I'm Going to Get Rid of the Knee Pain, Gosh Darn It!

About 8 years ago my left knee started hurting during my high school days of cross country and track. I went to the ortho doc, he told me I have patella tendinitis and gave my a cho-pat strap to wear and do straight leg raises. It didn't help. Five years later I went to another doc...told me I have patella-femoral syndrome sent me to 4 sessions of physical therapy and they gave me a brace to help stabilize my knee. That didn't help. I gave up running 3 years ago, I couldn't walk down stairs afterwards because the pain was so bad. I turned to the elliptical permanently...after 20 minutes I'd get numbness in my leg and knee would still hurt. I went back to the ortho doc (insurance changed, so a different this time). He said my ankles turn inwards and sent me to get orthotics and not to use the former brace. With school I didn't have time to do PT that time... I did notice a little bit of a difference with the orthotics.

Well, where am I know? I haven't gotten new orthotics, so mine are almost two years old. My knee bothers me at rest...after ten minutes of elliptical or biking it's throbbing...I'm way too young for this. I've also noticed my left calf is smaller than my right, so I'm definitely modifying my mechanics to compensate for the pain.

I know I need new orthotics...that's on my to-do list to see a podiatrist the next day I have some time off... I also know ideally I need to do some intensive physical therapy, but as a med student I don't quite have the authority to take time off for PT 3 times a week...

As a product of whatever generation I am...I think it's Y or the millennials, who knows...either way, I turned to the power of Google and found a solution. I kept finding "suggested exercises" but I really wanted a full out exercise program specifically targeting patella-femoral syndrome. Lo and behold, google did not disappoint and I found this e-book. It cost $25 to download, but that's cheaper than 2 co-pays I'd need for the doc appointments. I figured it was a $25 worth spending. I'm really going to dedicate myself to this. I mostly focus my current workouts on cardio to burn calories and I realize this is less cardio. I've come to terms with that. I really hope this works, and I know, I'm not expecting results overnight.