do you suffer from knee pain?

Nurses General Nursing

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Lately my knees have started hurting big time and wondering if there are other nurses with the same problem. I tried switching to better support shoes and that helped a little bit.

How do you handle a 12hr shift while having knee pain? Do you just suffer through? What kind of remedies have worked for you? I have made an appointment with the doc just to rule out major probs.

I am not looking for medical advice just input for a fellow nurse.

Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

I have two pins in my left knee - not from nursing, but riding horses. When I worked in the hospital, the ONLY shoes I would wear were SVEN clogs. They were designed by a Swedish orthopedist and are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. I could work 12 hours running everywhere and never have leg or knee pain. Maybe you could look into a pair of them. Can't guarantee that you will have the same results, but it couldn't hurt. Good luck and take care of those knees.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

My knees hurt all the time, called old age.

However my copper and magnets help a lot

I have two pins in my left knee - not from nursing, but riding horses. When I worked in the hospital, the ONLY shoes I would wear were SVEN clogs. They were designed by a Swedish orthopedist and are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. I could work 12 hours running everywhere and never have leg or knee pain. Maybe you could look into a pair of them. Can't guarantee that you will have the same results, but it couldn't hurt. Good luck and take care of those knees.

Thanks!

I went to their website and they look interesting. Do they make that 'clog' noise or that's not wood on the sole? Did NSAIDs work for you?

Tee: do you just wear the copper bracelet? I've seen those in stores

Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

They make absolutely NO noise and are great for checking up on your patients if you work nights. No sounding like a herd of elephants coming down the hall. I am unfortunately, allergic to NSAIDS. Causes anaphylactic shock, so I try to avoid at all costs! Best of luck to you.

Lately my knees have started hurting big time and wondering if there are other nurses with the same problem. I tried switching to better support shoes and that helped a little bit.

How do you handle a 12hr shift while having knee pain? Do you just suffer through? What kind of remedies have worked for you? I have made an appointment with the doc just to rule out major probs.

I am not looking for medical advice just input for a fellow nurse.

Arthritis of the knees? If you are interested in an alternative ‘medicine’ that you would be hard pressed to find any medical basis for its efficacy, try apple cider vinegar (ACV). ACV is recommended for a laundry list of ailments, including arthritis. This is an age-old folk remedy that actually seems to work. Placebo effect? Who knows but thousands if not millions of people say it works for them. Personally, I had sore knees in recent months and started on three daily doses of ACV. While most web sites said it may take one to two weeks to notice any improvement, my knees started feeling better in 3 days! It is not pleasant to drink straight. As such, many people have their own concoctions to make it more palatable. One of the more common ones is to mix it with honey and hot water, i.e., ‘ACV tea.’ But as ACV is so inexpensive, it may be worth a try if you are at your wit’s end. Here is more info:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22apple+cider+vinegar%22+arthritis&btnG=Search

The right shoes in conjunction with ACV may remedy the problem.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Knee pain is not a required product of old age or long-term floor nursing.

I had some right knee pain when I was training for a marathon about eight years ago. By then I had been running/jogging for over ten years. I started upping my calcium intake which was very poor as I didn't eat dairy, took glucosomine for a while, started doing other non-impact aerobics and quit running, doing lifting exercises at the gym, and yoga. The yoga was quite difficult at first and I could barely sit Japanese style without pain. Today I can do much more and am pain free in my knee even as I age. Of course now I have a new pain, plantar fascaitis and now have to deal with that.....maybe I am getting old.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I suffer from generalized pain,so I take advil once in a while and try to excercise at least five times a week. My spouse has knee pain and the Dr. has recommended surgery. Sorry, that isn't much help.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I have had pain in my knees every day since I was in my early 30's. Fortunately, I do not work at the bedside anymore -- but avoiding anything that stressed my knees only helps a bit. I'll need surgery eventually, but I am delaying it for now.

I haven't found anything that really helps. Big time pain meds would, but I don't want to go there. So, I avoid stressing them, wear elastic supports on them in the evenings sometimes, wear sensible shoes, take some aspirin every day, and just generally live with it.

I know all about knee pain - believe it or not I decided to have total R knee replacement in Nov of 2006, BEFORE i started nursing school. I decided I rather get this done before I started my career. I have had a total of 9 right knee surgeries the last one being a month ago, to get rid of scar tissue and lateral release of the right knee, ya I thought the replacement would be the last surgery for awhile. I have had to date 1 surgery on the left knee.

The knee does not really hurt it just swells pretty big still after being on it for 10-12 hours.

A good pair of shoes with a good arch support seems to help me a lot.

good luck to you I understand what you are going through

Thanks for all your suggestions.....and yes I am willing to try alternative medicine if it works! Just came home from a 12hr more like 13hr shift and the swelling is the worst (of course so is the pain).

I am definately in the market for better shoes!

I found that wearing Z-coil shoes really help me. I have no knee pain when I wear them, even on 12 hour shifts.

Oldiebutgoodie

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