If you follow me on Instagram you probably know that I had cortisone shots in both of my arthritic knees a couple of weeks ago (or, since I’m counting, 12 days as of today).
My Arthritic Knees
And if you know me, you also probably know that I’ve been whining complaining about my arthritic knees for years. While I’ve always been quick to point out that they didn’t hurt when I ran, they did hurt when I squatted below a certain level (or tried to stand up again). Lunging was almost out of the question (though I tried). And they are noisy! Clicks and pops when I move in certain ways (not always associated with more pain though).
I’ve been saying for years that when I qualified for Medicare I would finally address certain issues and I brought up my knees at my annual physical last month. I’d always kind of assumed they were bone on bone (or close), especially after the time I fractured my patella eight years ago. The doctor showed me my x-ray and said I had the knees of an 80-year-old. Great.
My current doctor was much more positive. He said if it didn’t hurt to run, I should continue to run. My hero! Of course, he also said that the only “cure” for bone-on-bone was a knee replacement and that if they really did start to interfere with my running regular activities, that would be something to think about.
He also said that in the meantime, let’s get some x-rays and see what’s going on. One thing I love about Kaiser (my medicare supplement) is that I can walk out of the doctor’s office, turn a corner to get my blood tests, then another corner to get my knees x-rayed. Easy-breezy.
I received my results within a couple of days. Surprisingly, my knees were at Stage 2 (of four), meaning I had mild to moderate arthritis with less than 50% deterioration of the cartilage. My doctor said that a cortisone shot would help with pain and that I could schedule it if I wanted to. Happily, my doctor is both a family practice and a sports medicine doctor! Score!
The only problem was that when I tried to make an appointment with my doctor the earliest was on November 22. Wait, what? Talk about lifting my hopes and then dashing them.
Instead, I was offered an appointment within a few days with another doctor. I wasn’t happy but I took it. When I emailed my doctor about it, he told me that the other doctor was able to administer the cortisone shots but if she had any questions, she could call him in. That made me feel better.
As I awaited the other doctor on the day of my appointment, I was surprised to see my own doctor stroll into the room. He was between appointments and had the time. It made me feel really good because I think he had to plan that, it wasn’t just coincidence.
In any case, he gave me my shots, told me not to run for five days, but low-impact activities were okay, then he dashed off. He said it would take at least a few days and up to two weeks for the full effect to kick in. And to email him at that point if I needed to. Oh, and he also said that the shots would probably not make any difference in my noisy knees. Ah, well.
I decided to take a couple of days off everything, which was a good thing because I woke up with a headache the next morning. I’ve only had a couple of cortisone shots and the most recent one was over 20 years ago, but I didn’t remember any side effects. Nevertheless, I checked online and a headache can be a side effect. As can facial flushing which I also had. No big deal if my knees stop hurting.
The first few days after a cortisone are nice because there is a pain medicine in the shot. Then there is a possibility that the pain can actually be worse. I didn’t have that happen, though I didn’t feel a big difference in how my knees felt overall.
I started running on day four (yeah, I know) and everything felt fine. Aside from running on the trails and being scared of falling and landing on my knees. Of course, my knees never hurt when I ran.
On day five I did a lower-body workout. I tried including some squats, but I didn’t feel like my range of motion had improved much. And it still hurt when I stood back up. I was able to do some leg presses, especially when I widened my stance and changed my foot angle.
A little TMI: Over the last few years, it had become a little painful to sit down on the toilet. Those last few inches hurt! Of all the things, that was the first thing I noticed was better. Also better was lifting my leg (as in putting on shorts or skirts).
As I write this, it has been nine days since my cortisone shots. I think my arthritic knees are better. I’m still not squatting low but I feel like now I can build strength in that range of motion which will help. Lunges are still questionable. I did some lateral lunges the other day and, while my range of motion is still limited, they feel better. They still make a lot of noise though!
For now, my goal is to build back some strength in my legs. I’m working on strength in my quads but also calves, hamstrings, and ankles. It all works together. All that clicking can be associated with uneven patellar tracking so I’m hoping additional strength will help that too.
And Now It’s Time for the Runners’ Roundup!
Weekly Linkups
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
Tuesday Topics with Kim and Zenaida
The Runners’ Roundup with Deborah, Lisa, Jenn, and Me!
The Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim
Fit Five Friday with Darlene, Michelle, Renee, Jenn, and Zenaida
Ultimate Coffee Date with Deborah and Coco
I’m so glad the cortisone shots seems to be helping! Its nice that they were able to give you that option and that it all happened pretty quickly.
Thanks. It gets old when you’re in pain a lot of the time. I’m happy that I have less now.
Hope the cortisone does the trick for you this time. Getting older is not so easy when our bodies don’t want to cooperate as well as we would like them too
Yes, arthritis is really a pain in the knee!
Thank you for offering a peek into this part of your journey. It’s frustrating when our bodies won’t do what we want them to do. I’m so glad the cortisone is helping!
Thanks, me too. I was tired of it hurting to sit down. And stand back up!
You know I have to comment on this. You didn’t answer your own question, but I will. I think you know that cortisone isn’t the answer–it’s a temporary solution and can definitely give you relief so you can continue to pursue your activities. But steroids have some significant side effects and are not meant for long-term use. I have used them for my arthritis and I do love how they make me feel, too. But I also have osteopenia and don’t want to risk fractures, among other side effects. I hope your well-being from the steroid injections continues for a while, though!
Thanks for your insight. What I hope to accomplish with the shots is to really strengthen and rehab my knees and legs, and hopefully need less cortisone in the future. It had come to a point when sitting down was painful and I often needed assistance to pull myself back up. That’s just not good. My bone density is good (just had it tested last week!) and I hope to use as little steroid help as possible. I actually turned down a shot in my thumbs even though they occasionally hurt so much I can’t even move them because I didn’t want more cortisone in my system.