ITB / patellofemoral syndrome

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#1

i will be attempting a thruhike this spring (nobo) with shoddy knees–combination of ITB and patellofemoral syndrome. been through PT 3x, have custom orthotics, slew of exercises to do, and really want to avoid taking large amounts of ibuprofen to keep the knee pain/swelling down. any tips/suggestions on knee-specific exercises, knee stabilizers (been thinking about getting cho-pats), etc. would be greatly appreciated. i do use trekking poles, and am aiming for a pack weight of 30lbs if i can manage it. thanks!

bonnie

#2

Sorry I can’t help with exercises, but from similar painful experience I can only recommend an even lighter pack. In '02, at age 45, I dropped my base weight (no food or water) from 30 lb to 15 lb, and made hiking possible again. Now I’m down to less than 10 lb, and am really enjoying the hiking. My thru of the AT this year was absolutely wonderful and painfree, all because of the light pack. But it is a whole different style of hiking which took years to adapt to.

It sounds like you’ve done everything else the way I would have, from PT to trekking poles to avoiding the meds.

I just saw yet another article in a recent Backpacker issue about walking-specific exercises.

Good luck!

Garlic

#3

I agree with Garlic. If you’ve got problems like this, I think focusing on your pack weight would be a big help. There are a lot of completely healthy people who tote sub 10 pound packs (minus food/water). Personally, mine is quite a bit heavier, but my knees are OK.

I’d also recommend taking it easy with the ibuprofen. Too much of that stuff isn’t good for the rest of your body. It should be used sparingly for acute conditions, not as a long-term remedy.

Also, be sure to remember to stretch and stop BEFORE you hurt. If that means 10 mile days & your friends leave you in the dust, so be it. Don’t push yourself too hard, it’s a long trail.

Another idea… have you considered hiking a different trail, like the PCT perhaps? Any long trail is going to be hard on your body, but the PCT is graded more gradually, and should (theoretically) be easier on your knees. Though, the hiking window is shorter, which means you have to do more miles/day.

In any case, good luck! and I hope you’re able to have a good time out there!

Jonathan

#4

I was a runner prior to my thruhike and had my share of injuries including ITB problems. During my hike I took just a few min every few hours to stretch. One was an ITB stretch. I would also recommend you get in some full pack hiking before you go. ICE really helps keep the swelling down after excercise and it’s a lot easier using ICE at home than on the trail.
Good Luck.

Steady On

#5

I had problems with bilateral stress fractures in my knees during my AT hike. I found that the combination of reduced pack weight, less miles a day {I averaged 10 miles a day} and cho-pat knee braces combined with hiking poles did the trick for me. Slow and easy wins the race! Good luck to you.

Slow Walker

#6

I found some Ibuprofen gel when I was travelling in Australia after my 2004 Thru Hike. It really helped alot but apparently its not available in the US.

You might be able to get some online somehwere.

jalan jalan

#7

I have had my share of knee problems that prevented me from hiking and running for long periods of time. Did weight training, two rounds of PT, orthotics, stretching, etc. Once I began sticking with yoga class 1-2x a week, I discovered I was able to backpack and run again, pain-free. Not sure of the logic behind it, but it worked for me.

Backtrack

#8

thanks for all of your input! i ordered a book about ultralight backpacking, hopefully there will be suggestions in there for getting the pack weight down. yoga has been suggested to me on more than one occasion, perhaps it’s time to try it out. i have the next 7 months to concentrate on strengthening the weaker muscles and loosening the tighter ones.

bonnie