Staying Patient With an Injury (It’s Gotta Be the Shoes)

09Apr11

Much as I would love to write about making more progress in my quest for a healthy body, I’ve been sidelined by my knee- a longtime injury of torn cartilage that worsened this past winter.

Initially, I thought the causes of my worsened knee were directly related to age and the season. Cold weather and low temperatures haven’t been terribly kind to my good ol’ knee. And I figured hey, age happens. But, I’ve had a painful last few months- time where, by the end of the day, I’m wincing on a one-mile walk home and can feel the anterior part of my damaged knee throbbing. I have never, ever run into any pain, and realized there’s another culprit: my shoes.

Last summer, I went to Jack Rabbit Sports on the Upper East Side. Eager to start jogging again, I jogged on their treadmill, and let a salesperson/running specialist evaluate my stride so that I could jog in a proper pair of shoes. We selected an Asics pair and off we went- except that as I sought to break in my shoe, my left knee- my old injury- started to flare up again.

Since the pain wasn’t terrible and I assumed there was an adjustment period on the shoe, I stuck to it. Surely, it would go away, I thought. The problem was, it didn’t.

Soon after deciding to jog again, I had to set aside that goal because of getting a (then) new job bartending, one that included lots of heavy lifting from a cellar with concrete stairs. While wearing the Asics, my knee started to hurt then; I assumed it was the heavy lifting and the constant stair travels that were the causes, but I never stopped to think that my shoe was in any way incompatible.

After losing that job and getting a new one over Christmas, I continued to use the Asics as my everyday walking shoe. Gradually, I could feel it flatten like a tire- where the cushioning didn’t feel strong anymore. And my knee started to worsen.

It wasn’t until that I did errands in a pair of old sneakers- Nike Air Rifts- that I noticed that my knee pain was significantly less in other shoes. And my brain started putting facts together- my knee didn’t hurt in my old shoe. Heck, my knee hadn’t ever hurt terribly in those shoes. The switch from Nike Air Rifts (as well as a pair of trusty Adidas cross trainers with thick soles) to Asics had exposed my knee to all sorts of shock in the last few months.

And, at the age of 35, I have an arthritic knee. And feel like a little old lady. F*&&*&^. (A subsequent phone call with my brother likewise confirmed my suspicions, and he recommended the book “Born to Run”, which alleges the expensive running shoe industry is actually responsible for runner injuries).

But, luckily, the condition is treatable, and I’ve chosen to go at this on two counts- both external, and internal.

On the external front, I’ve given up the Asics and have chosen to go the MBT route- shoes which mimic a Masai runner’s barefoot stride. As the original inspiration for copycat Skecher Shape-Ups, they’re shoes only a mother could love, but they are crazy, crazy comfortable. They are expensive- but with some sleuthing, I found shoes on Amazon that were on sale and not as crazy expensive.

On the internal, I’m taking glucosamine supplements so that my knee has an opportunity to rebuild some cartilage, improve joint movement, and eliminate pain. So far, so good. But as I’ve just started, I have no real results evaluated. But I’m so far relieved- I feel confident these can help me with any light exercise I do in the coming 8-10 weeks.

Thus fellow health junkies, here’s my skinny: if you’re trying to narrow down causes of joint pain, don’t be surprised if your culprit is in your closet. Change your shoes, and find what sneaker suits YOU. The solution may be as simple as Spike Lee’s words: It’s gotta be the shoes.

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Tags: arthritis, Born to Run book, exercise shoes, glucosamine, injury, knee injury, MBT, MBT shoes, running shoes