A healthy knee hits the ground

To celebrate May Day, as we arrived late afternoon in San Francisco. I didn’t have a better idea than raising my glance to admire some Victorian architectural detail on a home while we were walking one of the city’s many steep hills. I hit something with my right foot, lost my balance and fell right on my left knee. 

When this kind of fall happens, the pain is always intense. In fact falling on one’s knee can cause a serious injuries like patella fractures, ligament or meniscus tears, and severe contusions, often leading to immediate swelling, bruising, and inability to bear weight. In my case there was a bloody bruise over the knee cap, but the beast I am kept on walking up and down the hilly streets. 

I felt okay when I went to bed but woke up at midnight with some intense pain, particularly in the back of my knee. I meditated, took no drug and eventually went back to sleep. The next morning my knee was both stiff swollen, I took a pain killer and decided to participate in a rather long 8 miles walk to and through Golden Gate Park. Strong at first, the pain gradually dissipated through the day and I thought I was “saved”. 

The night was okay, but the next morning my knee’s pain and stiffness were intense. I swallowed another painkiller and followed wife and daughter on a hike over Marin County, to Mount Tamalpais known locally as “Mount Tam”, through a mountain bike trail. 

Gradually, the horrible pain disappeared and by the end of the day and 6.5 miles later, it felt okay. From that day one, there was pain in the morning that quickly went away as soon as there was activity and blood circulation. 

Had I listened to my body I would have stayed home, put an ice pack on my knee, elevated my leg and probably would have suffered much more. All this to show that when there is nothing broken, activity that promotes blood circulation is a better remedy than laying down!