If I have pes bursitis in my knee and am restricted from major activity (running, sports), should I refrain from yoga or modify my practice? Will yoga make my knee feel better or will it irritate even more? I’m not quite sure and the doctor wasn’t either. Thanks.
Do you currently practice? If so, do you have a lot of pain now? Does it depend on the pose?
My gut reaction as a novice would be the old cliche - if it hurts when you do something, don’t do it! 
I have tendinitis in my knee, which means that if I tweak my knee wrong I can get an irritating pain, particularly if I apply any kind of pressure to the area right below the kneecap. As a result, I pay close attention to the sensations in my knee whenever I’m doing any poses that put stress on my legs. Oddly enough, things I would expect to be hard on my knee don’t cause any problems, and vice versa.
I practice at home because I’m currently unemployed and can’t afford classes. My thought would be that if you would want to continue with your practice or get into yoga, some one-on-one time with an instructor could help you determine if the overall practice is something you can do.
CloudyDay,
{Insert standard disclaimer regarding practicing poses under the guidence of a qualified instructor here.}
I think it depends on the injury/condition. The definitive answer really will only come from a qualified professional, but here are my thoughts and experience.
I am blessed to have a good understanding of the difference between ‘good pain’ and ‘bad pain.’ This understanding took years of practice to become ‘real’ to me, but with time and patience the ability to listen to and actually hear what one’s body is saying is a natural byproduct of yoga. Until then, error on the side of caution but be wary of the ego’s attempt to distract you from your practice.
I have two permenant injuries that inform my daily practice…particularly in the fall and spring as the season’s change.
The first is an ankle injury. A college fall left me with a hairline fracture that healed slightly off. During the fall and spring the grinding dull ache was, at one time, anbearable and left me with a slight but noticeable limp. When I first started practicing, I was so paranoid I would injur myself (hatha was the first real physical activity I had embraced) that I would gingerly avoid any stress when the pain was present. Then I read an article about old injuries and how working them in a slow, kind, nurturing way can be benificial as it can bring fresh blood to the affected area, can lengthen muscles and ligaments that may have shortened as the result of years of ‘being babied’ for sometimes years and also, merely by bringing the injury into awareness. Utilizing props and modifications I began working my ankle – and sometimes it was, in fact, painful. Anyone who tells you that ‘good pain’ doesn’t really hurt, doesn’t know good pain.
Working my ankle did not solve the problem. It did, however, lessen it. I still experience stiffness in the spring and fall, but it no longer causes me to limp. I don’t experience the same level of ‘good pain,’ but working the area is still sometimes uncomfortable. The most significant difference is the length of time the stiffness stays. What lasted 3 to 4 months twice a year, now only really bothers me 2 or 3 weeks. Perhaps in another 50 or 60 years, it won’t bother me at all.
My knee is a different story. The problem with my knee is that the ligaments that support it (no insult to the Creator, but the knee and the psoas pose some real engineering problems for bi-pedal primates – perhaps not exactly a design flaw, but certainly something that should be addressed in the next upgrade) are actually over stretched. Years of being almost 300 pounds overweight stretched those knee ligaments, which in turn allowed bone-on-bone friction to wear away a good portion of the cartiledge that buffers the joint. I am not going to sprout new cartlidge. My body has fundamentally changed and my challenge is to adapt to those changes without over compensating, as over compansating or allowing the muscles and ligements to loose any more strength is counterproductive to the process. And, man, is it tricky! This whole ‘balance thing?’ NOT as easy as it looks, my friend! 
If you practice without the guidence of an experienced instructor, the challenge will be significantly greater – though not impossible. Approach with kindness and nurturing love and you may be surprised that that was lesson your body was trying teach you all along.
Namaste,
BrianClt
Thanks very much, you two. My knee will sometimes hurt depending on the pose. Obviously poses with a lot of bending are painful so I’ll try to avoid those. Thanks for all your insight. It helped a lot.
Cloudyday
Dear Cloudy Day,
You have 2 opinions already, and perhaps that is sufficient. I offer mine only as another viewpoint. Bursitis is an inflammation of the bursa, sacs of lubricating synovial fluids which act to prevent friction or provide cusioning at a joint. The knee is a complex joint, containing over 10 bursae. Additional bursae can form if repetitive strain or friction are present. Aggravation of the bursitis could cause additional reactive complications which could impair other areas of your body by creating unusual tension in the musculature. I would advise caution and an honest listening to the body. What is the purpose of your asana practice? Does your method of practice support that purpose?
Bursitis, an inflammation, is a condition of irritation. This may also be reflected on other levels in your life and you may find that there are irritations which you continue to engage in despite the warnings signs of pain, physical or emotional. My mentor approaches the practice of yoga as a whole person activity, and recommends the attitude one chooses to bring to practice can affect the result, and help to balance the tendencies of the person/personality. In a case of inflammation, a practice which heats and stretches intensely is likely to increase the irritation. A slower, deliberate practice with an emphasis on strength awareness will affect the musculature to provide support for the irritated bursa.
Finally, you may benefit from the observations of a trained body reader who may be able to identify structural imbalances which could contribute to the cause of the knee irritation, for example, posture, knee locking, etc. If you can identify the cause of the irritation, whether it is structural or through overuse or due to an injury, you will be in a better position have an impact on it’s cause.
Namaste,
Chandra