Footwear ideas for gardeners with knee problems

First of all , i would like to thank everyone for their comments on this thread in the 48 hours since i started this conversation. It is really interesting to see how everyone has tackled their own circumstances in different ways and , for me , the feedback was just what i was looking for. I am going to look carefully at all the suggestions , i think some different footwear and a kneeling frame are definitely on the agenda and i shall be dealing with that when i am mobile once more.
Thanks again everyone , i really appreciate your time and suggestions . Rob.

 

@pete . A friend of mine was a serious hillwalker and he used to swear by his Scarpa boots , they were a bit too pricey for me as a less enthusiastic walker in my younger days. Mind you , at work we used to have a couple of handymen who were known as Bodgit and Scarpa - they fully lived up to their names

 

@fairygirl Thank you , that is a really useful link and i have bookmarked that for future reference. My consultant fitted me up with a large wrap around brace when i saw him on Friday for my left knee and it has made an enormous difference day on day since then unlike the previous week where i seemed to be making no progress . I bought a smaller one at the chemist back in June when my right knee let me down but i found it uncomfortable and counter productive , probably down to me as its important to brace correctly. Anyway i have put a link below to cover what the knee consultant issued me with , this might help others as i cant get over how much this has helped me.
SK Knee Brace

 

That's quite similar to mine @Robert Bowen , but mine pull on rather than wrap around. They didn't seem to have mine when I had a quick look, but the wrap round ones will be much easier to put on. I hope that helps you and allows you to garden more comfortably.
They made a huge difference to me, and allowed me to continue hillwalking when I couldn't have done otherwise. It started with the left knee, but the other went a few years ago. It's the coming down rather than the going up with the problem I have, as your thigh bone basically scrapes the back of the kneecap. Those help to keep everything where it should be! I can do shorter days with just the little ones that fit under the knee itself, but for long, or multi hill days, I need the big ones.

 

@fairygirl I can relate to that. Trudging the hills in the Lake District and Snowdonia i found going uphill enjoyably vigorous but downhill was a killer on the knees and no problems were apparent then, its a few years ago now. We tend to opt for a good walk on flatter ground nowadays as Mrs B has a back problem which she needs to be careful with. Managing these old joints and muscles is not to be taken lightly!

 

Indeed - my old body has had a fair bit of abuse, one way or another, for many years!
My problem occurred from doing too much in too short a space of time. I was coming off the first half of the Glen Shiel ridge, and suddenly had this knee pain. I had to go sideways slowly all the way down, but the last bit as you approach the road was uphill again and it suddenly disappeared. My partner at the time went ahead to get the car, as you have to walk back along the road to the car. We were doing two nearby hills the next day, and I had the same problem coming off the 2nd one, so I knew something was wrong. Doc confirmed it sometime later, and the only 'cure' is rest - there's no op. for it. It just reappears when you go back out again though.
Such is life eh?

 

@fairygirl I agree . When you are young you go through life as if you have a cloak of indestructibility which degrades as time goes on until you reach the stage where your knee pings taking your slipper off ! I have never visited Scotland and took a look at Glen Shiel which looks stunning. I can see why you went , it looks beautiful but unforgiving.

 

Knee braces can be very helpful.

@fairygirl My best is a pull on but then has elasticated straps with velcro that cross over the knee and hold it tight. Very fetching when worn with a frock and trousers needed to be loose but it helped me carry on ballroom dance classes for 2 years before the first new knee and wa s ahelp for gardening too. I wasn't doing any major walking or even local walkies by then.

 

They told me my knees should last 15 yrs, I think I'll wear them out in 5 the way I'm going.
Hope not.

I tried knee braces before I had my knees replaced and to be honest they didn't do much to help, but I suppose it depends on what the problem is.
My knees were stable enough, just bone on bone with the cartilage worn through on the inside, so I couldn't stop a pig in a passage.

Pretty straight now.

 

My knees did lots of clicking and were prone to giving way so the braces helped a lot but I did take lots of turmeric with black pepper, glucosamine sulphate every day - mostly to stop it spreading to other joints - and a painkiller before dance class!

 

Glen Shiel and the surrounding areas are beautiful @Robert Bowen, but it's about 4 hours drive from here. Drove up and did half the ridge on the same day, as we wouldn't have had time for the whole thing, but stayed overnight to do the other two [Gleouraich and Spidean Mialach] We did them clockwise, which is always a good idea as the bulk of the weather is from the west. I think my knees would have been even worse doing them the other way as the route up Gleouraich is relentlessly steep. The views are superb though. I did one of the hills further along from those two, about 5 years ago, and it was a fab. day.
Hope you get a chance to visit - plenty of good walks without lots of ascent/descent!

Glad your knees are ok @pete. This getting old lark is a right PITA....
Painkillers before walking are common too @Obelix-Vendée - lots of hillwalkers do it.

 

Take care @pete , i dont like the sound of bone on bone .

 

@Obelix-Vendée i think a pull on knee brace with a frock and Doc Marten boots would be considered the height of fashion nowadays.

 

@fairygirl I am tempted but its about 10 hours drive from here and i still havent visited the Alnwick area in the north east that has always appealed to me and which is much closer. We have the Malvern Hills nearby , visible from our back bedroom , little more than a bit of high ground by Scottish standards. 3 hours would get us anywhere within Snowdonia and the drive via Knighton-Newtown-Dolgellau is a delightful journey and in places as dramatic as Scotland on a smaller scale with the area around Dinas Mawddwy totally breathtaking.

 

On a dry day, maybe you could try Marathon Runner shoes. The ones with a big lump of bouncy foam in the sole.

I try and use a stool instead of a kneeeler. And for delicate weeding, I use a long handled Burgon & Ball Razor Hoe to save me getting down.