one of mine is feeling a tad battered and im not particularly old...what pills and such do people reccomend to keep knees running smoothly?
if i could get finish line in em i would
Oil from the liver of cods.
I'd recommend getting your riding position looked at and/or see a proper sports physio. Preferably one who is used to looking at cyclists. I'm no expert by far but I've been seen by a BCF physio in the past and he very quickly identifed the problem which had previously eluded a number of doctors and normal physios (for me it was using flat pedals which allowed my feet to splay outwards, switching back to SPD's fixed everything by keeping my toes in line.) Did me proud he did. Thanks Alec.
currently on the cod milk, also trying glucosamine sulphate.
interesting you say about foot position il try and have a look down next time im out as i use flats
I do a fair bit of running, climbing. hill walking and road biking along with the mtb. Work recently included physio with my health plan. I have suffered slight and infrequent knee pain for the last 3ish years (35yr old).
Went to a sports physio, he recommended some stretching, I thought yeah BS, two weeks of stretching later after a weekend of AM (12mile) fell race and 105 mile sportive I had no specific knee pain.
Sceptic to belever in two weeks!!! Well worth the money, I would pay, even though I didn't this time.
I'd recommend seeing a qualified medical professional first, such as a GP (probably refer you to a specialist) or a physio, to see if there is an underlying medical problem, rather than seeking a magic pill perscribed by someone you've never met over the internet. If the GP is of the "stop doing sport" school of thought, ask to be referred to a specialist or see a different GP until you get a referal.
The classic I had was "it's only a sprain" (I'd twisted my knee), rest etc from one GP - went to another who referred to a specialist straight away, got an MRI and it turned out I'd ruptured my ACL - that's an extreme case but think about what could be causing one knee to be bad and not the other.
For long term stuff (back to the magic pills) there are trials being done on Glucosamine and Chondroitin sulfate taken in combination (see below), noting that this is the stuff usually recommended by people who have bad knees:
http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/gait/qa.htm
Note this was a preliminary trial and the results weren't that conclusive either way. If you do take Glucosamine get Glucosamine hydrochloride as this has a better take up by the body.
I asked the wife on this as she deals with drugs trials and so she hooked out the research a while ago, for her stiff knee she uses cod liver oil which she thinks helps but the recent physio she's had helped more.
Hope that helps a bit.
thank you for the replies, very interesting read especially the hydrochloride. as i'm only 20 il prob give it a while see if it gets better/worse if not see me GP 8)
cheers all
Physio. SPD's. Specialized "Body Geometry" shoe inserts.
cyclefit in London, bloody expensive, but well worth the money - changed my position on the bike and now have very few pains in my knees(did the Etape last year and Marmotte this year)
I have had ACL repair and meniscal damage in left knee and clean up in the right knee, so both fairly knackered.
Second physio, but go to a sports one, (I found one through the local conference football team) as they wont tell you to just stop doing everything and take up Wii fit !
It really annoys me when my colleagues tell patients to stop doing sports!!( easy option doesnt take much thought)
Unless there is an acute injury there is probably no need to do so!
hmm im tempted to let it go and presume because im only 20 it will improve itself...but something tells me thats not a great plan! think they have a sports physio at the uni gym so will drop in 8)