The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Injuries › very painful Knee
-
AuthorPosts
-
Hi. great site! i am early 40’s competitive type guy. Being doing Bikram yoga 6 months. twice now i have hurt the inside of my right knee after doing toe stand. I was completely new to yoga and i give it everything i have in terms of work ethic but maybe it’s just too soon for me to be trying toe stand with my lack of yoga experience and age etc.
Anyway my Doc said it is bursitis but i am not sure. It stays really painful for about 2 weeks. Last time it cleared up fine, this time when kneeling down something clicks a little in the painful area when i get up. I am hoping it clears up though! I did not have an MRI. It feels to me that my tendons were pulled in the inner side of my knee in toe stand which i did not really feel at the time as it was so hot!
I took up hot yoga as i felt i would not get injured as opposed to my other choices such as Karate and i am saddened to get this injury. Its a fairly new studio and i dont get a lot of feedback or advice from the teachers regarding being careful etc. Otherwise i love it!
Hi Jed
Thanks for writing about this very interesting issue. I know of some studios that have actually stopped teaching Toe Stand because of potential issues.
One of the issues (and I am NOT saying this is you) is that students think they ought to be ready for the pose when perhaps they are not. Sometimes they say, I have been coming for x amount of time. This approach works sometimes but it could simply be that you a) don’t know the signs of when to attempt the descent or even b) your teacher may not know either. With the common belief that this yoga heals everything and that it rehabilitated someone with crushed knees, no wonder students are in a hurry to do Toe Stand.
Now for some questions:
>> You say that you hurt your knee ‘after’ doing toe stand. Have you got any awareness of whether it was when your right foot was on the floor or at your left hip?
>> Can you pinpoint a moment where you felt undue pressure or tension in that knee?
>> Would you consider yourself to be flexible?
>> When you lift either of your heels up to your hip, do you have to hold it in place with your hand or can you let go of your heel?
>> If and when you do let go of your heel, where does your foot settle? And please try to describe that in terms of where your lifted heel is in relation to your hip, your femur or the inside or outside of that thigh.The click is of some concern, so let’s hear your answers first…
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Gabrielle. I am fairly sure when my right foot was on my hip and i was descenting i felt a twinge at the inner side of my right knee, just a twinge, no pain.
I have not felt undue pressure in that knee when doing yoga. Just twinges in that part of the knee with toe stand
I would consider myself moderately flexible
I can let go of my heel
My heel usually rest on my inner thigh close to my center line. Teachers tell us to get as close to center as we can.Hi Jed
So thanks for that.
3 more questions:
>> What about in Fixed Firm how does the right knee feel and where are you able to get to in that pose?
>> And can you bend your right knee in so the sole of your foot is on your inner thigh for Floor Head to Knee?
>> When you descend do you keep a straight leg til you get your hands to the ground, or do you bend the standing leg?For the moment, I would be avoiding Toe Stand. Let’s see if we can work it out
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Fixed firm has been progressive for me, more recently i have been able to get my shoulders down but knees are well apart. The right knee felt fine i believe.
I could do floor head to knee easily by bending my right knee in until this recent injury, last session after my injury it was not comfortable at all(painful) so i backed off all bending on the right knee
When i descend i may have had a slightly bent standing leg until i get my hands on the ground.
Bikram has been great for me except for this exact problem. I now skip this pose and my knee problems have disappeared.
This is my 2nd time with it. 1st time it cleared up perfect after a few weeks. This time it’s not clearing up as well. I know i need to skip this pose from now on. I would like to know whats happening to my knee though. I think its the meniscus getting torn possibly. I am going to PT and may get a MRI to try and determine the injury.
Hi Jed
Robert and I were talking about your knee and the issue the other day and both of us wondered if it might be a torn meniscus. Please come back and tell us what the results of your tests are.
And now I realize I answered your last post in my head and not with a keyboard. From what you have said I meant to post about the possibility of a tear.
Robert has a torn meniscus and has to adapt some poses. I think I will invite Robert to join this conversation.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂As i am a 44 male i think doing toe stand is not good for my knees esp if i am not doing it correctly. The heat is so intense its difficult to listen to your joints (body) My menisci is not as malleable and supple as when i was 14 or even 24 i am guessing and the joints don’t like too much stress on them at that angle.
Bikram is awesome but since the median age of guys taking it up is 40 i wish there was more emphasis on not getting injured. i started yoga to avoid injuries that plagued me in karate. I hate sitting around so i am going back tomorrow.
Hi Jed
I hear you! Yes, as requested before, please don’t do Toe Stand. Just do your best at Tree pose. Robert actually has to avoid one side by bringing the sole of his foot to his inner thigh (above the knee is what he can do. If you can’t then you put it below and never at the knee, by the way 😉 ).
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂I actually skip the entire pose – it seems that just tree aggravates my knee. I am pretty inflexible and never made it to toe stand anyway. But skipping this pose and skipping fixed-firm pose has resolved my knee problems. Sometimes when my instructor takes notice of my skipping these poses he says “well maybe bikram is not for you”, and I just ignore him. Maybe I will become more flexible and in the future be able to do them, but for now the remaining 24 postures do me wonders.
Gsmble 43. Thanks for your reply. I find the response from your instructor rude at minimum. If bikram yoga is good for all ailments and ages surely teachers must take into acct differing ages and abilities. I would think thats where they would get their satisfaction at the job, to see older people getting real health benefits from bikram yoga. I see a few older people in my class and they would be insulted if it became elitist.
I actually skip the entire pose – it seems that just tree aggravates my knee. I am pretty inflexible and never made it to toe stand anyway. But skipping this pose and skipping fixed-firm pose has resolved my knee problems. Sometimes when my instructor takes notice of my skipping these poses he says “well maybe bikram is not for you”, and I just ignore him. Maybe I will become more flexible and in the future be able to do them, but for now the remaining 24 postures do me wonders.
here here! i’m in a similar position as you. i remember (out of all of the compliments) the one or two times in the three years of practicing (at least five times a week) of a teacher saying that bikram might not be for me. and it might not be. thankfully and gratefully, i have a bunch of teachers around me and studios to choose from and guess what – some of those teachers – bikram might not be for them.
time will tell.
btw – i am also having knee problems – mines a miniscus tear – medial. two weeks into the injury. it didn’t occur after anything traumatic/sports injury. i had a corizone shot and the only thing really bothering me know is stairs. i also stay away from tree although i do like the stretch down my quad if i just bend over and not bend my knee. supta V. and I aren’t getting along well recently.
i’m hoping that it’s just an old injury suddenly appearing and working it’s way out.cause like you – the affect of the whole series (not all of the postures) and not just how flexible i am are working wonders.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.