10 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
I haven't hiked in about 7 weeks (!!) - after a year, my knee injury is still a pain (literally) on a daily basis. But I can't stay away for long, so I gave it a shot today and fortunately felt pretty solid. (Funny that I can go 10 miles on soft/packed dirt, but can't walk 40mins around town without pain. pavement sucks.) Goats are catching on that the gate has opened and hikers/bikers are out and about. Only a keen eye (mine, luckily!) can catch that there were at least a dozen waaayyy off on the opposite slope of Ape Canyon to the north east of the trail, scattered all about. Take a good zoom lens or binoculars! And they probably won't hang around for long with the increased foot traffic. Otherwise, Trillium are starting to wilt, phlox is out in full, and some other purple flower/tree I don't know. There was just one section of massive blow-down with an obvious detour above it; bikers have to dismount and portage around it. No snow - just some patches up on the Plains that won't last another day.
Comments
Elsie
April 27, 2015
Thanks! I bet that's what's going on in my knee, too.
Mileage Mike
April 28, 2015
Glad to hear you had a great hike (great pictures too) but sorry to hear about your knee. My wife and I have a similar situation where a hard surface (wet sand & asphalt) or going steeply downhill really brings on the knee pain. We definitely prefer more ups and downs to even out the muscle use and it definitely is easier on the knees.
Over the past couple years we've been fighting knee issues and have seen many orthopedists. Unfortunately, most have been useless and recommended throttling back significantly on hiking and taking pain meds. I even had one that recommended exploratory surgery if the cortisone didn't work! I'd like to humbly recommend that you get an opinion from a good doctor to get a plan on what it will take to get better or if it will go away on its own!
My wife and I now only see one person to get evaluated; Dr. James Chesnutt at OHSU! In our opinion he has exceptional bedside manner, is incredibly thorough and really wants to see his patients be the best they can. My wife went to him last week, after seeing some quack, that only gave pain meds, and she was referred to an excellent physical therapist with a great plan for minimizing the effects on her Arthritis on the Patella (knee cap). I have seen Dr. Chesnutt half a dozen times for my knees, shoulder and lower back. All those issues have been addressed. I've never been disappointed. In fact, I'm seeing him at the end of May for pain similar to my wife's.
I have also seen Dr. Andrea Herzka (Surgeon that works with Dr. Chesnutt at OHSU) for my torn meniscus (had another surgeon correct and feel bad I didn't take her advice to wait on the surgery) and arthritis in my shoulders. She has also performed Arthroscopic surgery on my son for a severe hip issue (genetic, and he's doing much better). She is also an exceptional Orthopedist my son and I highly recommend!
If you've peen having pain for a year it probably makes sense to have it evaluated by a specialist? I'm not trying to come off forceful, but just caring, as I enjoy reading about your hikes! Take care and good luck! Mike
Elsie
April 28, 2015
Mike - thanks for the advice! I did go to a specialist/Sports PT last summer, and was given a set of exercises and then politely dismissed after three sessions. Maybe because I'm young (28) and "healthy," he figured I'd bounce back and didn't need to continue appointments. After many months of exercises, I thought about going back this winter, but discovered my deductible reset and couldn't stomach paying all that money at that time. Now, I'm starting a new job in a couple weeks and my insurance doesn't kick in until July. So, when that finally happens, I'll look into how to get linked up to OHSU folks - I'm on Kaiser and in my experience they tend to have a strict rules and hoops for granting out-of-network referrals... They don't make things easy, when all you want is to get back to normal life! Anyway, thanks again - I'll keep your referrals close to mind when I'm able to tackle this frustration again. Appreciate it!
Karl
April 27, 2015
When I pinched a nerve in my back, I found walking on uneven ground was my only source of relief. Something about the non-repetitiveness of it, I suppose. Glad to hear you got out!