So, your knees are bothering you! This sort of thing sucks right. Can’t do what you want to do anymore. Well, here are some simple exercises for your knees that will help decrease your pain and increase your mobility ultimately allowing you to do the things you love without being in pain the entire time.
Passive knee extension
If your knee cannot fully straighten, this exercise is for you! It is very important to do daily.
The goal is to regain the ability to straighten your knee. This will improve your overall function and help reduce your knee, hip and/or back pain.
Sit on a chair with your affected knee on another chair or stool so that your hip and foot are approximately the same height or lower.
Relax your leg and let the knee straighten. Put your hands above and below your knee and put some over pressure. Hold this for 1-2 seconds and release. bend your knee slightly and repeat this process. Over the course of repeating this exercise, your pain should subside. If you find the pain in your knee gets worse and worse doing this exercise, STOP. Wait a day and try again. Try not putting as much pressure the next day and see if the pain is less.
Again, the goal is to try and regain some flexibility of the knee over time. To progress, put a book or a weight on the top of your knee to further stretch it.
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Knee Rotation Exercise
Knee OA, meniscus injury stretch If you have pain when bending your knee or there is limitation in bending your knee, this exercise is for you.
The goal is to increase the ability to bend your knee painfree. This will improve your overall function, reduce the stress on one part of your knee joint and help reduce your pain. Believe it or not, when you normally bend your knee, the lower leg also rotates inwards.
Place your painful leg foot down on a chair. Bend your knee as you shift your weight forward.Do this until you begin to feel pain or limitation and then back off slightly. Reach across and grasp the front part of your painful leg below the knee.Place the opposite hand just below the knee with your palm behind the outside portion of your lower leg, and twist the leg inwards. Maintain this twisting pressure while shifting your weight forward, bending your leg at the knee.
Assisted knee flexion
If your knee cannot fully straighten, this exercise is for you! It is very important to do daily.
If your knee cannot fully bend, this exercise is for you! It is very important to do daily.
The goal is to regain the ability to fully bend your knee. This will improve your overall function and reduce the stress on one part of your knee joint and help reduce your pain.
Sit with both knees straight out on the floor. Bend your affected knee towards you as far as possible. Use the arms to apply a gentle pressure to further bend the knee. Maintain the position for a few seconds and relax. Repeat
Functional Knee Flexion, Extension and Rotation Exercise
Knee OA, meniscus injury stretch If you have pain when bending Best Knee braces for arthritis or there is limitation in bending your knee, this exercise is for you.
This is an exercise therapy equipment that works all movements and areas of your knee. Great one to finish off with.
Goal: Increase pain free mobility of your knee.
Sit down and rest your thigh on your forearm as shown.
Your heel shouldn't touch the ground.
Rotate your foot out (externally rotating your lower leg -you should see the bony tip under your knee rotating out) and extend your knee as much as possible. Then, rotate your lower leg in (rotate the tibia internally and) and then bend your knee.
You are probably sceptical about these simple exercises and think well I walk and move my knees back and forth all the time, so these won’t really help because I am kind of doing this already.
Well, let us explain in a bit more detail the reasoning behind these exercises.
If you lose your knee mobility, even a little bit, that part of the joint never gets used anymore, and if you don’t use it you lose it. The part of the joint that is always used gets worn down faster. The part that is never used doesn’t get the nutrients and weightbearing it needs to maintain a healthy joint. The ligaments get tighter and it can get to the point where you lose that range permanently. It is very important to try and maintain as much knee bending and straightening as possible.
The knee joint really feeds itself my movement and weightbearing. The cartilage in your knee does not have good blood supply. It gets its nutrients and exchange of waste material through movement.
Even a small decrease in leg extension changes the way you walk, and this can affect your other body parts such your hips and lower back.
You need a minimum of 120 degrees of knee flexion to properly walk up and down stairs.
Your knee not only bends and straightens but rotates as well. If you lose this rotational ability it will affect the way you walk and cause pain. Your lower leg rotates inwards when you bend your knee and outwards as you straighten.
These 4 simple exercises will help maintain and improve your knee mobility. Even if you find them simple, that is great, keep doing them to avoid losing range of motion down the road.
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