I wasn’t sure whether to post this here or in the Knee Rehab thread. It’s more of a general knee discomfort question but with carry over into the knee rehab template. So I’ll post here I guess.
As I’ve stated numerous times, I’ve been doing the knee rehab template. I’m going into week 14 and my knee pain has improved a lot. However, there is still some residual discomfort that just doesn’t want to go away. If I drive or sit for to long my knees will sometimes “stiffen up” and there’s some pain once I start moving again. In the mornings there’s also some discomfort till my knees warm up.
My question is, is this something I’m just gonna have to live with? Is this something that can be chalked up to living as a biological being? When I did my shoulder rehab Derek did mention that even once I’m done with rehab there will be times where I’d have to take the odd week or so to tune up my shoulder if the pain ever showed itself again. After I’m done the knee template, if my knees do flare up again, is there a part of the template you’d recommend one do to tune up their knees?
Thanks for the questions. Awesome to hear about your progress over the past few months and sounds like you’ve done a great job.
Regarding pain, this is a difficult conversation. Often our thought is - “Oh, I never want to deal with that pain again” and then this leads to “Well, I focused on rehabbing it now, so I don’t have to deal with it again”. This is an understandable line of thinking given none of us really expect to have to deal with these situations until we do and then when we do we hope that issue doesn’t present again. Unfortunately both patients and us as clinicians are guilty of creating this vacuum that is pain and rehab. The reality is pain is a part of living and what maters most is how we handle those situations when we are in them. This is likely why stoicism resonates with me - focusing our attention on what’s in our control and not worrying ourselves unnecessary with things that aren’t in our control. Knowing pain is a part of life but focusing on what’s within our control (mindset and approach) when finding ourselves in these situations provides A LOT of self-efficacy to self-manage in the future but it’s also ok to need a helping hand during these times provided those helping aren’t detracting from your self-efficacy. I’d say you likely have a much better understanding on how to self-manage should you find yourself in these situations again. This is also why I typically set the expectation that Zero Pain isn’t the goal but rather learning to live well with pain as a part of life.
Regarding pain flare-ups - typically we advocate for regulating loading and fatigue with RPE then if necessary altering ranges of motion, and finally exercise selection. I wouldn’t advocate you have to go re-run any portion of the template unless you just wanted to.