I’m Mr. Myagi’ing My Knee

In August, I hurt my knee while hiking on vacation in the forest. I was moving at a good pace and attempted to jump from one rock to another and … slipped. I knew it immediately. But it felt “OK” and I thought, “I’ll just walk it off.” Turns out. When you’re 53-years-old, like I am … you can’t just “walk it off” and “rub some dirt on it” like in the old days.

Day after day. I kept hiking. And when I got back from vacation, I still kept hiking. And added wind sprints to my morning workout. And lunges. And jumping jacks.

The knee got worse and worse and I’m not kidding you … a few weeks ago, I thought for sure that full knee construction was in my future.

I sat down at an early season tailgate up at Michigan State and I whimpered in pain. Fellow tailgater, Laura, asked, “what was THAT?” I explained my knee’s been hurting and getting worse and described the agony and she asked, “well, what did your doctor say?”

Why she bein’ so nosy?

Well, my doctor hasn’t said anything because I haven’t gone to the doctor. I was in the middle of my 90-day Walk-It-Off recovery protocol.

Except I wasn’t. Because it hurt to walk. Or sit. Or stand.

You may remember … rehabbing my knee was a Q4 Goal?

SO HOW IS THE SELF-ADMINISTERED KNEE REHAB GOING?

Happy to report … amazing. Turns out, if a person (me) is disciplined and has a plan, only then can this person get a good baseline of what’s really going on with his knee before rushing off to the doctor. Here’s what I’m doing…

• NOT sitting cross-legged and NOT crossing my right leg over my left when sitting
• NOT running or doing jumping jacks
• Elevating my leg/knee in the evening while watching TV
• Daily exercises on the machines at work (leg curl, leg extension, squat machine)
• Stretching my hamstring, back of my knee, and calf multiple times daily with a series of 5 stretches
• Ice and heat in the evening
• Ibuprofen twice a day (I’m at day-8 of 10-days and will take 10 days off ibuprofin)
• Massaging my knee
• Wearing a brace in the evening, sometimes while sleeping, and on my morning walk or doing my morning routine
• Focusing on walking form
• Randomly, while sitting at my desk, do slow leg raises (without looking like a moron in public)

Now? I’m not thinking doom and gloom and that knee surgery is in my future.

Just thought the world needed an update and a reminder …sometimes, before we jump to conclusions that the sky is falling, it’s a good idea to take a step back and ask ourselves … am I controlling the things I can control?