How to Prevent Knee Pain

More often prevention is better than cure. The same is true in the case of knee pain. It is much simpler to prevent knee pain than dealing with the problem later on.

The two primary rules of prevention, in this case, are maintaining normal weight and staying physically active. If you are overweight, losing weight is the first step as it can reduce the risk of knee osteoarthritis and provide relief from knee pain.

Performing leg muscle strengthening exercises and taking precautions to restrict sports injuries can also help a lot in preventing pain in the knees.

Tips to Prevent Knee Pain

• Always warm up and stretch before starting exercise and cool down later on.
• Never overdo the exercise routine and stop if you start experiencing pain in the knee or any other joint.
• Always wear shoes that properly fit your feet.
• Do not run on concrete or hard surfaces like asphalt.
• Do not twist your knees
• Stop exercising immediately if your knee is injured. Seek medical treatment.
• Wear protective sports gears and equipment

Exercises to Prevent Knee Pain

More often, the knee pain is caused due to inflammation, which is because of poor flexibility, muscle weakness, improper weight lifting or lifting of heavy objects, bad shoes, starting a heavy workout without warming and also due to structural damage to the knee joint including ligament damage, torn cartilage or arthritis.

To prevent surgery, you can try out various treatment methods such as rehabilitation, medication or physical therapy. Only in cases where the structural issues cannot be solved with topical applications and medications, surgery is recommended to overcome the damage.

{ Also Read: Top 5 Home remedies for knee pain }

Tips to Prevent Knee Pain

Here are some tips that can help prevent knee pain:

1. Never Skip the Exercise

Knee pain can affect anyone at any age. And even if you have structural problems, you should not avoid exercising. The only precaution you have to take is to understand your stretching limits.

According to experts, you must focus on strength training that builds up the muscles in the hamstrings and quadriceps and helps you overcome symptoms of structural knee problems and arthritis.

When you are active, you lose weight and also build muscles, both of which can serve as a preventive measure against knee damage.

People with structural knee problems should perform nonimpact aerobic exercises that include using a stationary bike, training on an elliptical machine, walking on ground level or doing water aerobics.

You must avoid activities that can damage your knees or put extra stress on them such as downhill running, kneeling and deep knee bends.

2. Always Stretch Your Knees

Irrespective of whether you are active or not, you should continue stretching your knees. Opt for stretches that focus on your quadriceps muscles, hamstring and calf and do not put much pressure on the knees and the kneecaps.

Some of the best stretches for the knees include straight-leg lifts, hamstring curls, step-ups, butterfly stretch, and hip-flexibility building exercises such as a resistance band and standing hip flexor.

You can avoid knee pain by picking up a slow pace at the start of walking and then slowly increasing it to full speed if you do not like to stretch. The primary aim is to warm up your muscles as it helps prevent knee injury.

3. Lose Weight to Prevent Knee Pain

Your weight has a direct effect on your knees and foot. Consider walking all day with a 10-pound weight on your back. You will start feeling ache and pain in your back, knees, and hips after a while. Carrying more than average weight on your body affect your knees similarly and makes a bigger impact on your joints.

With your every step, two to four times of body weight is shifted to your knee joint. Hence, the more is your weight harder it affects your knee joint. For such people losing weight is the ultimate and only way to get relief from knee pain. Studies suggest people suffering from arthritic knee pain get at least 20% relief from the weight loss of every 10 pounds.

And when you add some flexibility training and stretching exercises to the weight loss schedule you will start experiencing significant relief from the pain.

4. Keep your Knees Healthy by Wearing Proper Shoes

Wearing comfortable, supportive and well fitting shoes takes a lot of pressure off the knee joints as they promote proper leg balance and alignment. That is why; high heels are more often the cause of knee pain. When you wear high heels, they lift the heel up, thereby putting your weight bearing line forward.

It creates difficulty for the quadriceps to hold the knees straight, leading to knee pain. On the other hand, the flat shoes or footwear that is closer to the floor do not put much strain on the thigh muscles and the stability is maintained naturally without putting any pressure on the knees.

It means you must save your stilettos for special occasions and try to use flat footwear so that the damage to the knees is kept to a minimum.

And this holds true not only when you walk, but also when you are running or taking up a new form of aerobic exercise.

Stand Straight

Whenever you stand in a slouching position with your upper frame leaning forward and the waist bending over, it exerts more pressure on the knee causing strain and pain. To prevent knee pain your head should be centered over the shoulders, and the shoulders should be centered over the pelvis and abdomen.

When your body is off-center, your muscles and joints have to compensate for that activity putting pressure on them. It eventually leads to muscle fatigue, pain, and strain on the knee and ankles.

To strengthen your core muscles in the lower back and abdomen, you should perform certain exercises such as back extensions, Pilates, yoga, and planks. These exercises help your body to maintain good posture, and finally reduce the strain on the knees.

Having strong core muscles in your abdomen and lower back helps promote good posture and, ultimately, lessens the pressure on your knees. Exercises such as planks, back extensions, yoga and Pilates can assist in strengthening the core.

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