For the past — oh, three, four or five months my knees have hurt. First one, the right, then the other (which, if you’re keep track, would be the left). And, well, it kinda bums me out, because I had started walking like four days a week and was getting really good at it!
I tried not to say anything about it, but then a local gal who was educated and worked for a while as a Kinesiologist noticed my gait and brought it to my attention. I tried to blow her off, but she’s taller than me so, eventually I let her take a gander at my right knee.
Before we go further, before this I had never, ever heard of the field of Kinesiology. Heck, I can hardly pronounce the word. I just googled Kinesiology. Here’s what the internet says: ‘Kinesiology, also known as human kinetics, is the scientific study of human movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, mechanical, and psychological mechanisms.?
(Cool, huh? Learn something new every day . .. now back to the story.)
She poked and prodded and asked all sorts of questions like where does it hurt, when did it start to hurt, and basically tried to recreate the conditions that made it hurt when I moved. She made a guess, that maybe I was — for a lack of a better word — kicking my leg too far forward when walking. Maybe it was called hyper extension, I don’t know, it was about five months ago. She gave me some blue tape stuff and showed me how to put it on my leg, saying something like, ‘This will help you not extend your leg out so much.?
Know what, in about a week or two that miracle blue tape crap worked like a champ. The pain went away! Hot damn, I rejoiced and commenced my walks. The walks, on cement walk ways, started to turn into hour and a half walk-jogs. Mostly walking, but the jogging time started to build to like 20 minutes.
I was stretching, sweating, working on a healthy heart rate and happy. The birds were singing in a blue sky and the bees were a buzz among flowers of all vibrant colors. All was getting right in Don’s world!
Then my left knee decided to rain on my one-man sunshiny day parade. It swelled up something fierce! Blue miracle tape was not gonna? fix it. This was definitely something different than what had happened to my right knee a few months earlier.
While I may not look all the bright, sometimes I have moments of clarity . . . not all the time mind you . . . heck, maybe not even most of the time do I think clearly . . but that one time when my left knee did swell up, I did think clearly. I clearly remember thinking, ‘Smackin, frackin,? blizin, rizin blankity blankin? knee!?
I then contacted afore mentioned Kinesiologist lady. She suggested a regimen of laying down, elevate knee above the heart, on and off ice, then compression and messaging the knee area to get the fluids moving from the swelling. It was a Friday and so I did that all weekend. On my back. On the couch, left leg up on pillows, frozen peas and an ACE bandage as my only companions for the entire weekend.
Good times.
That was about in mid-July. After a few weeks, the knee started to feel better, so I got me one of those black, stretchy neoprene knee thingies to keep my knee from blowing apart and started walking again. And, after about a week, stopped because it started hurting again.
It is now the beginning of October and both knees, while a little stiff are feeling better. I am contemplating walking again. No jogging. Just leisurely walking, but I am . . . what . . . scared?
Am I an emotional genius or a sharp-tooth whimposaurus — a cry baby, who should just shut up, suck it up, get out and get walking?
I don’t know? I’ll get back to you all on what I do sometime in the future.
* * *
While son Sean and I were pulling up and into our driveway this past weekend, I looked up over to the garage and up at the roof.
‘Son of a,? I cut myself off short, as not to cuss in front of him. ‘Dang it, Son. I just figured out why my knees hurt nowadays!?
He looked at me, I think fighting the urge to roll his eyes at yet another, ‘Dad Epiphany.?
‘When I was your age and a few years younger, too,? said I as the light bulb of recognition flicked on inside my head, ‘For no good reason other than I could, I used to run and jump off the garage roof, land on my feet. Sometimes I’d roll like an action hero in the movies or sometimes I would land touch the ground for balance with both my hands and then run some more in the yard.?
I added, ‘Dang, I wasn’t that bright a kid, was I? Son. Don’t do drugs and don’t jump any roofs. It’ll kill your knees when you get my age.?
Then he really did roll his eyes.
I just rubbed my knees.