My knee went ‘pop!’
And my life was changed forever.
If you’re reading this knee pain story now, I’ll bet you have knee pain too. Maybe my story can help you?
It all started the night I was helping my son to move. Carrying a box up three stairs, I felt my knee go ‘pop’ on the second stair. The pain was excruciating. Like a lightning bolt shot from my knee to my brain. I pushed on, one more stair to the top. Then, almost passed out.
This could be bad I thought. I drove 30 minutes back to my home with ice on it. Sat for an hour. Then went to the emergency room for a look.
They X-rayed. Examined. Saw nothing. Sent me home with crutches, a brace, and advice to ice it and see an orthopedic doctor if the pain continues.
Would this knee pain be my official welcome to old age? Seems so.
It was not getting better. I could barely walk. Took stairs carefully. One at a time. Holding on to the handrail for dear life. Imagining the agony I would experience if I were to lose my balance and fall.
I lived in fear.
Of stairs, yes. Of getting into and out of the car. Of going to the store. How long would I have to walk? What if I can’t make it? What if I go (anywhere) and there’s stairs? If I go with my family, can I keep up? Or will I be a burden?
And what of all the other things in life I can’t do now?
Can’t play golf. No tennis. Long walks? No.
Will I just sit around and get out of shape? Get Fat? Weak?
Knee pain is more than just a pain in your knee. It’s a pain in your life.
But I’m only 58! I’m not old.
Or am I? Is this it? Will my body not fix itself anymore?
Mind games.
I went to the hospital. Doctors. Physical therapists.
2 years of treatments. Surgery. Drugs. Braces. Creams. Needles.
It still hurt!!!
Maybe I’ll need my whole knee replaced. Doctors said it was an option. But at upwards of $50,000, is that really an option? And then what about recovery? How long? And aren’t there sometimes side effects?
Scary stuff. With no guarantee of outcome. I know people who’ve had this done, and claim it’s better. But, gosh, this has got to be a last resort.
Then, as luck would have it, just as things were getting darkest, – I found a fix.
***DISCLAIMER – Must read. I don’t want any of the three-letter government agencies getting all up in my business about this article, so be sure to read this. What I’m about to tell you IS MY STORY. This fixed MY KNEE PAIN. Your’s may be different and this may not help you. Not knowing your particular issue, maybe this could make it worse. I dunno. I am not a doctor, or qualified medical professional. You should always seek their advice before beginning any activity concerning the treatment of your body. Do not consider what follows medical advice for you. It is not. But I believe it’s your right to know what helped me.
My story. How I eliminated my knee pain after 2 years of agony.
The search was endless. I tried all the usual channels for a fix first.
Hospital. Doctors. Physical therapists.
As expected, they treated with their knives, needles, drugs, and gyms. But the pain remained.
Every night I searched the internet for a solution. Something different.
I tried all sorts of things. Supplements to pop. Braces to wear. Herbal teas to drink. Foamy thing to sleep with. Orthotics. Meditation. Copper cups to drink from. Nothing worked. Except now my wallet hurt too.
Then, I found this physical therapist online. Doing these simple exercises. Using nothing but a straight-back chair at home. Like a dining room chair.
He didn’t sweat. Didn’t have to change his clothes. He just got to it.
It took less than 6 minutes. “I could do that”, I thought.
So I tried it. It didn’t hurt my knee. And took so little time.
“What’s the harm I thought. Let’s try it for a week.” I told the Elder.
Lo and behold, after one week, less than 6 minutes of “exercise” per day, and my knee was indeed feeling better. I could walk farther. Get into and out of chairs easier too.
“Let’s keep going”, I urged the Elder. “We might get our life back!” And he did not complain.
4 weeks after starting these “exercises” – I put this in quotations because I feel they really are more like movements than what we normally call exercises, and yet ironically, they involve no motion at all. Still-force is the best way I can describe them.
Anyway, 4 weeks after starting these, my knees were feeling much better. So much so, I agreed to take my wife and daughter out to the state park for a hike. Watkin’s Glen. The scenery was supposed to be amazing. Rocks and canyons and so forth. This would be a good test of my knee. A reward for sticking to the exercises for 4 weeks.
When traditional medicines, snake oil potions, and trinkets sold online did not work to eliminate my knee pain in two long years!
My heart sunk when we arrived. Hundreds of people were lined up at the entrance. On stairs going three stories up!
“Am I ready for this?” I wondered. “Stairs! Really?”
But since we had already driven two hours to get here from Buffalo, and my daughter was excited to climb, I sucked it up and said, “Let’s go!”
I looked it up afterward. Over 400 stairs to climb on that journey through Watkin’s Glen and the waterfalls. And I did it. And survived. With no pain!
Hallelujah!
My knee pain was going away. My brain fog and fear were lifting. I was getting my life back. And now I have.
I can walk endlessly without pain. Climb and go down stairs with ease, and without holding a death-grip on the handrail.
I can even go ice skating with my daughter. And play golf again.
Sadly, the quick stops and starts of tennis keep me away from that game still. But I can do nearly everything else.
Even getting into and out of the car is a breeze now.
So that’s my story. How I fixed my knee pain. And it all started with 6 simple, still-force exercises done right from home with nothing more than a chair, a wall, and the will to get better. The will to NOT be old!
If you’d like a sample, and to try these 6 simple and quick exercises for yourself, to see if they can help you get out of pain like I did, I wrote the whole thing up in a pdf, a fact sheet you can download immediately at:
https://robertreports.gumroad.com/l/painfreeknees
Here’s to your pain-free knees!
Bob “Walkin-On-Air-Now” Schwarztrauber, aka The Elderbob
