After a lifetime of surfing, windsurfing and having reached the ripe ole age of 64, my knee has packed up.Am totally devastated Cant even walk 50 m without severe pain.
I think "life sucks" then I watch the news and see the poor buggers trying to flee from oppressors in the country of their birth , and I think geez I am such a woos!
Try goanna heat rub cream before you go windsurfing next, rub it in to ya knee for like 30 min till it burns away the pain. Then do some warm up exercises with your knee and go for it and hit the water..
You should talk to your doctor first before you try this exercise...
Upwind, I take it you've had medical advice. What is it that is causing the pain and is it treatable? (e.g. cartilage.) If not, can sports physiotherapy keep you in action?
We old folk must fight relentlessly in order to keep 'at it'.I found surfing was getting too much of a strain because in the heat of the action you don't realise just how much twist and pressure you're putting on the knees, but I find that windsurfing can be more controlled when weight is taken off the knees by hanging off boom and harness. Mountain biking is also strenghthening without the twisting action. I would tend to avoid any exercises that require supporting your full weight on bent knees, and then forcing yourself back up. I find that anything which transfers body weight to arms is much better.
thanks for responses, have seen a doc , going for X rays 2morra, had forgotten about goanna oil! been taking voltaren by the gobfull which helps but there are some side effects effects effects effects.
I've recently started using Pain Away arthritis spray on my knee. It's supposed to be some miracle product allegedly. Anyhow prior to using it I was unable to get through the night without waking up several times a night with knee pain. Now I get a full nights sleep. It might be worth a try.
Hope you're getting better Upwind.
I for one strongly believe in the goodness of sports, even extreme.
I think that you would have been worse if not for all those activities.
Perhaps a bit of rest from all this for a while... I too walk like a penguin in the morning, and it's getting worse every year. I really hurt all over, from past injuries.
But it was worth it !
It's ironic.. You get stressed trying to handle your new limitations.. The best thing to destress is a sail & you cant!
well we all have pushed our bodies a bit, but as you say it was worth it and what would we be if we hadn't??
The man said today I have to get a knee replacement, wow if this all happened 50 years ago I would have lived out my days crippled. I seem to remember my folks and their peers at this stage of their lives and I don't remember any of them doing what we are doing still. Soooooo rock on and get the things fixed if they are fixable, otherwise take up kitesurfing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes Nat , been on gluc.sulphate for a few years now, doc reckons it probably helped and my knee would have been stuffed long before,
my knee spectacularly exploded in a wakeboarding accident four years ago which kept me off my windsurfing board for the longest eighteen months of my life.
modern medicine is an amazing thing - don't give up hope. you just might get back on the water yet, upwind. best of luck
My sister has a hip problem, and is now trying to get into the program to get her own cartilage grown in the lab, then re-fitted to the bone.
Apparently they are already doing this in Europe. I think Germany.
Worth Googleing about...
Yeah - it's called Maci implant.
It's a registered process but the technology should be available for all in coupla years. At the moment top sportsman(?) like Matt Bowen (NRL) are being treated
From website:
MACI® Implant – Advanced Cartilage Repair
The MACI implant uses the patient’s own (autologous) cultured cartilage cells (chondrocytes) to repair the articular cartilage damage in the knee joint.
The Surgical Process
The first step is to obtain a small amount (about the size of two pencil erasers) of the patient’s cartilage (a biopsy). The surgeon may perform an arthroscopy specifically to obtain a biopsy, or may obtain the cartilage biopsy while performing another arthroscopic procedure on the knee.
During the arthroscopy, a fibre-optic telescope (arthroscope) is inserted into the affected knee joint through a small incision in the skin, allowing the surgeon to see the inside of the joint. Another small incision is made to allow the insertion of other instruments.
Once completed, the cartilage sample is shipped to a laboratory, where the cells are cultured over a period of several weeks to increase the number of cells from a few hundred thousand to over 10 million cells. These cells are seeded on a membrane. Once the culturing process is complete, the cells seeded on a membrane are returned to the surgeon for the second stage of the process, implantation.
The surgeon will make an incision in the knee and prepare the defect by clearing away any and all damaged tissue. The surgeon will then place and fix the membrane with the cultured cells into the defect. Over several months, these cells create a matrix that covers the articular surface - in effect, replacing the lost cartilage in the knee.
Rehabilitation
As with most surgery involving joints, the patient’s recovery, and ultimate clinical outcome, following a MACI implantation, may be enhanced by adherence to an appropriate post-operative physiotherapy programme. Please see your doctor for information on suggested rehabilitation guidelines.
aren't there any braces in s/s or carbon fiber you could use for the momentam sure there are a few that should be able to stabilize or ease the pain while sailing
wow plenty to go on with there , thanks for all the input, will folow up on these suggestions........cheers
I dont sell them or even own one , but those dinky little blokarts use handsteering cruise at 30-40knts
and one aussie has cracked 107kph on a queensland beach.
just a thought
