Sore knees

[Lindaloo84]

Looking for a bit of advice, I suffer from arthritic knees and just wondering if running will make them worse? They are sore normally and I don't want to make things worse

[Jewel84 Graduate]

I have stiff knees and have found it okay if you take it slowly but to be on the safe side I'd check with your GP first.

[Hidden]

Arthritis Research UK have done lots on exercise. They have a helpline so I would give them a call.

[Dpsl Graduate]

I have arthritic knees too. When I first did C25K, nearly 3 years ago, I went to my GP and had some exercises recommended by a physiotherapist. I also saw an osteopath and asked whether running would make the arthritis worse. He said, 'Listen to your body.' Well, I wanted my body to listen to ME, and I wanted to do the programme.

I have less pain wearing my running shoes (bought after gait analysis in a running shop), both for running and the warm-up and cool-down walks, than in ordinary shoes with orthotics in them. I also go to weekly yoga and t'ai chi classes, to build core strength as well as the muscles that support the knees.

I still have arthritis but running certainly hasn't made it worse. A word of warning: you might get something else -- the running bug 😊

[davelinks Graduate]

I have niggly knees, usually OK for running though, I try and vary the terrain, so not too much pavement pounding, and get on the grass & trails, I find sitting a lot doesn't help, so like to keep busy, also have found Glucosamine beneficial for me..

[Alison_songbird]

I have dodgy knees and put off doing couch to 5K for literally years for that reason. In the end I decided to just go for it and see what happened. I'm at week 3 now and to my amazement, my knees feel fine - in fact, better than before I started running! Which is the exact opposite of what I thought would happen. So that's my entirely non-medical non-professional advice...basically just give it a try and see what happens

[Hidden]

I say go for it, but don't ignore new pain or worsening pain.

I would, as I always do, recommend that you do some exercises every day at home that build all the muscles that support the knees, hips, feet and your core muscles. That will help keep everything nice and stable and reduce unintended movement on the various joints (unintended movements being where joint surfaces twist or slide against each other as opposed to rolling over each other as they're designed to do).

Plenty of flexibility exercises too. If a muscle snaps tight before the end of normal range of motion, it will snatch at the joint that it's complimentary muscle is operating. So for example, tight hamstrings means that as your quads pull your leg forward on each step, them hamstring snaps tight while the quad is still pulling, so the whole lot violently snatches.

With all that said, exercise is good. In arthritis the cartilage wears away. It can't heal itself fast enough to replace the wear so it gets slowly worse. The reason it can't repair itself fast enough is because it doesn't have its own blood supply. It gets all its nutrients from synovial fluid in the joint. That has to be kind of splashed around the joint in order to get nutrient rich fluid all over. So exercise may slow down arthritis according to some studies.

[nikkiwabit Graduate]

Agree with lots above. You need some exercise to HELP the arthritis. Avoid pavements and do listen to your body i.e. stop if the pains feel different. Elevate your legs after runs. If you are not already on anti-inflamatories, invest in some gels for the occasions the arthritis flares up a bit, as it may do. It is the inflamation that does the damage. Glucosamine & Chondroitin tabs help a lot of people but you have to take for a couple of weeks before deciding whether they help you or not.

I like the idea of contacting the Arthritis Research UK helpline.