Skip to main content

Ads

Knee pain Relief- knee joint strengthening exercises


The knee joint is the largest joint in the human body. It is used in every locomotive activity. This makes it very prone to injury and pain. Weak knee joints make it more painful. In this article, you can know more about Knee pain causes, medical conditions, and relief.

According to WHO osteoarthritis will be the fourth leading cause of disability by 2020 in the world. This article will present some of the best knee joint muscle and strengthening exercises. But first, as in my every article I say we need to understand some of its anatomy.
It is very simple to understand that to train the joint you have to train the muscles. Keeping in this mind we will start with:

The upper part of the leg
QUADRICEPS (Thigh Muscles)
Quadriceps are four major muscles Vastus Lateralis, Vastus medialis, Vastus intermedius, and rectus femoris. Attached to the knees and helps in various motions of knee joint mainly extension.

In a study published in the Journal of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases concluded that walking improved after the addition of hip strengthening and quads strengthening exercises.
Another study in the Clinical Journal of Sports medicine suggests that isolated hip and quadriceps strengthening exercise programs seem to improve pain knee pain relief and functions in patients.

 Another muscle called Sartorius which originates from the pelvis region and inserts in the medial tibia it also performs a role in various knee movements. So to train these, here are the following exercises which can help you in the strengthening of these muscles:
1.       Leg extensions
                                            
                                           
(a)    Sit on a chair with thighs parallel to the ground
(b)    Slowly extend your knees (raise your leg) straight or till the point where the pain is felt. Hold for 1 second.
(c)     Bring your leg back to the initial position. Same with the other leg
(d)    To add resistance, you can use stretching bands.

2.       Step-Ups
                                                    
                                                        
(a)    Take a step up or perform it on the ground at a height of not more than 6 inches.
(b)    Place one foot on the platform other hanging or placed on the ground.
(c)     Push with your leg on the platform without taking support from the foot on the ground. Slowly come back to the initial position.
(d)    To make it a little bit advanced touch your heel first and then your toe.

3.       Leg lifts
                                                   
(a)    Lie supine on the floor (chest upward). Knees straight. Hands-on side of the body.
(b)    Raise your leg, keeping the knee straight for about 40-50 cm from the ground and hold it for few seconds.
(c)     Bring it back to the initial position.
(d)    In this, you can use stretching bands to add resistance or you can do one set with single-leg continuously without keeping it on the ground.

4.       Wall Squats- This technique is advance in comparison to others. DO NOT USE IT IF YOU HAVE ANY SWELLING IN KNEES OR PAIN.
                                                           
                                                          

(a)    Place your back to the wall. Feet shoulder-width apart. Adjust the distance of your feet from the wall according to your height.
(b)    Go down, keeping your back straight, toes facing slightly outside with knees traveling outside your body aligned with your toes.
(c)     Hold it down for 1 second. Get back to the initial position.

Hamstrings (Back of the thigh muscles)
Hamstrings are complex and powerful muscles located at the back of the thigh. These muscles are mainly responsible for your flexion of the knee joint. Hamstrings include the muscles semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris muscles.

According to  research published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science concluded that addition of hamstring muscles strengthening with quadriceps shows greater pain relief in knee pain and better ROM.

 Another important muscle that originates from the pelvis and inserts in the tibia. Its main function is to thigh abduction and rotation. Many times, weak hamstrings are also responsible for muscle cramps and knee pain. Here are the exercises which can help you in the strengthening of hamstrings

1.       Standing Leg curls- One of the simplest exercises.
                                                        
                                                       
(a)    Hold some kind of support. Start raising your heel part behind the body while contracting your hamstrings or back of the thigh.
(b)    Bring back the leg to the ground. Continue it with other leg.
(c)     Feeling the contraction is the key to this exercise. Try to do it as slow as you can while maintaining the contraction in the hamstrings.
2.       Lying Buttock kicks
                                        
                                       
                     
(a)    The difference between the lying buttocks and hamstring curl is the range of motion. Buttock kicks allow you to flexed knee in greater ROM in comparison to the standing curls but both are important.
(b)    Lie down in prone position (belly on the ground). Raise your leg and touch your heel with your butt. Generally, people do it at too much pace, ending up in pain.
3.       Prone leg raises
                                     
(a)    Lie in the prone position. With knees straight. Steadily raise your foot above the ground and hold it for 2-3 secs.
(b)    Slowly get back to the initial position.
(c)     Try to keep your knees as straight as possible
4.       Leg Press
                                   
(a)    Grab a towel or stretching band. Place it on the arch of the foot. Be careful with stretching bands.
(b)    Bend your knee, while maintaining resistance with band or towel slowly press your legs straight.
(c)     Be cautious about not to exert too much pressure while pressing.

Calf Muscle
The most underestimated and underrated muscle when talking about knee pain. The Gastrocnemius muscle from the lower leg attaches to the knee joint. It acts as an antagonist to the ACL and acts as a knee flexor with hamstrings. So, for strengthening and stretching of the calf muscles you can perform the following exercises and stretch:
1.       Calf raise
                                                     
                                       
                                                 
(a)    Another simple exercise to perform. Stand straight, slightly bend your knees and then press up from your toes. Feel the contraction in the calf muscle.
(b)    Come back to the initial position.
(c)     To increase the resistance, you can perform it on higher ground to get more stretch on the muscle. 

Gluteus Muscles
The next region of muscle is the gluteus. There are several muscles in the Gluteus region, but here we will talk about a few which will help in strengthening of muscles. Gluteus Maximus, gluteus minus, and muscles responsible for hip adductor and abductor.

So, why the gluteus region is added?
So Hip joint is a ball and socket, weight bearer joint responsible for many leg movements. The gluteus Medius in the hip region is responsible for the abduction of thighs and hips which means it is responsible for pulling out leg and hips and inside rotation of foot when you are sitting. It also balances, keeping the hip in level. Weakness in gluteus muscles can be a reason for your knee pain. It allows your knee joint to rotate inwards. This is one of the reasons why you can see an increase in a huge number of people performing monster walks.

In research published in the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy, a comparison of extremities was done to analyze the hip strength after knee surgery. There was a relevant hip muscle weakness in the surgical extremity when compared with the other. It was suggested to include hip muscle strengthening exercises in rehabilitation.

Research published in the Journal of Athletic Training a comparative study was done between the hip strengthening protocol and knee joint muscle strengthening. Both protocols resulted in knee pain relief. But The hip strengthening group recovers 1 week earlier than the knee strengthening group.
1.       
          1.       Side Leg raises (Hip Abduction) - According to the study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science strengthening of gluteus medius and is important to include in the early stage of the rehabilitation programs.
                                                   
                                            
         (a) Lie on your side
         (b) Raise your leg 50-60 cm above the ground. Hold it for 2-3 secs.
         (c) Slowly bring it back to the initial position.


BONUS
What to do in extreme pain situations?
In the situation of extreme pain, our first concern will be to watch closely for any sign of swelling as exercises can lead to more swelling around the joint area. In extreme pain conditions, it is suggested to do only light walking, avoid stairs climbing, and not to sit with folded knees all these can lead to irritation in the knee joint.

Do bend your knee when you do any jumping movement it helps the knee in distributing the impact force from the ground.

STOP THE EXERCISE IF YOU FEEL PAIN.

 REFERENCE:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Open Letter to my Physical Education Colleagues- 2

  An Open Letter to my Physical Education Colleagues This article is in the continuation of the previous article An open letter to my Physical Education Colleagues. In the previous article, I discussed the problems within the physical education community. I put out some points were as follows:   No one is willing to be more educated, to be more knowledgeable,   to be more productive,   to be more athletic,   to lead from the front. In this article, I will try to give practical advice and activities that one can easily follow. To be more educated : Bring out those books from your beds and rooms. Clean the dust and revise that material. Today we are living in the era of technology where on just one google search you can get 1lakh+ search results. Be fluent and strong in your subjects first, i.e, Exercise Physiology, nutrition, anatomy, and biomechanics. To be more Knowledgeable : Be attentive to any of the upcoming webinars or latest articles or research in your spor

COVID-19, What research says about it till now ?

COVID-19, What research says about it till now? The whole world is now fighting with COVID-19. According to WHO , till 29-June-2020, 09:46A.M 98,43,073confirmed cases and  4,95,760  confirmed deaths are reported all over the world. The first case was reported from Wuhan, China. However, China has almost recovered from this pandemic.                                                                     Corona Virus First, I would like to clarify here that Coronaviruses were present among us in the past, COVID-19 is a disease and this virus is named as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2). It is a zoonotic disease which means it can be transmitted from animals to humans. This family of viruses can cause cold and illness ranging from cough to more severe diseases such as middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS- CoV). Its common symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Can coronavir