Knee pains

[splozi]

I started driver helping right around... the beginning of peak I guess? - when they first started bringing on helpers this season.

They put me with a seasoned driver. This guy had been driving this route for a long time. He was 'older', but he could really run. I had to really try to keep up with the pace. After the first day, he got sick, but his cover driver was also quick. These guys are good.

It began on a Wednesday, and by the weekend... my knees were effing killing me. It was really bad. I had never considered calling into work before, but I really thought about it that Monday. I was getting sharp pains, particularly in my left knee. Eventually I got a knee brace, and I started taking Alieve twice a day, which helped a little, but I was limping around pretty badly. I was continuing to help this driver while they found him a good replacement helper, but we were on a different arrangement since I couldn't run anymore.

When I met him daily, I would deliver to his businesses (half of a shopping area), while he setup the truck as best he could, depending on how full it was that day. Then we would head off and do residentials. I would be the one finding, preparing stops, and setting up the truck, while he ran them.

Most of that was just a story I guess, but what I'm wondering is if any of you have had this sort of knee pain before, and if you ever had it checked out to find out what exactly was causing it. I spoke to someone who works in a medical filed, and I might have strained my tendons... but I don't know for sure because I definitely can't afford to see a doctor about it, as I haven't been with UPS for a year yet to get the insurance.

I had to stop helping for almost two weeks, as the pains were seriously affecting my work in preload. After that my knees got better, and they put me with a driver who was not so demanding.


EDIT: I should probably explain the pains more thoroughly. It felt like the bones in my legs hurt. Putting any sort of pressure on my knees gave me sharp pains. If I was to jump off of a step, I might have potentially collapsed to the ground, as my knees felt extremely weak. My left knee was about 200% worse than my right.

 

[cachsux]

Yea. Try knee stretches before you get going. More importantly stop running.

 

[Scuderia]

Lock your knees and relax your quads while sitting and massage the area around your knees daily, and warm up. IMO warming up is better than stretching. I'm an avid cyclist (110+ miles a week), and I no longer stretch before a ride. I simply start up slowly and up my pace during the first few miles. I stretch after rides. Whenever I stretch before riding I feel weaker, and seem to be more prone to injuries.

I injured my back this year, and the stupidvisors were like "you need to stretch". I did and just injured myself more. I started cycling, and that has made my back stronger, and I no longer have any problems.

 

[Dragon]

Yea. Try knee stretches before you get going. More importantly stop running.

and jumping off steps.....

 

[upsgrunt]

I know the pain as well- there are good days and bad days and my solution is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Aleve is good, but can't be good for you on a daily basis.
After several decades, I am confident I know what Shaq felt like towards the end.

 

[BCFan]

go out on workers comp its free money from UPS they hate it and I really love it(workers comp) and the fact that ups hates it ....SWEET

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

go out on workers comp its free money from UPS they hate it and I really love it(workers comp) and the fact that ups hates it ....SWEET

He is a helper--I am not doubting his story but for all we know he may have already had knee pain when he was hired.

 

[BCFan]

dont matter upstate this pain occured while he was doing job for UPS therefore he can and should file a claim for that SWEET FREE MONEY!! the law is the law and we all know how bad ups hates WC so let him/her rub the money grubbing managers nose in the pile of yellow snow!!

 

[BCFan]

wjth any luck and possibly a good lawyer he/she could parlay this injury into a nice settlement!!~!

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

dont matter upstate this pain occured while he was doing job for UPS therefore he can and should file a claim for that SWEET FREE MONEY!! the law is the law and we all know how bad ups hates WC so let him/her rub the money grubbing managers nose in the pile of yellow snow!!

I didn't think it was possible but I lost even more respect for you after this post.

 

[Johney]

He is a helper--I am not doubting his story but for all we know he may have already had knee pain when he was hired.

He also works the preload.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

He also works the preload.

Thanks--didn't see that part--by all means go see a doctor and go on comp if needed.

 

[Brownslave688]

dont matter upstate this pain occured while he was doing job for UPS therefore he can and should file a claim for that SWEET FREE MONEY!! the law is the law and we all know how bad ups hates WC so let him/her rub the money grubbing managers nose in the pile of yellow snow!!

Wow and this is exactly what's wrong with the world today. There is no such thing as free money!!!! Someone pays for that money and that someone in this case is UPS no company can afford to pay ppl for zero production. I
for one hope UPS is around for many years to come and that can't happen handing out "free money."

 

[splozi]

I have never had any problems with my knees. The closest thing I have ever experienced was in High School weightlifting, when we did laps around the track. And it wasn't this bad.

Let's just say, I am not a very fit person. I've lost about thirty pounds since I began working in preload... less than four months ago - so things are improving. Obviously my knees were not used to this sort of stress. This likely had a lot to do with it.

I expected soreness; I can deal with that... and I DID deal with it just from preload. But in my opinion, this knee pain was pretty severe. At home, where I was not taking Alieve, I had to brace myself against something to walk around the house. I had difficulty getting up off of a couch. I could not crouch or bend my knees while supporting my body. If I had to get down on the floor to do something, I would need assistance getting back up. It was a pretty miserable experience, to say the least.

Eventually I had to stop taking Alieve because it was hurting my stomach, possibly causing internal inflammation.

My limping was pretty obvious. I could not walk very quickly, and went up and down steps very slowly. I never said anything about it to anyone but my driver, and it took about a week for my supervisor to ask me what happened.

Anyway, it's better now. I don't have those pains anymore. I mostly "walk at a brisk pace" while helping to prevent it from happening again, but sometimes I'll semi-run, and it seems to be ok. Whatever it was in my knees is probably getting stronger from all of this.

As far as WC goes... I would only consider that an option if this was a more long-term issue.


EDIT: Oh, and jumping out of the truck... yeah, I did that in the beginning. My original driver didn't point out the handle to me until the third day. It was too late by then, the "damage" had been done.

 

[Buddybrown]

Quit running and jumping!!---Stretch and do warm ups everyday.-- Not sure if weight or age is a factor but if it is all the more reason you need to take better care of yourself and use your head and not your knees!!---When I say---head-- I mean use what is inside of it, by working smart not hard.---

dont matter upstate this pain occured while he was doing job for UPS therefore he can and should file a claim for that SWEET FREE MONEY!! the law is the law and we all know how bad ups hates WC so let him/her rub the money grubbing managers nose in the pile of yellow snow!!

Sweet free money$$-- What a joke---have you been eating your own yellow snow?

 

[UPSGUY72]

I started driver helping right around... the beginning of peak I guess? - when they first started bringing on helpers this season.

A specific dated would be better helpers start at all different times around the country.

They put me with a seasoned driver. This guy had been driving this route for a long time. He was 'older', but he could really run. I had to really try to keep up with the pace. After the first day, he got sick, but his cover driver was also quick. These guys are good.

We are all good that is what we get paid to do deliver packages.

It began on a Wednesday, and by the weekend... my knees were effing killing me. It was really bad. I had never considered calling into work before, but I really thought about it that Monday. I was getting sharp pains, particularly in my left knee. Eventually I got a knee brace, and I started taking Alieve twice a day, which helped a little, but I was limping around pretty badly. I was continuing to help this driver while they found him a good replacement helper, but we were on a different arrangement since I couldn't run anymore.

Was that Wednesday the first week you started working as a helper?? Where did you get a knee brace ?? So they knew you hurt your knee on the job or was it a prior problem that started to hurt again?

When I met him daily, I would deliver to his businesses (half of a shopping area), while he setup the truck as best he could, depending on how full it was that day. Then we would head off and do residentials. I would be the one finding, preparing stops, and setting up the truck, while he ran them.

Not believable he could do that job quicker by himself you would just be in the way.

Most of that was just a story I guess, but what I'm wondering is if any of you have had this sort of knee pain before, and if you ever had it checked out to find out what exactly was causing it. I spoke to someone who works in a medical filed, and I might have strained my tendons... but I don't know for sure because I definitely can't afford to see a doctor about it, as I haven't been with UPS for a year yet to get the insurance.

If it hurts that bad you go to the ER and get it checked out the driver that you worked with and that knew you hurt you knee on the job being a seasoned driver would have told you that it isn't going to cost you a dime. I would suspect you hurt it somewhere else and it just got worse working.

I had to stop helping for almost two weeks, as the pains were seriously affecting my work in preload. After that my knees got better, and they put me with a driver who was not so demanding.

If you had to stop helping for two weeks because of knee pain that started when you where a helper and you told you SUP that they would have sent you to a DR before you could even work on the preload again. As you would be a liability to UPS.



EDIT: I should probably explain the pains more thoroughly. It felt like the bones in my legs hurt. Putting any sort of pressure on my knees gave me sharp pains. If I was to jump off of a step, I might have potentially collapsed to the ground, as my knees felt extremely weak. My left knee was about 200% worse than my right.

There are problem with the OP story the facts about what happen are vague and I suspect for a reason.

 

[splozi]

RE: to everyone here who said stop running.

Here's the problem... if you have a driver who runs... he is going to be very unhappy with a helper who doesn't. Speaking of awkward situations...
I did what I had to do to keep the driver happy. Otherwise I would find myself without extra work, because the driver could then do the job quicker himself without me.

My current driver doesn't run, because he has had two surgeries on his right knee. He doesn't expect me to either.

 

[UPSGUY72]

RE: to everyone here who said stop running.

Here's the problem... if you have a driver who runs... he is going to be very unhappy with a helper who doesn't. Speaking of awkward situations...
I did what I had to do to keep the driver happy. Otherwise I would find myself without extra work, because the driver could then do the job quicker himself without me.

My current driver doesn't run, because he has had two surgeries on his right knee. He doesn't expect me to either.

Your theory doesn't work you still had to take two weeks off as a helper.

 

[splozi]

There are problem with the OP story the facts about what happen are vague and I suspect for a reason.

Vague? Do you really want to read a novel? I thought my post was lengthy as it was.

I have no reason to lie here. I wasn't asking for information about WC or any of that, I was simply wondering if people here have experienced knees pains like this.

I don't have a specific date of when I started helping, and I don't think it really matters. It was an unimportant detail of WHEN.
I started helping on a Wednesday of the week they first started bringing on helpers. I continued helping the entire next week even with my knee problem, and then also the Monday/Tuesday of the week after that, when they finally found him a suitable replacement (he was pretty picky about a helper, and demanded someone who would stick with him through the whole peak). I stopped helping the rest of that week, and the entire week after that. A guy finally asked me if I was ready to work again (as a helper), I said yes, and they put me with a new driver... whom I've been helping for... three weeks now? So I guess I started helping on Nov 2nd? Does that sound right as a start of peak date? Doesn't really matter.

I bought my knee brace at Target. Again, does it matter?

My driver didn't tell me anything regarding going to the ER. He observed that I could barely move and changed our arrangement accordingly. He saw that I caught onto the DIAD pretty quickly, and I knew what I was doing when it came to setting up the truck and finding packages. He mentioned that one day, even with my knee situation, he still finished an hour under that day.

Other than the driver, I didn't tell anybody about my knee issues until they asked. Nobody, not a single person, ever told me that I wasn't even supposed to be running. My supervisor didn't even ask me about my knees until a week after. It was pretty damn obvious that I was walking like a snail in preload, and limping into work every morning. After that break, when my knees were finally feeling better, a guy (I don't know his title, he deals with routes and works with drivers) asked me if I was ready to help again; I said yes, but that I wouldn't be able to run anymore. He asked if I could move quickly, I said yes. Even this guy said absolutely nothing about the fact that we weren't supposed to be running.

I've learned many things about the company through this experience. They don't give a ****. An injury to them is not an injury unless you have to be carried out.

 

[splozi]

Your theory doesn't work you still had to take two weeks off as a helper.

Indeed. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have done things differently.

I replied to your previous post, but it's being "reviewed by a moderator" .... sooo, it will appear when it appears, I guess.

Here's another story, though. It is unrelated to my former knee pains, as it happened to my right knee, not my left (the one mostly affected).
Second day of helping. I was with the cover driver, since the original driver was sick. I was 'jogging' back to the truck down a red brick path. There was a brick sticking out at the very end. I didn't see it. I tripped, I fell, I tore some skin off of my right knee. It was bleeding down my leg quite nicely.

Then I made an interesting observation. They provide the driver with a fire extinguisher for the truck, but not with a first aid kit.

Anyway, I told the driver I was fine (and I really was, it didn't hurt, just stung a little). We went on. Luckily this was during the last 30min of the day, so I didn't have to spend a long time with torn pants and a bloody knee.