Top 4 Exercises to Relieve Knee Pain

You must have experienced knee pain, at least once, whether you are an athlete or an occasional workout enthusiast. Knee pain can hinder various life activities. So, tune in and learn more about the exercises that could relieve knee pain.

Knee Pain: Everything you need to know about it:

Almost 18 million people worldwide consult a doctor annually, for knee pain. There could be many reasons for knee pain, most common being aging, mechanical problems, injuries, and repeated stress on the knee. Other causes may include overuse of knee joint, osteoarthritis, tendinitis, bursitis, meniscal tears, or sprain of the knee ligaments.

 Symptoms Associated with Knee Pain:

Following are some of the common symptoms associated with knee pain

• Inflammation or tightness of knee capsule
• Redness and increased temperature over the skin
• Instability and weakness associated with knee pain
• Cracking or munching noises
• Inability to completely extend the knee

Causes of Knee Pain:

Let’s discuss the causes of knee pain, in detail.

Pain associated with Injuries:

Knee pain can be caused by injury of several structures such as tendons, ligaments, muscles, or bursae that surround the knee capsule. Also, the most common knee injuries include ACL injuries, fractures, meniscal tears, inflammation of bursae, and patellar tendinitis.

 Mechanical Pain: 

Knee pain might be associated with mechanical knee problems. Mechanical knee problems include the loose body in which the cartilage or the broken chunk of bone seems to swim in the joint space, iliotibial band syndrome in which the band extending from the anterior of the hip to the anterior of the knee gets very tight and hinder normal functions. The pain associated with mechanical problems usually gets triggered by the overuse of a joint or its activities beyond the normal range.

Pain associated with Arthritis:

There are almost 100 different types of arthritis and knee pain associated with arthritis is quite severe to endure. The most common type of arthritis associated with knee pain includes osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout arthritis, pseudogout arthritis, and septic arthritis. While arthritis is a musculoskeletal disorder characterized by stiffness and inflammation of joints. 

 Exercises to relieve knee pain:

Strengthening and stretching exercises could be recommended to relieve knee pain. Elevated strength of the joint or capsule could reduce the levels of pain associated with a specific health condition. However, talk to your physical therapist before starting an exercise plan because in some conditions exercise and strengthening workouts are contraindicated. Here are some of the exercises executed to relieve knee pain.

Quadriceps stretch:

Quadriceps is a four-headed muscle group covering the anterior of the thigh. Sometimes this group of muscle gets tight and produce pain. Quadriceps stretches can release the tension and let the muscles get loose. Hence, the pain associated with tight quadriceps gets relieved. To execute these stretches.

• First, align your body next to a wall so that you can stand straight with the support of the wall
• Keep your both feet hip-width apart
• Now, flex your knees towards your glutes.
• Next, hold your leg by the ankle and pull it towards your body until it can’t further be bent.
• Hold this position for 40 seconds.
• Bring your leg back to the starting position
• Repeat twice on both legs.

Hamstring Stretches:

The hamstring is the muscles of the posterior compartment of the thigh. Hamstring injuries are very common. Other than that, hamstring muscles can also get tight sometimes. Hence, the hamstring stretches could release tension and subside the pain associated with the tightness of hamstrings. To execute these stretches.

•  First, lay down supine on a flat surface.
• Straighten up your knees and extend your legs, pressing your heels onto the floor as your toes point towards the ceiling.
• Next, bend your right leg towards your body. Press your fingers under your thighs, pulling the bent leg further towards the body.
• Keep bringing the bent leg towards the chest, within the painless range.
• Hold the position for 40 seconds.
• Repeat twice with both left and right leg.

Squats:

A squat is an excellent multi-beneficial exercise, which targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes simultaneously. We execute this exercise to strengthen the muscles mentioned above and in turn subside the pain associated with the knee joint. This exercise can be practiced by.

• First, standing straight and then keeping the feet hip-distance apart.
• Now, align your body in a standing squat position.
• Keep your chin up and eyes forward as you squat down while bending your legs.
• Pause there for a few seconds.
• Now repeat this movement at least 10 times to get the desired results.

 Thigh Strengthening Seated Leg raises:

This is an excellent exercise for patients of arthritis who couldn’t completely straighten their back. This exercise can strengthen the muscles of the abdomen. It can also strengthen the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstring muscles. This exercise can be executed by.

• First, sitting on the seat and pressing the sole of the feet on the floor.
• If your soles don’t touch the floor, then put a pillow to level your body.
• Now, by holding the sides of the chair stabilize your body.
• Next, extend your left leg as you pick it up from the ground.
• Now pause and hold the leg in this position for several minutes.
• Repeat at least 12 times on both legs.

If you think, you can execute these workouts conveniently without damaging your joints then, go ahead but ask your physical therapist or doctor, just in case. Don’t forget to do warm-ups before these exercises and cool downs, once you are done. Stay consistent and get rid of that annoying knee pain with these easy-to-execute workouts.