By Anthony Mychal http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain This is a preview of An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain: Theories and Solutions for Patellar Tendonitis, Jumpers Knee, and Patellar Tracking Problems. Check out the full website and the full eBook at the link above. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain DISCLAIMER The author will not be held responsible for any issue (be it injuries, pains, aches, equipment misuse, animal fertilization, or other) that results from reading this eBook. Its purpose is strictly informational and legal action cannot be taken against the author for any reason on account of this written work. Although the author admittedly bases the medical industry, understand that he is not legally authorized to replace your physician as a clearance prior to engaging to physical activity. Be sure to get clearance from the appropriate professional personnel prior to becoming physically active or engaging in a rigorous exercise regimen. My name has been cleared. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain EXPECTATIONS Greetings. As you probably know, my name is Anthony Mychal another one of those online writers and trainer guys. I know Im just one in a sea of qualified people, but Im glad you somehow landed here. I asked a lot of people to spread around this free report, because I wanted to help as many people as possible. And being that not everyone knows me (yet), I had to make some friends along the way. So want to thank everyone that helped me get the word out. Before I go on, I want to dismiss the perception that I was always someone that knew how to fix chronic knee pain. That I am simply relaying information in a textbook. In fact, not too long ago, I was on the other side of this word documentthe reading what others were kind enough to provide. I still amthat person a lot of times. I love learning and I cant get enough of health, fitness, and athletics. But I want to talk specifically about knee pain. Back in 2008-2009, I was a wreck. I was plagued with injuriesnotably a lower back injury, a groin injury, and a knee injury. Over time, my lower back and groin somehow fixed themselves. My knee, on the other hand, didnt have the same fortune. It hurt when I squatted. It hurt when I jumped. It hurt when I power cleaned. It hurt when I deadlifted. It hurt when I ran. It hurt when I walked and down steps. It hurt when I got in and out of my car. It hurt. Looking back, calling myself a wreck is an understatement. But perhaps more detrimental than the physical damage, was the emotional damage. At the time, my friends and I did something called tricking. Its basically a barrage of acrobatics thrown together in an aesthetically pleasing display of movement. Now, my friends and I had been doing this since 2001. It was something we were all passionate about. We texted each other move combinations and we drew tricks on each others folders in high school. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain Yet here I was, at the age of 21-22, unable to trick because of chronic knee pain. Tricking kept us young, and it formed a strong bond between me and my friends. I remember telling myself that this knee pain was more than not being able to walk up stepssomething that was also mentally taxingbut it was it was also cutting into my social and personal life. Of course, I eventually fixed my chronic knee pain. And I put it into a neat eBook, which is precisely why were both here right nowas if you couldnt tell. But I want you to realize how chronic knee pain can interfere with your life. So back to the story. I spent one year experimenting with different rehabilitation protocols. Youll see more of those adventures and my feelings on them in the book, so I wont go into much detail here. But after those protocols failed, I built my own theory from the bottom up. And after practicing and testing these method on myself, my students, and my athletes, I started to work with clients online. Time and time again, I get clients that come to me, wanting me to heal their chronic knee pain. On the exterior, thats all there is to it. But one of my clientsafter going through the rehabilitation processsent me many praises. None of them were about being able to barbell squat again. Sure, that was one perk, and he enjoyed doing it. But Simon (his testimonial is on the main website) was most excited when he was able to help a friend of his move (which involved repeatedly walking up and down steps), and being able to dance an entire night without knee pain. Now, Ive been without knee pain for a few years (except after I broke my foot, more on that later). But what I pride myself in most isnt being able to squat or deadlift. Its about being able to sit in a deep squat while looking for food in the bottom of the refrigerator. Its about running up and down steps recklessly. Its about acting and feeling like a kid again. Its about playing sports without regard for those aches and pains that used to haunt me in the past. Heres a list of things about chronic knee pain that suck: Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain Pain when squatting, running, and jumping Wasting time and money at medical professionals that turn out to be no help Ineffective treatments, braces, and creams Not being able to play your sport Having pain during activities of daily living And yes, those things do suck. But they are far from the real pain of chronic knee pain such as: Being self conscious about your body imagine, and not being able to exercise to fix it Never reaching your athletic pinnacle, potentially hindering scholarships Missing out on camaraderie amongst friends during recreational sports (I can attest to this) The thought of needing surgery and how this affects your life, job, and everyone around you Back in 2009, this all applied to me. I went to my general practitioner in hopes of fixing my pain. I left poorer ($25 copay) and with painkillers. That didnt work well, so I went to a sports medicine specialist next. I left poorer ($30 copay) and with a knee brace (which proceeded to break in a matter of minutes). I was unhappy with how I looked, and I couldnt do anything about it. I was an athlete at heart, and was detraining to the point of, well, not training. I couldnt trick, which meant I was missing out on camaraderie among friends. Worst of all, I thought I was destined for surgery. I didnt know what to do. So I did what any sensible person at the time would doI searched and asked online. I asked Mark Rippetoe numerous questions on his forum. I e- mailed Kelly Baggett and Alex Vasquez. Everything I found and learned was tested and finally compiled in a notebook. The same notebook that would eventually become this eBook youre reading about. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain I know youre here for the free stuff. The goodies. The cha ching. Well get to that, but I want to let you know that you can see more of my story up on the main website. Oh yeah, you can find the eBook there to. It runs for about half the price of a new video game, so its pretty affordable. Especially considering that healthy knees are something youll probably need at some point in your life. CLICK HERE TO GET TO MAIN WEBSITE When I was compiling this notebook, I was lost and confused. My Google searches werent producing good results. Sure, I found information on patellar tendonitis, patellar tracking problems, and jumpers knee, but the Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain rehabilitation strategies were abstract. I was an athlete at heart, and none of them resonated with me. Stretching my quads for 30 seconds and then doing a set of leg extensions just wasnt enough, especially because it never worked. But things eventually started coming together. I promised myself that if I somehow found a solid way to fix chronic knee pain, I would deliver it cheapless than half the price of competing products (that I didnt feel like paying for at the time, so I didnt). I also wanted to deliver it without the sleazy sales tactics. I dont know about you, but I go to websites, I dont want to be bombarded with pop-up ads and other shenanigans, regardless of whether or not Im going to buy anything. Thats one of the reasons why this report is available to you for free to download at your convenience on the main website. Most high tech salesman in todays age would have you sign up for a newsletter to get access to something like this because then they could e-mail you at their will, convincing you to buy other things. I pride myself in being an everyday guy, for the most part. Sure, Iman athlete (or, I tell myself I am), but Imnot here to convince you into buying something you dont need. Marketing gurus hold crazy sales with one million percent off and other things to entice you to buy something you really dont want. Well, Imholding myself to a different standard. My eBook is one price, all the time. Always the same. Fully refundable. If you don't think you (or a client or athlete) will experience, or have ever experienced, knee pain, then I respect your decision. Likewise, if you dont know if this eBook is for you, e-mail me at anthony.mychal@gmail.com . Ill gladly see whether or not you can benefit from it. If you cant, Ill refer you to something else that might be of help. Ok, now that that part is over, its time for the free stuff. A LITTLE ABOUT THE BOOK This book isnt laden with science that you cant understand. Its just me telling it like it is. Just see the content below to get a better idea. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain We learn better if things are relatable. In the class movie, Road Trip, two of the main charactersJosh Parker (played by Breckin Meyer) and Ruben Meyer (played by Paulo Costanzo)are trying to figure out how one of them is going to pass a philosophy less than two days away. The conversation goes like this: Rubin: What class is that again? Rubin: Ancient philosophy. Rubin: Well I can teach you ancient philosophy in 46 hours. Josh: Really? Rubin: Yeah, I can teach Japanese to a monkey in 46 hours. They key is just finding a way to relate to the material. That was my goal in writing this. Youre probably wondering why I keep bashing the medical profession. I'm not, really. In fact, I advise everyone to meet with their doctor regularly, especially when it comes to an issue like knee pain. Serious issues need serious care. Read my disclaimer. They can do things that I cant. But what I'm saying is that if you want to know what it feels like to get punched in the eye, you don't go and talk to someone that's never been in a fight. Ive lived through this and fought my way out. And I think that gives me some informal credentials. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain Howto Instantly Cure Knee Pain This post originally appeared on Bret Contrerass Blog as a guest blog post. Ive battled chronic knee issues just about as much as anyone could in life. If you dont believe me just check out the video I posted on YouTube back in 2009. Through a lot of troubles and experimentation, I managed to fix my Rice Krispies kneesa miracle in itself. All was well in the world. That was until January 28, 2011, when I broke my right foot in five places. I was on crutches for eight weeks. This meant my left legthe one prone to chronic issueswas the only useable leg I had. Welcome home, chronic knee pain. After getting off crutches and going through another six weeks of relearning how to walk (I had a severe limp), I got back into training. But a combination of built up stress (from the crutching) and huge imbalances between my legs (both strength-wise and mobility-wise) forced me to make a tough decision. I stopped caring about back squatting. Im a meathead at heart, and Ive squatted for years. But I have to admit, I prospered without them. I felt great. I felt healthy. But this backed me into a corner. Previously, I branded myself as a knee guru. After all, I had spent the past few years researching and writing about knee pain, boiling my experiences and knowledge into an eight week corrective systemdedicated to reprogram the body in a more knee friendly way. And yet here I was, ignoring the squat because of chronic knee pain. I was a hypocrite. It was my job to squat once again. But instead of following my tested eight week program, I thought Id see if there was an easier way, orat the leasta quicker way. I wanted something that provided immediate results. My theory of knee pain goes like this: feet + hips = knees. So Ilike Bret Contrerasam a proponent of getting the glutes more involved on lower body lifts. But where I differed from Bret was that I preferred doing this from a standing position, meaning I wasnt a big fan of hip thrusts. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain Yet after a few discussions with Bret, I gave the hip thrust another shotspecifically high rep hip thrusts after reading this blog post. Why? Because the hips are one piece of my equation, and I thought that high rep hip thrusts to the point of a crazy pumpone that has the muscles so engorged with blood that you almost crywould provide immediate sensory and proprioceptive feedback. I have to give credit to Kelly Baggett of Higher Faster Sports for instilling this philosophy in me. He claims that in the presence of a glute pump, youll feel a lot more up on your forefoot (the second part of the equation). But I never tried it because I didnt have an exercise that did it for me. Traditional activation exercises dont really activate the muscles too well from a peak voluntary contraction standpoint. THE METHOD Its simple. Load the bar and do as many hip thrust repetitions as you can before you cry. The goal is to hit 20 reps, but dont stop until your body is refusing the movement. Its difficult. Yes. Its metabolically taxing. Yes. Its mentally exhausting. Yes. But go until you can go no more. I havent done hip thrusts that much, but I used 225 pounds for this the first time around and surpassed 20 repetitions, albeit in agony. If you can hip thrust 315+, go with 225. If not, try 135 or 185. As you reach your lactic threshold, every rep is grueling. After you finish the set, your heart rate is jacked through the roof. But the true magic happens when you get up to walk. Just as Kelly promised, your glutes are so pumped and engorged with blood that you feel themwith every stride. And, of course, you feel like youre walking on your tippy toes. This is the way you want your body to function at all hours of the day relying on your glutes and forefoot. If you can do that, not only will your knee pain decrease, but youll notice some other strange feats of athleticism going on. As Bret has mentioned a few times in his writings, higher class athletes know how to use their hip muscles better than lower class athletes. So while you have this pump, do some bodyweight squats and deadlifts and just feel how differently your body is moving. Feel how much your glutes are working. Go sprint and see why high class runners get something called glute lock. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain While this method is great for immediate feedback, the downside is that it ends as soon as your pump does. And while it feels great when it lasts, its not a long term solution. Its just a learning tool. If you want your body to function like this regularly, you have to reprogram it. Thats why my regular program is eight weeks long. But for those of you seeking immediate relief, follow the circuit cocktail below: 1) Soft Tissue high and low on the quadriceps with a lax ball or PVC pipe. 2) Hip Thrusts (high reps). 3) Movement unweighted squatting, deadlifting, running, jumping, walking Repeat the circuit three times; noting how your body changes when your glutes are on and your soft tissue restrictions are alleviated. So while it may not be comprehensive, and it may not be a long term solution, its worth the ten or fifteen minutes it takes to do it. Who knows, maybe it will be just enough for you. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain 12 TIPS FOR THOSE SUFFERING FROM CHRONIC KNEE PAIN Knee Tip #1: The Doctor Visit Swallow your pride and make sure your pain isnt a serious medical problem. Check with your insurance company and make sure this wont cost more than a co-pay. You also want to be wary of anything the doctor tries to give you, like a brace. These are considered luxuries, not covered under insurance. Knee Tip #2: Your Outlook As a general rule, internal damage will require heavy medical assistance. Other small problems like patellar tendonitis/jumpers knee and patellar tracking problems can be fixed without tremendous intervention. Knee Tip #3: Clear Your Mind Everything you know is wrong, including the dominant movements theory. Doing hip dominant movements in favor of quad dominant movements will do nothing because its more about exercise execution and not exercise selection. Knee Tip #4: Macho, or Stupid? Training through pain is a surefire way to always have pain. Knee Tip #5: Guilty as Quads Dont blame your quadriceps, they are not the problem. Knee Tip #6: Physical Physics Physics and force can explain the cause of your pain if you have the ability conceptualize it. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain Knee Tip #7: Strength isnt the Answer Your knee pain is caused by lack of voluntary control over the hip, not a lack of strength of the hip. Knee Tip #8: Brace Yourself Braces have their place, but are not to be used as a permanent fixture. Use themlike a nicotine addict would use nicotine gum; with an end in sight. Knee Tip # 9: Sleepy Time Bed rest will only appear to cure your knee pain. Knee Tip #10: Get the Kid a Happy Meal As silly as it sounds, your knee is kind of like a crying child. You MUST induce positive feelings into it if you want it to heal. If it constantly feels pain, it wont know life without pain. Knee Tip #11: Stay in Lane The knee must track over the second toe. Knee Tip #12: Infamous Footwear? Almost all shoes will hinder your ankle function, and as a result, can cause knee pain. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain PELVIC POSITION AND KNEE PAIN Reach down and cradle your patellar tendons between your middle and pointer finger. If youre like most people, youre lower back is going to be rounded in this position. Your tendons will also be lax. Keep your hands there and begin anteriorly rotating your pelvis. Note the tightness of the tendon. The further you go, the tighter it gets. Now do the same drill only squeeze your glutes at randomintervals. Note the tightness. The tighter the glute, the more lax the tendon gets. Learn how to put that into practical use. JUMP AS HIGH AS YOU CAN IN THE AIR No one lands on their heels after doing a maximal vertical jump. I would dare you to try it, but I dont want to subject you to that kind of pain. The foot helps us control the force throughout the lower body, specifically the forefoot. If you take the vertical jump example, landing on your forefoot is the natural way to cushion yourself from a jump. Ninjas dont land on their heels. They move on their tip toes because it helps them cushion force. The more cushioned the force is at the foot, the less the knee has to do. Use your forefoot. VIDEO DEMONSTRATION Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain HIPS + FEET = KNEES From a movement standpoint, the knees are simple. They flex and extend. Boring. Not much can go wrong there (aside from rotational forces and things slamming into the side of your leg, but thats a different story.) But if you think of the leg as a chain, the hip and ankle are at both ends of the knee. The hip has a host of responsibilities, as does the ankle. Not only do they flex and extend, they internally rotate, externally rotate, adduct, and abduct. In other words, the leg is like a seesaw and the knee is the middle fulcrum. Ultimately, its the ends that determine the movement. And if its the ends that are causing the problems, traditional rehabilitation methods that focus on the quadriceps arent going to cut it. Remember this equation. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain 3 Little Known Facts About Knee Pain, and The Key to Unlocking Your Athletic Potential FACT #1: GOOD FEET + GOOD HIPS = GOOD KNEES. The truth is that your knee isnt dysfunctional, but your hips and feet are. The knee is just the middle man, caught between two faulty structures. FACT #2: By using rehabilitation strategies that focus on the knee, youre only making the problemworse. Don't succumb to leg extensions and hamstring curls to fix the problem. FACT #3: Changing the way you move to put less stress on the knees requires total motor reprogramming. And by reprogramming the body in a way to put less pressure on the knees, there's a crazy side effect (see next page). Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain THE KEY TO UNLOCKING YOUR ATHLETIC POTENTIAL This might seem too good to be true, but using these methods to fix chronic knee pain has a pleasant after effect. By reprogramming your body to drive movements from the hip and use the larger muscles, you become much more athletic. Take these still shots below, for example. Both are fromthe amortization (fancy word for transition from down to up) phase of a vertical jump. The guy on the left touts a 30 vertical jump (even though that's probably stretching it), but notice how UPRIGHT his torso is. This means hes using mostly his quadriceps and thighs to lift himin the air, with little contribution from the hip. Now take the guy on the right. He touts a near 50 vertical jump (I'msaying 40" to prevent frominternet inflation as 50" is huge). Look at how his torso is almost parallel to the floor. This means he is using his hips and posterior musculature considerably more! A 10-20 difference in vertical jump is huge, and the differences between these two guys muscular recruitment patterns are obvious. An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain teaches you to use and tap into your hip muscles so that your knees work less. A huge side effect is that you become way more athletic. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain BRACE YOURSELF The first line of defense against pain is wearing a brace. But which work, and which should you use? Regardless of your decision, decide what brace to wear after your warm up. You will learn how to judge the health of your knee before expecting and planning for a pain threshold that may not be there. When the spring season is around the corner, you peek your head out of the window to feel for the weather before deciding what to wear. PATELLAR TRACKING BRACE They are large and cumbersome. Unconsciously, it pulls your knee cap in the direction of mis-trackinga very weird sensation. Wearing one feels like your kneecap is in a tug-of-war battle. Develop proper tracking yourself, and not with strange assistance. Its a temporary mask for a permanent problem. GENERAL KNEE BRACE Some are bulky and stable, others are small and mobile. The difference is the mental stability they provide. Its not about what can be done in them, its about what cant be done. The bigger ones restrict movement and serve as a reminder of your injury. Let the severity of your pain be your guide. Ultimately, a crutch. PATELLAR TENDONITIS STRAPS Its a small strap with an elevated, half cylindrical foam piece that pressures the patellar tendon. The bonus? It works. Dont let it become your newest body part, because it becomes very psychologically comforting. Mental addictions are harder to break than physical problems. Only use when you have to. Decide after the warmup. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain BOOK PREVIEW PREFACE THE SPAWNING My written experience with knee pain started when I made a fitness blog. I was a lifetime sufferer, and after rehab my confidence was climbing alongside my health. The Bees Knees was finalized in five articles, detailing easy ways for athletes to stop knee pain. But my blog wasnt popular, so the information just sat in cyberspace. School work forced me to neglect my blog, and I forgot I had ever written the articles. Life went on. A few loose thank you e-mails trickled to my inbox from The Bees Knees, months later. This was encouraging enough for me to want to read the originals. I was embarrassed at what I found. Perhaps it was my novice writing style or how much I had grown since then, but my only chance for redemption was to rewrite them, the way they deserved to be written. Im wondering if Ill say the same about this eBook in a years time. IS IT FOR ME? Ignorance rules the fitness industry. One side of the bridge houses Ph.D.s with no experience outside of a Petri dish athletic Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain environment. The other side, personal trainers that found their credentials after an eight hour weekend workshop. Its best to look at people that have done what you want to do. Dont search the weak to find strength. Dont listen to the small to get big. Experience is better than science because the two highways havent merged. As Timothy Ferriss alluded to in his newest book, The Four Hour Body, doctors could learn about steroids if they chatted with bodybuilders. This text isnt about shoulder health, how to cut hair, or giving a woman a fifteen minute orgasm (with the success of The Four Hour Body I should reconsider). Its for people that live feeling twenty years older than their age. Its for athletes with tendonitis and tracking problems. Its for people with knees that make more noise than the rocking chair in the corner of the living room. Its for the athlete that looks to the sky for a semblance of health. Its for you. Experts say you need medicine, surgery, or expensive physical therapy. I hate medicine, I dont like cutting flesh, and Im poor. I looked for another way. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain CHAPTER ONE AUTOBIOGRAPHY HISTORY = FUTURE At 21 years old, I could have a conversation with my knee and enjoy a beer at the same time. My problems started way before that though. When I was a kid, my knees clicked on command. My mother warned of permanent problems to frighten me. I grew, and my problems shrunk. But my left knee still clicked, and after a season of basketball I ended up in the doctors office with a broken finger and achy knees. He did his special teststwisting, bending, and turning waiting for me to wince. I didnt. He asked for my activity history, which was pretty loaded. I played basketball six days a week and I was a closet acrobat. My problems werent shocking to him. Telling your doctor that you do backflips in your backyard wont end well. My knees were overused and my finger was beyond repair. At least, thats what he told me. I was given pills and told to rest. Turns out he was right about my finger. My knees, not so much. Years later, I fell in love with barbell weight training. Legs were my strong point, and I squatted often (to stave off upper body embarrassment) using what most call an olympic squat high bar position, close stance, and deep. My knees would hurt, just like they did in high school. I didnt think they could be fixed. After all, they were just overused, right? What was I supposed to do? Not walk? Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain I mingled around the fitness industry and became obsessed with fitness, strength, and health. My favorite book was Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. After reading the squat chapter, my high bar squat transformed into the low bar squat described in the book. An injury forced me to start back at the beginning, so I ran the Starting Strength program as written. After work one day, I prepared for my workout three sets of five, at 335. During my first work set, my right knee popped as instability radiated through my leg. My knee always made noise, but it was never this audible and the feeling wasnt the same. Normally, when my knee felt stiff I could make it click to relieve pressure. But I couldnt. My superhero clicking powers were gone. And thats when I learned the difference between a click and a pop. I guessed that my meniscus was partially torn. I feared the doctor because I feared surgery. No news was better than bad news. The healing process was a struggle. The pain was above the tolerable level I seesawed with through my teens. I ended up going to a sports medicine doctor. My hopes were low, but my psyche was so unstable that I needed reassurance. My appointment was more of the same that I encountered four years backx-rays, tests, and recollection. My knee described my problem better than I could, because I had severe crepitus. Surprisingly, my meniscus was healthy, but I was diagnosed with patellar tracking problems and patellar tendonitis. Instead of going to physical therapy (he said I didnt need to because my Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain quadriceps were well muscled), he gave me some exercises and a knee brace. My medical expenses were adding up fast. My insurance didnt cover the $50 brace, which broke when I tried to put it on. Add the two $25 co-pays from my other visits, and thats how you blow $100 on knee pain. Knee Tip #1 Swallow your pride and make sure your pain isnt a serious medical problem. Check with your insurance company and make sure this wont cost more than a co-pay. You also want to be wary of anything the doctor tries to give you, like a brace. These are considered luxuries, not covered under insurance. Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain CHAPTER TWO PAIN MEDICAL BABBLE Youve read everything the internet has to offer. You know the anatomy of the knee inside and out. Youre 100% confident in saying you know what your problem is. Youre wrong. You need to see the inside. This requires a doctor appointment, so schedule one. X-Rays are better than your eyeball, but not as good as a MRI or CT-Scan. See what your insurance covers so you dont screw yourself financially. And before you go, have a diagnosis ready for the doctor. Telling them what you think is wrong will give them an idea of not only where the pain is, but also what youre going through. INJURIES Injuries can occur for many reasons. When it comes to knee pain that can be fixed without surgery, youre looking for an achy pain that fades in and out with no origin. The pain is chronic, meaning it has been occurring over a long time. Typical overuse problems fall into this category. What starts as knee pain becomes pain left of the knee cap, which becomes, I need a cane. Although this sounds depressing, chronic injuries dont require the needles, knives, and Novocain. But acute injuries surely do. They affect the deep structures that stabilize the joint, are usually severe, and can be traced back to one moment in time. Snapping or popping noises are signs, Anthony Mychal 2012 - http://anthonymychal.com An Athletes Guide to Chronic Knee Pain especially after one particular incident. Fall off of a ladder and hear a pop? Yeah, you have problems far beyond my control IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF THE BOOK, CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF AN ATHLETES GUIDE TO KNEE PAIN Thanks for reading. Be sure to share this with as many people as you can! -Anthony Mychal