how do you know when to get a knee checked out

[Anonymous]

I hurt my knee while training for a marathon a couple years ago and pretty much stopped running. Nothing operable, just some chiro and stretching and stopped running.
Recently changed up my workouts, hurt my knee again and now wonder if I should just focus on more stretching for a while or go to the doc. Time is super tight and it's hard to get appointments lined up so I don't want to just rush in. How do I know when/if it's bad enough to go to the doc?

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with your knee? What's chiro?

Did you get a recommendation for specific exercises from a physical therapist or did you figure out some stretching exercises on your own? For example, I have to lift weights to strengthen my hamstrings and quads to keep my knee supported and stable (have repaired ACL and cartilage issues).

I guess if you know specifically what you are supposed to do, I would try those for awhile. But time wears us all down and you might be hitting the point where you need more than exercises. I know how you feel about going to the doc. You could make a point of going and then you just get sent to physical therapy.

I hate getting old!

[Anonymous]

If you've got insurance that will cover it, go get it checked out by an ortho. Women are more prone to knee issues, and it's often just a matter of identifying the problem properly and building up muscle int eh right places to get everything realigned correctly again. It might be easier to correct now than if you wait 'til it's really bad.

[Anonymous]

I developed knee problems while training for a half marathon. I went to an orthopedist sooner rather than later (maybe after a month) because I wanted to keep training. He didn't find any tears or obvious reasons for the problem, so he recommended some exercises to strengthen the surrounding muscles. Frankly, I thought he was just blowing me off since I (erroneously) assumed my legs were strong enough since I'd been running so much. However, I tried the exercises and, sure enough, after a couple of weeks stopped having any pain whatsoever. You can probably find a book or something on how to strengthen the surrounding muscles since it's a common problem, but it's probably quicker in the long run to see the doc.