Are you suffering from knee pain that is limiting your ability to walk, or even get out of a chair or car?
Try these 7 simple tips to help stop and ease knee pain.
1 Foot Posture – if your feet are flat, (or pronated as we say) using orthotics, or developing the muscles in your feet, to keep the arch up, is one of the keys. Remember the knee is in between 2 long bones, the shin bone (tibia), and the thigh bone (femur). Flat feet can cause the knee to turn in. This can cause pain under the kneecap, or irritate an arthritic knee, particularly on the inside of the knee.
2 Buttock weakness – Anyone who has come in to Back In Motion Balnarring, knows the importance we place on buttock muscle strength to help stabilise and ease low back pain. The side of the buttock, the Gluteus Medius muscle, plays a critical role in knee pain. Weakness of this muscle, also allows the knee to turn inwards, increasing stress on the knee. It can also cause ITB (the ITB/iliotibial band attaches to the outside of kneecap and knee) tightness, which can pull on the kneecap, and twist the Tibia and Femur in different directions. Keep that buttock strong!
3 Quad stretching – Stretching your quads like a footballer, can stretch the soft tissues at the front of the knee and take the pressure off the kneecap (patella).
4 Pelvis/Sacro-iliac joint Alignment – Your buttock tone can be affected by this, affecting the knee as well, as mentioned in tip No 2. It can also affect leg length, by altering the position of the hip joint socket. If your back and knee is sore on the same side, the pelvis (Sacro-Iliac Joint) is where we start, when looking at your knee. This is a speciality of our clinic.
5 Weight – The knee is a weight-bearing joint, so be aware that if you are carrying a few kilos, this could affect your knee over the long term. For most people, this is not the most important tip, but it is a box to tick if you want to get the best results.
6 Sport – When playing sport, you may require taping to optimise your knee mechanics. Doing exercises to increase buttock strength, and massage and foam roller use to loosen the outer thigh (ITB) can be helpful also.
7 Physio – these are the basic tips. If you come and see a good physio, they can check you out individually, and help keep your knees on track. That would involve a detailed look at your lower limbs, from your waist to your big toe. This a must do to get a good result.
Paul Rowson Director and Senior Clinician
Dedicated to get you Back in Motion