I am being referred to a physiotherapist, possibly for exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee.

In the meantime I am continuing the cycling with lower gearing and doing a lot more spinning on my rides than I normally do. I still get some pain around the top of my knee, especially if I climb too much in too high a gear. I suspect that at my age, 72, it is something I am going to have to manage rather than cure completely. I am going to have to learn that cycling is not the only good exercise for the knees and do more walking than I have in recent months.

 

[Globalti]

When I stretch the knees I hear crunching noise, the left knee gives me the most discomfort, I drive for a living, done so for years,which has all added to the problem

Your left knee is wearing out from pushing the clutch thousands and thousands of times. The recent popularity of diesels doesn't help as they have heavier clutch springs to cope with the torque. I had a dodgy left knee so four years ago I went over to DSG. Not only is it a pleasure to use, especially in traffic, but my knee pain has vanished completely.

 

[cyberknight]

If you have everything set up right geometry wise I'd think gentle cycling will be good for the knee, keeping it moving, if there's no other damage done to it however, but see a true medical expert rather than listening to me and other non medical 'experts' on a forum.

+1
my saddle had slipped back on the rails on the commuter and i didn't notice, i got knee pain till i sorted it .