knee pain after stroke

[Adugood]

I had stroke on 7/19/08. My speech was not affected but my right extremities. I can lift my right hand a little bit. But I can't wriggle my right toes. My right knee is so weak that I can't walk without the help of a quad cane. I can only take few steps without the cane. The problem is I feel severe pain at the back of my knee any time I try to walk. Can any medication help alleviate or stop this pain. What can help me wriggle my right toes again?

[Mekah123]

My knee is very painful during walking but less painful during a sprint run( ex track star)after my stroke in 1998. My question is, is their any foods that will give me comfort cause I'm medsfree

[sue_in_oz]

Hi there

It's great that you can lift your arm - keep working on it :)

Regarding your knee & that pain - I can really relate, except mine's the left one, so between us we have 1 good pair, LOL.  

As you mention your knee is really weak, do you also have any tightness/shortening of the calf muscle?  I ask because there are a couple of reasons I get a sore knee.

1. Due to tight calf muscle - stretching it out frequently for a few minutes at a time really helps

2.  Weak quads, resulting in over extension of the knee & lack of control - it pops into lock way too easily.  Need to work on those quads, getting them as strong as you can because continual over extension may cause long term damage.

I'm sure there are other reasons if these ones don't make sense to you - maybe others can add their experiences.

Over time, things will improve if you keep working at them - don't stop when you think they are OK - keep going.  My knee has improved a lot over the last 16 months but still a long way to go.

Re your toes - keep trying in your mind to wiggle them, doing your left ones at the same time, one day hopefully your brain will get the message.

HTH

Sue