Strategies to Reduce Knee Pain

As the largest joint in your body, the knee takes on its fair share of impact. Not surprisingly, knee pain is a common complaint among people of all ages. The most common causes include inflammation caused by improper lifting of heavy objects, poor flexibility, bad shoes, muscle weakness, starting high-impact fitness routines without warming up and structural knee problems, such as arthritis, torn cartilage or ligament damage.

Try these 5 tips to reduce and avoid knee pain:

1. Don't skip the exercise, even if you have a structural problem

The key is to know your limits. Strength training that focuses heavily on building up muscles in the quadriceps and hamstrings can decrease pain and help people better tolerate arthritis and other structural knee problems. Staying active helps control weight and build muscle, both of which can help protect your knees from further damage.

The best exercises for people with structural knee problems include nonimpact aerobic exercises, such as walking on level ground, training on an elliptical machine, using a stationary bike, swimming and doing water aerobics. It’s also wise to avoid activities that put extra stress on the knees such as kneeling, deep knee bends and downhill running.

2. Whether you're active or not, stretching and mobility work are good for the knees

Exercises that focus on the calf, hamstring and quadriceps muscles take pressure off of the knees and kneecaps. A well-conditioned, flexible body is less likely to develop overuse problems in the knees.

Some good exercises to protect the knees include step-ups, hamstring curls and straight-leg lifts. Additionally, stretches that focus on building flexibility in the hips can help alleviate knee pain.

People who do not necessarily like to stretch before a workout can still protect their knees by slowly ramping up to top speed rather than jumping full speed into their workout. For instance, If you like to run but you don't have the time to warm-up and stretch out, you should start your run with 10 to 15 minutes of walking or slow jogging before getting up to peak velocity.

Check out this dynamic warm-up to get you started before activity

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3. Losing weight can improve knee pain

Your weight may play a major role in knee pain. If you were to walk around all day with a backpack that had a 10-pound weight in it, you would feel how achy your back, hips and knees are at the end of the day. That shows you the impact extra weight can have on your joints.

With each step people take, two to four times their body weight is transmitted through the knee joint, thus, the more you weigh, the harder the impact is on your knee joint.

However, people who are overweight and have arthritic knee pain can lessen the impact — and ultimately, relieve knee pain — by losing weight. In fact studies show people with arthritic knees may lose about 20 percent of their pain with every 10 pounds of weight loss. 

Where to start? Increase your activity levels, but also proper nutrtition! Check out our tips for proper Nutrition HERE

4. Wearing the proper shoes is important for healthy knees

Supportive and comfortable shoes help take pressure off the knee joint by promoting proper leg alignment and balance. For women, it is no surprise that wearing high heels is a common cause of knee pain.

For women who wear high heels – they lift your heel up, your weight bearing line tips forward so your quadriceps have to work harder to hold your knee straight, which can then leads to knee pain. If your heel is closer to the floor in low pumps or flats, your thigh muscles don't have to work as hard to maintain stability, which is easier on the knees.

Proper shoes are particularly important during exercise. Check out this article, HERE, on best running shoes.

5. Stand up straight to feel better

Having strong core muscles in your abdomen and lower back helps promote good posture and, ultimately, lessens the pressure on your knees. Exercises such as planks, back extensions, yoga and Pilates can help strengthen the core.

The more your body is off-center, the more you have to compensate for that with muscle activity. Those muscles eventually fatigue, causing strain on your joints.

Check out these core exercises!

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Need guidance on any of the suggestions above, or want to get started on reducing your pain? Give us a call at 301.798.4838 to schedule with one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy.  Conveniently located in Bethesda, Frederick, Germantown and Mt. Airy. Be Ready 2 Perform!