Knee pain, whether from poor-healed injuries, aging, or other causes, can be disruptive. It can prevent you from carrying out some day-to-day activities, significantly impacting your quality of life. While some people are quick to opt for surgeries when they feel severe knee pain, you may be surprised to learn that regular exercises and strength training, which are crucial components of osteopathic care, are effective methods of getting rid of knee pain.
Understand Knee Anatomy
Understanding a thing or two about your knees and how they work is essential. The knees are a big joint in your leg that connect the muscles and bones in your thigh to the muscles and bones in your lower leg. The joint comprises tough, fibrous tissue known as ligaments and cartilage. The muscles of the thighs and lower legs are responsible for all rotating movements in your knee.
On the other hand, the cartilage in the mid-joint helps to keep balance when you're standing straight up. Feeling knee pain when standing straight up is often a result of injuries to cartilage, such as a meniscus tear or ACL. If you feel pain while flexing your knees, it may often be because the surrounding muscles and bones aren't strong enough for that range of motion. This is where exercises and physical activity come in.
Stay Active
Many believe that avoiding physical activity is key when managing knee pain. That is not true. On the contrary, exercising and staying active are one the best ways to reduce knee pain. However, it’s essential to do only exercises that are within your pain tolerance so as not to worsen your condition.
For instance, if running is too painful, you can walk short distances or even swim. Identifying an exercise that works for you helps keep your knee healthy and pain-free. Also, if you can withstand a high level of pain, do not go straight into rigorous training without warm-ups to prevent exacerbating the pain.
The Impact of Other Body Parts
The knee is the biggest joint in the body, so you must manage the load, stress, and pressure that you apply on it, not just during physical activity but also from other parts of the body. For instance, hip issues can lead to poor knee alignment and, subsequently, knee pain. Also, poor balance from prolonged ankle injury can result in knee pain. In such instances, you should contact a professional for further examination on how to deal with the pain.
Running Isn’t Bad for Your Knees
It’s a myth that running can damage your knee. In fact, the opposite is the case. Running has been shown to have beneficial effects on knee pain, including arthritis. Not only that, a lot of studies show that runners have a lower risk of developing knee issues.
Your Knee Pain Shouldn’t Hold You Back from Living an Active, Healthy Lifestyle
Do you have knee pain that has defied remedy or is impacting your ability to enjoy life? The Osteohealer™, Dr. George Cheriyan, can diagnose the cause and recommend a variety of activities that can reduce the knee pain and help you take back control of your life. Book a consultation today to feel the healing.