everyone says trekking poles are great for your knees. i've only tried them one other time and they seemed to hurt my knees, but that was years ago.

so i tried them again this past weekend. same thing. both knees were destroyed within about 8 miles. my "good" knee started hurting first. and they both ended up hurting on the lateral (outside) side. felt like torn meniscus, but the next day they were totally fine, so i don't think it's torn cartilage. and it's not like hiking is really high impact...

as soon as i stopped using the poles, my knees felt WAY better and mostly recovered from those first 8 miles.

anyone else have experience with this?

i'm thinking they caused me to lengthen my stride which put extra wear on either the cartilage or the LCL or whatever that lateral tendon is called. if i used my normal gate they didn't hurt as badly, but when i toe struck first it was waaaay worse. this is how i typically go up steep hills and was almost unbearable.
going downhill was by far the worst. but again as soon as i stopped using the poles i mostly recovered.

i found many advantages using the poles. but none could really beat out being able to walk...

I mostly use poles to help me slow down when going downhill.

My experience has been the opposite. I tend to not use trekking poles on relatively flat terrain, but on hills I use them quite a bit because of a bad knee injury (blown ACL). I find that I hurt my knees a *lot* less with them than I do without.

I also find, however, that no matter what terrain I'm on, I don't change my stride or my gait significantly when I use them compare to when I don't.

You do realize that you're not supposed to actually jab the poles into your knees, right?

Just sayin'...

My experience has also been the opposite. This weekend I went to Henry Coe without poles and regret it. There were several steep downhill sections and I was in severe pain by the end of the overnight. This worsened to the point that I had to be extremely careful not to jar my leg throughout yesterday evening. Luckily it has improved overnight. I don't have a history of knee trouble and have never injured either leg but have merely reached an age where senescence is making itself known. I won't leave the poles behind again.

Edited by mtblack on 05/31/2011 15:11:20 MDT.

Douglas says "You do realize that you're not supposed to actually jab the poles into your knees, right?"

LOL! It's a good thing I wasn't eating when I read that! There'd be food all over my laptop!!!

But I have to say I've had the opposite experience as well, but then I'm old and have knee issues....which I have to report are good for the moment. After adding 1/2 orthotics from the podiatrist to my Salomons to get some arch support, and taking OsteoBiFlex, I was able to successfully and painlessly complete the Eagle Rock Loop in AR, a few weekends ago :)

Hard to say why using poles make your knees hurt.
Poles do tend make your stride longer. Warm-ups before you start hiking may help with that.

Maybe do like many do, don't use them on flat ground, use them for crossing boulders, uphills, downhills, streams, etc...

Maybe only take one and only use it when it helps?

I've had the opposite effect as well. I abhor poles on the flats and only use mine on steep ups and downs. My knees feel better on the downs with poles.

My initial reaction was "He's got to be doing something wrong" but you know your body than anyone else. Do what works for you and don't do anything that hurts you! Best thing about hiking is you do whats right for you and don't worry about whats right for someone else.

Trekking poles save my knees regardless of hiking style or terrain. I cannot figure out any possible reason why they would hurt your knees or make them hurt quicker. even if you are taking longer strides, they should take pressure and weight off knees. I use mine a lot more aggressively than most people. I'd say I get 25-30% of my power from them.

I use mine a lot more aggressively than most people. I'd say I get 25-30% of my power from them.



Same here, I lean right into mine on a steep hill.... after all most animals have 4 legs, why shouldn't we try it !!

I'm only 30 but get some knee pain from lots of sports and a few injuries.
My impression was that poles were just for "old" people.

I couldn't have been further from the truth and now I never leave on a hike without them.

I too only use mine in the rougher terrain, mainly up/down hills and I don't notice any knee pain.

I think using them, especially on the downhill lets me step straighter, if that makes sense. Without them I if its a bad surface of steep I tent to step a bit sideways and that's what agrivates my knees.

I'm baffled as to why the poles would hurt your knee's.