My Knees are KILLING ME

[Cogman]

So I have a job that requires me to do some very repetitive walking (moving pipe) for 5 hours a day. Basically it consists of walking ~50ft, picking up a 50lb weight, walking another 50ft, then plugging said weight into a hole to allow water to flow down it. My back feels fine and I have been careful not to slouch down to pick up, but instead use my arms completely or my legs if a pipe happens to be full of water (makes them about 200lbs...)

Needless to say, after all that walking my knees are starting to ache, (imagine doing this through tall grass, even june grass). Is there any way to relieve the pain or avoid potential injury to my knees? Quitting the job isn't an option. (luckily, because it is farm work, after a few weeks we will be harvesting so the amount of time I walk will go down drastically as you have to dry the hay before you cut it.)

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Cogman
So I have a job that requires me to do some very repetitive walking (moving pipe) for 5 hours a day. Basically it consists of walking ~50ft, picking up a 50lb weight, walking another 50ft, then plugging said weight into a hole to allow water to flow down it. My back feels fine and I have been careful not to slouch down to pick up, but instead use my arms completely or my legs if a pipe happens to be full of water (makes them about 200lbs...)

Needless to say, after all that walking my knees are starting to ache, (imagine doing this through tall grass, even june grass). Is there any way to relieve the pain or avoid potential injury to my knees? Quitting the job isn't an option. (luckily, because it is farm work, after a few weeks we will be harvesting so the amount of time I walk will go down drastically as you have to dry the hay before you cut it.)

You could make sure you don't let your knees go in front of your toes when going to lift the object. At that point, you're putting too much stress on the joint for it to handle. So look up the form for squat and deadlift exercises and try to do something similar to that. That will minimize any actual damage. I wish I could help more, but the knees are pretty sensitive. Lifting these things right is pretty much the only option.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: Cogman
So I have a job that requires me to do some very repetitive walking (moving pipe) for 5 hours a day. Basically it consists of walking ~50ft, picking up a 50lb weight, walking another 50ft, then plugging said weight into a hole to allow water to flow down it. My back feels fine and I have been careful not to slouch down to pick up, but instead use my arms completely or my legs if a pipe happens to be full of water (makes them about 200lbs...)

Needless to say, after all that walking my knees are starting to ache, (imagine doing this through tall grass, even june grass). Is there any way to relieve the pain or avoid potential injury to my knees? Quitting the job isn't an option. (luckily, because it is farm work, after a few weeks we will be harvesting so the amount of time I walk will go down drastically as you have to dry the hay before you cut it.)

You could make sure you don't let your knees go in front of your toes when going to lift the object. At that point, you're putting too much stress on the joint for it to handle. So look up the form for squat and deadlift exercises and try to do something similar to that. That will minimize any actual damage. I wish I could help more, but the knees are pretty sensitive. Lifting these things right is pretty much the only option.

Generally I don't have to bend over at all (these tubes have long pipes that come up to about my waist) I can usually pick them up just by doing a semi curl. I guess it is really the walking that is killing me. Maybe there is some sort of walking form in high grass that I should know about

 

[edcarman]

Is pain or just a sort of stiff ache? Does it flair up at any point in the movement or just a sort of background pain? It might just be that your body is unaccustomed to so much walking. It could just be normal stiffness that should abate after a while.

 

[paulxcook]

My left knee hurts for reasons unknown, so I take glucosamine and chondroitin pills, they are magic. They're ridiculously expensive at normal price (as in $50 a bottle sometimes), but my wife is usually able to find them on clearance sale for ~$5 at grocery stores, drug stores, etc.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: edcarman
Is pain or just a sort of stiff ache? Does it flair up at any point in the movement or just a sort of background pain? It might just be that your body is unaccustomed to so much walking. It could just be normal stiffness that should abate after a while.

It is kind of a built up pain. if I sit down I don't really notice it at all, but after a day of moving pipe, when I stand it aches (not horribly).