Today I returned to Krakow in Poland complete with my new knee brace.
During my last trek along the E3 in the Carpathian Mountains, I suffered from pain in my left knee. A long standing problem caused by an injury and the subsequent arthoscopy (knee operation) many years ago. The arthroscopy was a success, in that I had no problems for next nine years, but in 2021, I had to suspend my walk from Land's End to John o'Groats due to my knee. Finding that I had reduced joint space on the inside of my knee, the result of the earlier operation, I was given a steroid injection. This anti-inflamatory injection, together with exercises recommended by a physiotherapist, a compression sleeve and rest days on my walks, allowed me to cover many miles on foot over the next five years, including a 2,800 mile walk from Ireland to the South of France.
Experiencing an increase in the amount of pain on my last trip I returned to the consultant who treated me earlier. This time the X-ray showed a significant loss of joint space on the inside of my leg, too much for another steroid injection to be effective. Given two options, a half knee replacement or an "unloader" brace, I decided on the latter.
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X-ray of knee.
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My brace was fitted by the
National Bracing Centre at Pontyclun. My
Össur Unloader Brace is designed to take the weight off the inside of my knee where the joint space is reduced. In addition it helps keep the movement of my knee in the same plane, avoiding it being pushed sideways due to uneven, rocky ground or stumbles. Such movement is often the cause of sharp pain.
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| My new brace. |
Over several longer walks of up to 20 miles I found the brace effective in supporting my knee without any negative effects, although a fellow walker spotted a slight "limp". Unfortunately, six days before my departure to resume my progress along the E3, following a long walk, I discovered a pus filled blister on my calf, which was unexpected as I had felt no pain. To manage this worrying development I stopped using the brace for a few days and the raised area has now settled to a red scab.
To travel to Krakow I decided to wear my brace today. If the airline lost my rucksack I did not want to loose my brace as well, it being the most expensive item I am taking. To prevent the resurrection of the remains of my blister I have covered it with a large plaster. Many more similar dressings are packed into my already bulging rucksack.
A lot of people know of my planned walk of over 400 miles through the Sudeten mountains in Czechia and Poland. I will be disappointed if I have to return early because I cannot tolerate my brace. It would seem like failure.
My brace set off warnings as I went through airport security and had to be swabbed. Fortunately I could roll up my trousers far enough for the person on security to reach it. Departure of my flight from Gatwick to Krakow was two hours late in the gathering dusk, which gave me a view of lines of brilliantly coloured lights as the plane turned onto the runway. Later, by shielding my eyes from the onboard lights I could see through the window many clusters of lights, collections of bright pinpricks in black surroundings marking the towns and cities we were flying over. My legs were unsettled as they wanted to start walking after sitting for so long on trains and in the airport. On arrival, with a little help, I managed to extract a ticket for the train from the machine on the railway"s platform. Around 1 am I was in a bed and soon asleep.
