I took shrapnel through my right knee back in '05. It didn't hit any ligaments, just a through and through. I've been through tons of pt and countless mri's and xrays and all that with no real improvement. Currently the diagnosis is patella femoral disorder, which if I understand correctly is a tracking issue with the kneecap. Docs have also told me I have something to do with collagen giving me typo much elasticity in my ligaments. I've tried everything short of snake oil with limited changes, and I get more pain with hyaluronic acids. Docs have advised that I need more muscle mass to help with stability to compensate for the ligament issue, but I have a lot of pain working legs and a lot of grinding and popping, my knee catches and locks up on cycle machines as well. I have a blue neoprene brace, us orthotics I think, that the va gave me that has the side support bars in it, but it causes more pain sometimes as it squeezes the joint so when there's more swelling there's added pain as well. I just started hitting the gym hard and regularly and my plan is to just fight through everything and see where it gets me, as everything up to this point hasn't done much.
So can any of you guys recommend a brace that can offer more support and/or recommend any specific exercises to build strength with minimal impact and wear and tear on the joint?
ETA: I use the elliptical 3x for about 15min each time, pre, mid and post workout doing a setting with a lot of resistance
So can any of you guys recommend a brace that can offer more support and/or recommend any specific exercises to build strength with minimal impact and wear and tear on the joint?
ETA: I use the elliptical 3x for about 15min each time, pre, mid and post workout doing a setting with a lot of resistance
