MacGyver, Masking Tape, and My Knee

Today I went to see a new podiatrist about my knee.

My knee has been a bit of an ongoing saga. Cut to the chase if you already know the history, or you aren’t that interested in hearing it. It’s alright, I won’t be offended.

The Knee Saga

About 18 months ago I started experiencing pain in my left knee — it would ache after running for 20 minutes or so.

Now, some might say that running for 20 minutes in one session is more than enough for the body to endure. But given that I harbor aspirations to one day run a full-length marathon, it is enormously frustrating to feel quite aerobically fit, but be let down by one solitary link in the chain (my knee).

The Local Doctor …

My GP examined my knee, and diagnosed my patella as not tracking straight. He referred me to a physiotherapist, then promptly retired.

No really — I don’t mean that I was the last patient of the day, and that he went home to bed. He actually retired from service. The doctor who replaced him has a used-car-salesman smile, so now I need to find a new family doctor. But back to my knee.

… The Physiotherapist …

My physio’s solution was to strengthen the muscles surrounding my knee by running short distances regularly. However, this was only effective if I did it every day. Now, while I enjoy the occasional jog around the park, I’m not fanatical enough about it to commit to a daily routine. I stopped, and my knee problem returned.

… The Podiatrist …

After talking to a friend who ran with custom orthotic insoles, I made an appointment to see a podiatrist. I had been given a referral for a different podiatrist, but stupidly I instead opted for the health professional who was more conveniently located (i.e. I passed his office on the way to work). This fellow appeared nervous, and felt to me like he was bluffing his way through the examination. He made me walk barefoot on a cold marble floor in the middle of winter. And he referred me to an osteopath after only one session.

… The Osteopath …

The osteopath seemed to know what he was doing and was a nice enough guy. He assigned me a series of stretches and exercises that I performed every night, and I started to get my hopes up. However his lack of professionalism and the poor feng shui of his consulting room (the furniture looked tacky and entirely temporary) harmed my opinion of him (Hint: get a secretary mate — I don’t appreciate my knee massage being continually interrupted so that you can answer calls. Oh, and fix that damn light globe!). After three or four appointments I was seeing little progress, grew tired of his juggling patient bookings while massaging my knee, and lost faith. I contemplated telling him what it was that turned me off, on the chance that he might take steps to improve matters, but instead I just never made a return appointment.

Of course, the next time I went for a run, I was in agony again. By this stage I was particularly pissed off as I had to forgo my entry in the Melbourne Marathon (just the 10km run, not the full thing. Not yet, anyway).

… and Everything Else

I’ve since tried taking glucosamine supplements, wearing a $70 knee brace, and buying $260 running shoes from a special runner’s shoe shop (staffed by podiatrists). Each of these have helped a little bit, but none of them have made enough of a difference to actually solve my problem. I’m 31, not 51. And I’m fit. Surely wanting to be able to run for a moderate distance without being in excruciating pain is not too much to expect?

Where To Next?

This morning my new podiatrist taped my foot. The entire sole is covered in medical tape, and feels kind of weird (apparently it’s supposed to). The tape simulates the correction that a custom orthotic sole would perform. I was a bit skeptical at first (it felt like she was applying some form of makeshift MacGyver solution to my medical woes).

However, I’m happy to report that tonight I did the first 10km run that I’ve done in 12 months that hasn’t ended in me having to hobble home and then limp around for two days afterwards. My knee feels great — I didn’t even wear the knee brace, and it felt terrific to turn the MP3 player up loud and really get the lungs pumping.

In fact, I was on target for a Personal Best for my 10km circuit, only to be foiled by an old lady on the home stretch …

Foiled!

Just as I was turning into my street for the final sprint home, an elderly lady stopped me mid-stride to ask if I wouldn’t mind helping her take out her bins. She looked about 90; she lived by herself and had had a stroke recently affecting her left arm, so lifting the bins was very difficult for her. Of course, I was happy to oblige — I might be a determined, incredibly focussed, sprinting machine when I get into that zone, but I’m not that determined that I can’t stop and do my good deed for the day.

Now if she had interrupted me in the middle of a game of fußball at the office, I might not have been quite so obliging …

Summary

If you have a sore knee, try taping your foot.*

*I am not a doctor. You should probably get them to do it. Or MacGyver — that guy could always work wonders with a piece of masking tape.

Tags: knee, macgyver, podiatry, running

posted: 19.02. 2008, 21:35 (0)