Knees and motorcycling

All,

I'm trying to determine if motorcycling could possibly be causing or
at least exacerbating conditions that cause my current knee problems.
Last night whilst climbing into bed my knee "popped" out for the
second time in 3 months - excruciating pain for a few minutes. Braced
up the knee and it's better this morning, still tender though. I think
the problem is a medial collateral ligament injury as described
http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/node/884.

This after getting my bike back from the shop after 3 weeks and about
300 miles riding on the weekend.

Now I'm 6 foot tall in my boots, and ride a CBR 600 F, so a reasonably
sporty riding position. I ride a fair bit, commuting and weekend fun.
Now my legs do get stiff after an hour or so of riding but I'm not
really in any pain that I'm aware of.

So my question is, would motorcycling be causing or exacerbating this
condition? Are there any direct links between motorcycling and bad
knees, other than when you fall off the bike that is. I mean would the
riding position be the problem? Anyone else here have similar issues?
I'm trying to determine if my bike is hurting me or something else in
me lifestyle.

 

Knees are complex things. Get it looked at by someone with a clue.

I've had knee trouble all my life. An inherited mongness exacerbated by a
couple of teenage rugby injuries make me prone to further troubles. As does
the pot-bellied physique.

I rode a CBR600 from 1999 to 2001. One of the reasons I changed to the
current BMW was to ease my knee strain. This worked well until a trip to
Croatia in 2005 when I suffered quite uncomfortable knee pain. I have since
fitted a peg lowering kit and comfort has greatly improved.

I find removing any knee armour in trousers helps. The pressure this exerts
on your patella gets tiresome, IME.

 

You say "popped out", which tends to imply the kneecap popping out of
place. If this is what you mean it is almost certainly not a colateral
ligament injury. That is only ever caused by a sudden, significant,
sideways bend to the knee, such as a twisting ski fall or a football
boot to the leg. You'd remember it if this had happened, trust me.

Much more likely is cartilage damage to the meniscus, which is the
disc that sits between upper and lower leg bones. This can get damaged
in a wide variety of situations, and will tend to leave uneven bits
which can then cause the knee to lock or pop out as (I think) you
describe.

Not as such. Whether it's a cartilage injury, as I suspect, or a
sprained or torn ligament it's a dynamic injury, cause by some sudden
movement, and not one that can build up in a static situation. But
it's quite likely that the riding position is causing more pain and
inflammation as a result of the injury, yes.

It's an injury that needs medical attention. It will almost certainly
not fix itself. In the short term takes lots of anti-inflammatories,
or better yet, use gels around the affected area. As well as relieving
pain, reducing the inflammation will allow the body's healing
processes to work much better.

But you should see a doctor soonest. The longer it goes on the worse
it will get - cartilage tears leave the area open to further damage,
so it's important to get them fixed ASAP. The usual solution is an
arthroscopy, which normally involves just a day in hospital, not even
an overnight stop, and after which you'll be up and walking within a
couple of hours and back to full, painless (if you're lucky) use
within a couple of weeks.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I wonder if T & Horse are aware of this solution

 

How old are you, what do you weigh, what sports have you been involved
in and what do you do for a living?

 

Well this is the second time this has happened and both times I had my
weight on the leg affected and I was twisting around, I collapsed to
the floor and the lower half at an odd angle to the top half and as I
tried to right myself after the fall it seemed to "pop" back into
place. It was excruciatingly painful for about 5 minutes and then
seemed to go away, still tender today and I somewhat lack confidence
to put all my weight on it, feels like it may buckle under again.

Ah okay. Yeah, the leg is okay today, no swelling or bruising just
tender.

Surgery, great. :-( Well, thanks for the advice, it's much
appreciated. Will attempt to get to see a specialist.

Thanks again,

 

That mister Auvache has the right of it, keep your knees warm. Those
little surgical support tube things make a world of difference. The
Sprint is a 'sporty' riding position for me, being somewhat old, and
having knees with a tendency to malfunction as well, but it's never a
problem with a bit of padding/insulation.

 

When I used to do lots of track days, my knees were significantly worse.

 

What knee?
If it's the left, avoid keeping your foot straight on the ground as you
mount/dismount. Always allow your foot to swivel on the ball of the
foot, else you will put sideways strain on the knee.
Happened to me for the above reason, went away for the same reason.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

 

Yip, exactly right. That's what happened the first time. Last night I
was just stepping over the bed, but same movement.

 

Ho yes, not something to be brushed off that's for sure.

If you're lucky the fix will last, if not at some point in the future
you may get told, tough it's fucked wait until you're older/it's
really bad to get a replacement.

 

Coming back to contemplating riding after a long
break I found one thing which people raised as a
problem was knees--"My Grand-dad/My Dad/My
Uncle/My Brother/My Cousin" et cetera type
anecdotes.

Last time I was in a syndicated dealership to scope
out prices of gloves though I noted that they had
ranges of thermal knee and elbow "supports". I'm
not at all sure what advantage they offer over the
time-honoured long johns and other thermal garb
for long winter journeys except that for short trips
they will keep the specified areas warm when on
the road in colder evenings without causing any
excessive overheating sitting in friends' living (or
tap) rooms with fires on or the heating up full blast.

It doesn't, to me, sound like you have popped your
knee joint out, but the general consensus to at least
go see your GP is probably worth serious consideration.

As per backs, I think it depends where in the back
your problem is. I know people who have given up
in regret because of back problems--and commuters
rather than boy-racers hunched over sports bars.
But I find mine is probably better during those times
it would normally be playing up because of other
things since spending a bit of time on a bike.

Given, though, the similarities in posture and that
it is an extremely efficient way of getting good CV
exercise I would also run the possibility of doing
longish runs on a pedal cycle (an hour or two on
alternate days, say, about as long as you might
spend walking a dog) in which you try to actively
keep pedalling.

I can't, and am not, recommending it; I am saying
you might want to run it by any medical professionals
you do consult.

You may find you are recommended to make small
changes to your diet. Fruit, veg, vitamins, oily proteins
and so forth if you don't.

To bring in my own experience, I've found that after
more than a decade of not riding in any real regular
form I was tending to get cramps at the topd of my
legs when sitting on the bike for the first few minutes.

Then after a while they got milder. But yesterday
evening, which was noticeably chillier than the last
weeks' evenings, I'd been to a pub for an hour or two
had a cola and a couple of low-strength bottles (a
pint in total) and when I jumped back on it really
bit.

I am in this instance considering the possibility
that even that low level of consumption exacerbated
them--first time I've had a beer and then ridden since
I got the thing.

What I don't find though, and really never have, is
that my legs get stiff after an hour or so. But I will
punctuate longer, motorway, journeys with proper
breaks to sit down, get properly warm, walk around
and fully use more than half the two hour window
motorway services offer.

I assume you wear leathers rather than just jeans.

Just remember though that people who spend their
lives in office chairs get a range of conditions as do
people who spend their lives on their feet pretty
much static at benches and worksurfaces (varicose
veins in this latter case) so I also add my voice to
those who claim a range of musculo-skeletal movements
is the key.

FWIW though, apart from these darn cramps for the
first few minutes of sitting astride it, I consider bikes
to be far better for posture than cabs (car/van/truck).

But, as regards my case, they always did say never
go swimming after a heavy meal or after drinking even
small amounts of alcohol.

I stroingly suspect the pads are what's done it for
you as, as has been observed, if you'd already had
an old injury you'd certainly remember it. Perhaps
yours are doing the postural equivalent of opening
the bottle of your patella with their teeth.

G DAEB
COPYRIGHT (C) 2008 SIPSTON
--

 

Get yer wallet out

http://www.braceshop.com/ProductCar...idCategory=2&gclid=CK7X1pKH3pUCFQmdnAod1yenXw


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Have you recruited Nige yet?


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Makes sense. In my case the movement on and off the bike aggravated an
existing weakness, but it went away for a decade only to re-surface
properly a couple of years ago when surgery was required. As has been
said by Ace, arthroscopy is a piece of piss (at least for you, as you
get knocked out; for the surgeon, it's not a pop, as he has to learn to
do it and that involves a degree and all sorts of other stuff, like
machines that go ping and shit) and you can be in and out in a day.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

 

What was his reaction, **** fuckity fucky ****?

--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

hmmm interesting, shame about the eye watering prices.

 

There're a few less expensive one's on the market though.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

One Christofire of this parish can attest to the fact that they work as
advertised and I can confirm that they're magic for keeping you warm. Best
thing since the eradication of speed limits.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19