Knee swelling and Numbness

[klizgodin]

#2619

Hello, I have been practicing Hot Vinyasa Yoga since 2012 and when I became pregnant I took a break. I tried to start up again however I think I went back a bit too soon and bent too far in the pidgeon pose and ever since have had numbness and swelling in my knee. I had an MRI and was told I have worn cartilage and should avoid lunges. Most of my hot vinyasa class involves lunges. I would really like to get back to my class but am worried about long term knee issues. I attempted to go back twice and just do higher bends with my lunges instead of going too deep however I still have numbness and swelling after class. I tried stationary bike riding and am having the same issues. Any suggestions? Thank you! I really miss my classes and want to go back. I had some unstable knee feeling before I became pregnant after class as well but nothing like this. At the time I was going to class four times a week.

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#10890

Hello Kelly

Would you please tell me what were the recommendations of your doc with respect to your knee and any other specific recommendations? Did the advice go beyond “don’t lunge”? Was it ‘never lunge again’. Perhaps it was ‘you will be able to lunge when …’. Whatever you have will be helpful in order to get as much info as possible. Some range of motion is essential in order to maintain knee health. What were you told to avoid and what were you told to do?

Also would you consider doing another challenging style of yoga with less wear on your knee?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[klizgodin]

#10892

Thank you for your reply! My doctor recommended to not do low lunges specifically but said I shouldn’t have to give up yoga altogether since I love it so much. He recommended cycling and swimming and physical therapy. I tried taking the vinyasa class and only lunging high and avoiding the poses that hurt my knee to begin with (pigeon) but I still had the numbness and swelling. I would consider a different type of hot yoga however in my area there are not many others offered. Hot hatha just came to my area. Not sure if that is like Bikram or not. What other types would you recommend?

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#10895

Hi Kelly

Check out what ‘hot hatha’ means and if it is Bikram yoga. The advantage of that style would be that the poses are very static and are often helpful in building knee stability. There are few poses that could be risky for your knee and I can definitely get quite intricate in my recommendations. If it is another style of yoga, that’s also fine. It would just take a little longer if you don’t know names of poses. We would have to rely on a lot more circumstantial evidence! :cheese:

Let me know

Any instruction from your doctor about knee twisting elements? Or was it just lunging? You see, I imagine that the movement of the lower leg with respect to the upper leg in certain versions of pigeon would be an issue and the angle which is formed and other pose details aside from the lunge could be an issue.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[klizgodin]

#10897

The new studio specializes in Bikram. Do you think I would have knee issues from this type? I really liked the rigor of the vinyasa flow. Do you think Bikram will give the same results since the poses tend to be the same each class and held for longer. I did Bikram once. Are there certain poses you think I should avoid? The doctor only mentioned not lunging but I would imagine twisting wouldn’t be a good idea either. Thanks!!

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#10907

Hi Kelly

Bikram (or hot) yoga is considered to be a style of yoga that helps fix damaged knees. One of the keys to you strengthening your knees is to do yoga with static poses and leave out the flow elements for a while. The relatively long holding of a B class will help you until you are strong enough to go back to your vinyasa flow classes.

It’s late here at the moment and so if you don’t mind I will come back to you in a day or 3 (hehe) with some pose advice!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[rk1114]

#10925

I am not sure which pose or poses cause my bad knees to act badder….LOL!, but my knees are stiff and swollen, especially the right one. Any suggestions??

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#10939

Hi Kelly

Can you tell me if you’re the same Kelly that started this thread because I can see two names klizgodin and rk1114?

My personal timetable has meant a lack of forum answers for a month. Stuff happens, right?

So please Kelly, (or is that Kelly and Kelly 😉 ) would you please give me an update as to your current knee-status? Did you start Bikram yoga? If you did then you would know the pose names or recognise the poses on this website and I can make recommendations for you.

And if your knees are still stiff and swollen, I would like to know if that is due to just yoga, or if there are conditions in your out-of-yoga experiences which are informing your knee problem.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

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