Tendonitis and fins

[Diver Ann]

Hi, anyone out there have tendonitis of the knee? I was just dignosed by MRI. How do you prepare for a dive to prevent a flare-up and/or more damage? Do you find a brace helpful? I am particularly concerned about the extra stress on my knee caused by finning.... I do mostly boat dives, so walking over rocks with full equipment to enter the water will not be a factor. My current exercise regimen is on a stationary bike. thanks for any input! Ann

 

[jfoutz]

I have runner’s knee in both knees - not really sure if it’s iliotibial band or patellar. Anyway, when diving dry, I’ve found that open patella neoprene braces really help. That and stretching. Very important. Good luck!

 

[Rondo]

I have 2 torn media cruciate ligaments,and 2 layers of torn collateral ligaments,repaired many years ago. This has precipitated aditional cartilidge damage.

Basically this means my knee is trashed, I dive without pain or stress on the joint,most of the stress is ankle and hip.

Don't worry be happy.

 

[Stirling]

I'm not qualified to give any kind of medical advice, but isn't the stationary bike going to keep aggravating the tendonitis if you don't lay off until it heals?

I suffered a very bad knee injury a long time ago, and have had trouble with it from time to time, so I sometimes wear one of those open patella braces with the metal straps and hinges on the sides when I'm climbing or lifting weights or using a stairclimber, but even when my knee is bothering me enough to make me lay off that other stuff entirely, I can swim with fins and never use a brace to do that. I think I'd be a lot more concerned about the stationary bike than finning.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

When I started diving 25 years ago I used Jet and Turtle fins. I switched to Scuba Pro Twin Jet split fins three years ago and found that they were much easier to use and didn't bother my knees as much.

My wife has had trouble with one knee for years. She uses Tusa split fins and has no trouble in the water. Also her feet and legs don't get cramps like they did with the paddle fins.

Just a suggestion.

 

[ScubaFreak]

Hey DiverAnn,

Welcome to the board!

Tendinitis is a bit of a vague diagnosis. All that is is an inflammation to a tendon somewhere about the knee joint. Tendons for Quad muscles, hamstring muscles among others including various knee anatomy rest around the knee area! What else did the MRI show and where did it show it? Runners knee is caused by an inflammation ot the IT Band. A good session with a remedial massage therapist on both the hamstrings and the quads will definitly help. If its more of a problem like Rondo spoke about, it's much trickier to manage if it causes you pain .

But remember, your knee shouldnt really be used an awful lot, good finning technique starts at the hip

Hope this help, Good luck

Scubafreak

 

[Diver Ann]

Your input is really helpful. It is encouraging to hear from others that are diving pain-free.

I have rested and iced the joint and done gentle stretching since the end of January. I have most of my range of motion back, and the swelling is way down. The orthopaedic physician wants me on the stationary bike at low resistance to build up the muscles around the knee. He's the new medical director for the Red Sox, and a team physician for the Pats and Bruins, so I trust that he will get me back in action!

I hadn't considered switching to split fins - I'll try a pair out and see if it makes a difference before I invest in more gear.

Can't wait to get wet - it's been a looooong winter here in Boston - and it's snowing AGAIN....

Diver Ann

 

[Hoyden]

Something else that you might consider is to start swimming - once you build up some time swimming, start training with fins and gradually build up to the amount of finning that you do while diving. I have pretty bad knees (from years of competitive hard court tennis - mostly cartilage issues) and this really helped me.

Jackie