Hi Everyone! Does driving 45mins to 1 hour straight aggravates the swelling knee? My right knee is the affected side and I drive 5-25 minutes per sitting but am just wondering if driving longer than that somehow aggravates the swelling? Thank you.
Any period of inactivity will cause my knees (and every other bit of me) to stiffen and become uncomfy to painful, whether that is driving, on a train or plane, sitting to watch TV, going to see a movie or the theatre.
I had to change my car from a manual gearbox to automatic because of my PsA and I drive much less now than ever and certainly my limit is about an hour. I try to break the journey up so I can stop and stretch/walk around every half hour or so. But I have other stuff going on too (fibro) which also contributes to driving/travelling issues.
Have you thought about trying mild compression supports? I've found them to be really helpful, especially when swelling was more of an issue for me.
Hi Gia,
swollen knees can take quite a while to respond to meds. Or at least that was my experience. Meanwhile they take a bit of looking after & working out what does and doesn't worsen the pain and possibly the swelling can be the devil's own job!
Driving has got to be on the list though. The leg's kept in one position and I think the vibration of the vehicle doesn't help. However, as long as you aren't doing anything very mean to your leg then the things you do to ease the pain & swelling are probably more important than the unavoidable aggravating factors. If you have to drive for an hour and taking a break isn't possible, then what you do at the end of that time, or at the end of your working day, could make all the difference.
Elevating the legs and cooling the swollen joints with an ice pack or bag of frozen peas (some prefer heat packs) will help. With or without the pack, keeping legs raised on the end of the sofa is better than sitting in an armchair. And you need to get the blood flowing ... I reckon even wriggling toes is better than keeping completely still. It's about both movement and rest, too much of either can be counter-productive. Gentle swimming is great for knees but not the breast stroke 'cos that involves the twisting motion which is another big no no!
I suppose the thing to remember is that the knee is swollen because of inflammatory arthritis, you didn't cause the swelling. I think we're so used to associating swollen joints with something that we've done, sports injuries for example, that a part of our brain remains convinced that we're responsible. Actually I might just be talking about my stupid brain! But what I'm saying is that sensible precautions are all that's required, unless you do something very silly you're probably not going to make things worse.
Hope you see a change for the better very soon!