What can i do to fix my knee before i begin marching band season?

Ok I did four years of high school marching band which was fun. then i started college and decided to take two yrs. off of marching band since i wanted to focus on my studies. but after two years i finallly relized how much i missed it and want to try out for marching band. the problem is that my knee has been bothering me. it only hurts when i try to do a 4 to 5 footstep march and when i do some exercises in yoga class. it also hurts when i run. i dont remember injurying my knee. when i walk or move my knee it doesnt hurt. marching season starts in 5 months from now and i want to be prepared. i dont have health insurance since most insurances wont except me. please give me good advice.

Sounds like a torn meniscus. If the pain is along the joint line mostly the inner side then it’s perhaps a meniscal tear. If the pain is along the undersurface of the knee cap then it’s chondromalacia patella. It’s the knee cap rubbing along the femoral condyle which happens when your thigh muscles aren’t strong. Women get this a lot. Obviously to remedy that is to do straight leg raising exercises and take some aspirin. You don’t want to do exercises that entail bending the knee. That would make the condition worse. If you feel the need to do this marching thing then you should take a couple aspirin about ten minutes before you do. There are studies whereby aspirin ameliorates further destruction of cartilage. Well, actually our professor did the study the wonderful and great Doctor Henry Mankin. Former chief of orthopaedics at Harvard Medical School perhaps the greatest orthopaedic surgeon in the world ever. lol

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