7 March 2017

Hobbling

In the last five or six years, I have occasionally suffered from knee pain. It hinders my mobility so that each footstep is accompanied by discomfort or outright pain.Mostly the pain has been caused by kneeling down on hard floors and a couple of times it has arisen after falling down when out walking in the Derbyshire hills.

Usually the pain evaporates after a week or two and normal mobility is resumed. However, my current knee pain - almost entirely in my right knee - has been with me for more than a month now. Each day I wake up and get out of bed hoping that today will be the day when the pain has finally crept back in its kennel. But it's still with me. Pain killers help a bit but I am reaching the stage when I think I shall have to visit the doctor. Not something I do very often.
Lord knows what the problem is. There are various possibilities but I wouldn't want to bore you  by listing them. This self-pitying post has probably got you yawning already and besides when all is said and done I know that the knee trouble is connected with my advancing years. These poor knees have suffered some hammer in the last six decades. I guess it's payback time.

On Saturday, I managed to hobble on to the moor above Upper Burbage Bridge and snapped the accompanying pictures of two cows that had strayed up there from the valley below. They looked bemused. In all the many times I have been in that location I have never seen cows there - only moorland sheep.that are much better at finding nourishment in rough pastures.

30 comments:

  1. Aches and pains are not nice. I hope that you get the knee seen and that something can be done. My 76 year old brother has two knee replacements and spent last week downhill skiing in the rockies.

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    1. That's incredible! I would have thought that knee replacements would lead to more careful activity.

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  2. I empathise re your knee pain, Yorkie. I suffer similarly with my hips.

    Saturday before last I made 120 mini savoury muffins to take along with me the following day to an afternoon tea party to which I'd been invited. I had also been a guest at their wedding 40 years ago. (Long story...my ex-sister-in-law and her husband).

    By the time I finished making the damn muffins...having stood on a hard surface (tiled floor) for ages,not only did I never want to see a mini-muffin again, but I could barely walk. I was still hobbling around (worse than usual) for days thereafter! I don't take pain-killers or go to doctors, either.

    The party was the most boring I've ever attended. I really didn't want to go in the first place. I made my escape as soon as I could! It was a case of not being able to get out of going...worse luck...but as soon as I spotted an escape hatch, I went through it...hobbling all the way!

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    1. "Oh are you Lee? These mini muffins are marvellous. You must give me the recipe. I suppose that flour and eggs are involved. I made a batch of mini muffins back in 1968 when my grandmother was alive. It was in April I think. April 14th. Yes. That's it. I remember standing in the kitchen with a wooden spoon...Bla-bla-bla-bla..."

      Sorry about your hips... but of course not aesthetically!

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  3. You should have that knee checked out. There MUST be something that can be done to fix it or at least lessen the pain.

    Those cows sure are cute! I love their hairdos!

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    1. Perhaps you could take one of those pictures to your hairdresser and say - "I want this style!"

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  4. I am sorry to hear of your pain, and as a recent fellow sufferer not one bit bored by hearing of it. Have you considered physiotherapy? It has helped me several times now (hips, neck and pinched nerve in one foot). It may not be everything you need but will help with strengthening muscles around your joints. I hope you find some relief. We don't want those cows sitting on you if you should happen to fall down and can't get up.

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    1. If it doesn't improve soon I will have to make an appointment. With knee pain it's hard to know if you should simply rest or bend and stretch - exercising the joint.

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  5. 18 years ago I had extensive knee surgery with extensive rehabilitation. It was not particularly successful. Then I was at the acupuncturist for an entirely different issue and the guy asked me about the scar, he offered to work on the knee. I didnt feel any immediate difference but a couple of weeks later I realised that my knee function was better than it had been since long before the surgery.

    The cows are adorable, I dont think I have ever seen a long coated cow here

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    1. Wow! that is amazing that acupuncture improved your knee function. I bet there are some long coated cows in the posher districts of Sydney!

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  6. Is that road a starting point for a walk? There are quite a few cars and a couple of people who look dressed for a long walk.
    Stop feathering around and get along to the doctor. Fixed knees are a dime a dozen these days.

    Alphie

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    1. Yes. People often park there before setting off on walks over Stanage Edge and Higger Tor or down the Burbage Valley to Longshaw.

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  7. You've been in pain for a month already and have not yet been to the doctor's? Tut-tut... says I who is always quick to advise others to go see a doctor when I hardly ever go myself.
    I do hope you'll soon be able to skip up and down the beautiful Yorkshire and Derbyshire landscape pain-free.
    The cows look a hardy lot with their thick fur, but the land they are on definitely looks better suited to sheep. Maybe they simply wanted a change of scenery.

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    1. It was as if they didn't know where to go next - like me with my knee.

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  8. Alas, YP, I think you'll have to man-up,(as they say) and go to see the doctor. It's amazing how many people have knee ops these days and are able to keep active.
    Have you tried an elastic strapping on your knee before you go walking? It would be awful if you were confined to base, and unable to share any more interesting walks with us.

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    1. You are right I will have to "man up". But I will need some Dutch courage before I see the doctor. Three pints in the pub and a double whiskey (irish) will help.

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  9. Sounds painful Mr Pudding. Time to find out exactly what's causing the pain methinks. Surgery should only be considered as a last recourse.

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    1. Surgery sounds like sugary... but not so sweet.

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  10. I hope the knee pain proves easily treatable and doesn't slow you down! I know how you love your walks.

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    1. Thanks Steve. If this carries on I will have to invest in a mobility scooter. Sleek black with chrome edging I think and a licence plate with PUD 1 on the back.

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  11. Replies
    1. Which one would you recommend and which model did you yourself pick?

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  12. I thought you were going to finish by saying you had ridden the cows home to save your poor knees. I love their Beatle haircuts.

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    1. I would have done but there were no saddles.

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  13. It sounds like you have a bit of arthritis. I don't know your age but I began to have problems in my 40's. A doctor can help.

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    1. Oh God! I hope it's not that but you might be right Emma.

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  14. I have a close friend who, until recently, had only been in hospital once in her 72 years - to have a baby. When I had my knee replaced a year ago she found the whole concept of my knee problem quite bizarre and was, I think, not a little sceptical. Then her knee started to give her problems. She had arthroscopy on her knee. On Sunday she goes in for a knee replacement. The beauty is that nowadays we can do that.

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    1. Beauty? That's not the word I would have picked Graham. More like butchery.

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  15. My knees are not so good either. OK for walking but not good up and down steps and downhill. This holiday will either fix them ...or not ! Fingers crossed.

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    1. I didn't know you were going on holiday. I'll go over to HH now to check.

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