The Injury Thread

[cjm502]

Does anyone here with bad knees use knee support braces for any excercises?

I have used knee sleeves a lot on the past both when bodybuilding and powerlifting and they used to be an absolute requirement for me, especially when my vastus lateralis became over developed and the imbalance would dislocate my kneecaps regularly, although I have learned to put my body in more disadvantageous positions when lifting to stress the muscle more while using less weight and it has saved my knees. There is a difference between knee sleeves and knee braces, and people used to drive me crazy when asking why I was wearing "knee braces", which I have never once worn. Some manufacturers have even become ignorant to proper terminology, although it may be willful ignorance since the majority of people will probably type "knee brace" in to amazon when they are in fact just looking for a simple knee sleeve. Knee sleeves can be helpful in the sense that they keep the joint warm and provide mild compression. I'm a big advocate for knee sleeves if they help although its always important to try and treat the underlying cause of knee discomfort in the first place. Knee braces are more heavy duty provide structural support, usually due to to ligament damage. If ones knee has a severely torn meniscus or no cartilage left, a sleeve may slightly help discomfort to the warmth factor, but in the long run surgery or a knee replacement is really the only option there. Unless the cartilage is gone or there is a major tear, the majority of most peoples knee discomfort can be easily cured through very simple rehabilitation and is definitely worthwhile. So many people neglect knee and shoulder health that leads to major problems down the road when they are so easy to care for.

 

[Juve]

how's your hydration and blood sugar? it's not unheard of and usually one of the two is the cause.

Try to hydrate, and if that doesn't help then its a 99% chance it isn't the creatine. Vertigo is not something that is usually linked to creatine. It is the most studied sports supplement and widely considered the safest. New studies have even shown increased benefits from increased dosage all the way up to 20g monohydrate a day for people with more muscle mass. People with more lean body mass may potentially benefit from a higher dosage, people with very little lean body mass may not have any extra benefit from anything over 3g monohydrate daily, and 20-30% of people are non responders to supplemented creatine intake in the first place due to some having naturally higher creatine content within their muscles as is, and some already having diets that contain substantial amounts of creatine.

I certainly don't drink as much water as I should. I drink more coffee than anything else. I know it's bad and I am trying hard work on it

The vertigo symptoms were horrible and my ear was throbbing. I looked it up and some people were having similar symptoms while taking creating. I stopped and finally after a week the symptoms have gone down. I want to take it but I can't afford to have vertigo.

 

[DaveG]

Yeah I had to up my water intake by about 1/4-1/3 when on I started taking creatine. On the days I am drinking a normal amount I have similar symptoms. 3+ liters in a day and I have no issues, but less than 2.5 and things can get weird. Also if you do decide to try it again I know some people recommend starting with a higher dosage to kick start things (10g usually) but honestly that's a load of crap, starting and staying at 5g is fine and will get you where you're trying to get all the same.