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Show Veterans health warning

Posted by Larry Schneider on February 23, 2014 at 11:54am in Everything Else

 Here is a little warning for art/craft show veterans over age 60. I set up at the State College Pa.festival this past summer.   At 3AM that evening I woke up with considerable pain in my knee . The knee, lower leg, ankle and foot were greatly swollen. In the following days I could barely walk without holding on to something.

After a hospital visit, various prescription pills, X rays, and follow up visits to specialists it was diagnosed as something very common to aging carpet installers and roofers ......  Carpet Layers Knee.   It was caused by crawling into and out of my van getting boxes and supplies.  As people age over 60 the fluid cushion  under the kneecap  slowly diminishes. Some good hard pushes and the kneecap will rub on the bone.  The result is severe inflammation compounded by any arthritis.

The doctors advise was don't get any older and don't craw on my knees in my van or anywhere else.

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Replies

  • Chris Hoyt March 9, 2014 at 7:30am

    Let's face it. Getting older ain't for sissies.

  • Mark V. Turner March 8, 2014 at 1:54pm
    You can go to harbor freight for the best pricing, or one of the big box stores in the flooring area. These knee pads have elastic straps with hook and loop fasteners. The straps go from one side through a plastic slider on the other side and then back to the hook portion of the fastener. The hard plastic cap is grommeted to the fabric portion of the pad. This plus the way the closed cell padding is cut, forms a cup that corresponds roughly to the kneecap shape. The elastic straps help keep the pad assembly in place over the knee pad. You can get chafing on the back side of the leg from the straps, so I wear long pants.
  • Robert Johnson March 8, 2014 at 8:10am

    Good advice. I have a pair of the strap on foam knee pads that I bought for other reasons but gave up on them as they never stay up around the knee and usually end up down by my ankles. How do you all keep them up around your knees or do I just have a cheap lousy pair.?

    • Richard L. Sherer > Robert Johnson March 8, 2014 at 11:13am
      Cheap ones tend to slip down, but even on the expensive ones, the Velcro gives out after awhile. I put on leather buckle straps.
  • Mark V. Turner February 27, 2014 at 12:38am

    I do an art season and a craft season with about 60 total dates per year... I popped one of my bursa under my right kneecap just above my tibia.... it took 9 months, but it went away - even though a specialist recommended surgery to have the bursa removed...and he was known in the community for steering people away from surgery... That bursa caused edema in my entire lower right leg which people swore couldn't be related to the knee problem .... it was totally related to it and went away as the fluid levels in the knee joint went away.

    I have a set of hard-cap tile setters pads now for loading and unloading the van. I have some of those foam rubber interlocking squares for behind the counter. I wear the gloves with the sticky pleasure dots to protect the hands.. The hard shell knee pads will protect you much better from projections on the floors and in the booth when setting up. They also keep you from getting jammed by the corrugated metal floor in the van and all the nuts and bolts sticking up out of the floor...

  • David Woeller February 24, 2014 at 9:22am

    Thanks for the tip. It is certainly useful information.

  • Barrie Lynn Bryant February 24, 2014 at 8:08am

    Sound advice I'm heeding. Thanks.

  • Richard L. Sherer February 24, 2014 at 1:11am
    I keep a dedicated pair of knee pads in my Suburban for art shows and loading unloading lots of other stuff.
  • Robert Wallis February 23, 2014 at 1:09pm
    I see a few folks using the strap on knee pads that carpet layers and roofers use. I've been thinking about it as I have half of my meniscus in my right knee which is already bone on bone. The left knee is in crap shape but not as bad. It's painful to kneel down on asphalt so I usually place a folded towel or something soft to kneel on or it hurts like hell. Oh, yeah, your warning is a timely one.
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