Transform Your ‘Bad Knees’: Expert Strategies for Pain Relief, Improved Movement, and Strength
Everybody in our lives has probably discussed their “bad knees.” It might be a parent, grandparent, friend, or coworker with a long history of knee problems. Their knees restrict people from engaging in all types of activities in life, or they do something and subsequently pay for it. It could be something as easy as rushing around with the kids or overindulging in steps that truly aggravate their knees and cause them great discomfort.
Apart from learning to live with it, there is also a strong probability they have seen a physiotherapist, GP, or perhaps a specialist who has advised they have something quite wrong with their knees. Some of you who are reading this right now could be connected to all of this since you might be that someone else’s life partner!
Our knees are one of the simplest but also one of the most complex joints in the body, hence this concept of “bad knees” derives from this dual nature. Our knees are made to be mostly flexible and extendable in one dimension. Although they can move in all directions, their main focus is on bending and straightening the leg, through activities including walking, stair climbing and lifting. Now stop a moment to consider just how often you utilise your knees in daily life.
Just how much are you doing throughout the day and how many various things could you have thought of? Right? It’s quite a lot.
Our knees move in really a straightforward manner, as you can see, but given as much we use them all day, every day, they may be rather difficult to manage in terms of knee pain. Nevertheless, there is lots we can do to control and strengthen your knees, independent of how “bad” you may believe they are.
Many people mistakenly believe that “having the knees of an 80-year-old” means you cannot run, jump, or engage in any kind of sports ever again. To reach the point where your knees might be able to manage what you want out of them, though, it does call some proper therapy and management.
Good physiotherapists come in very handy here. Our main job at Active Health Co. is to lower swelling and pain and enhance mobility patterns and strength at the same time. Though there is a lot to this remark, let us dive a little deeper.
1. Reducing pain and/or swelling
First and most importantly, as our capacity to move well depends on first pain and swelling reduction. This is also crucial since even additional pain and swelling resulting from inadequate loading might negatively impact the knee by driving muscle inhibition. It is our responsibility to stop this vicious loop so that we may resume normal activities!
Although managing pain and swelling is somewhat general, a comprehensive evaluation to identify what could be causing the knee pain resulting from other places of the body is absolutely vital! A tight hip, for instance, might be directly influencing the knee by tightening the ITB and causing flow on effect to the knee. Apart from this, teaching on how to properly change load or control pain/swelling is quite vital. Our job is to assist in determining the reasons behind the knee’s extreme soreness of someone who lives with the pain every day may not be entirely aware of.
2. Improving movement patterns
Turning now from the point above, swelling and discomfort can produce more than only muscular inhibition. People with a hurting joint often walk with a limp, have you ever noticed? Now have you ever seen someone who might not be in pain but nonetheless walks strangely?
Although it is no longer advantageous for us, our bodies are excellent in discovering ways to offload sore places as well as in ensuring specific movement patterns. Certain movement patterns, like limping, may also be detrimental for our uninjured leg since they might cause overload problems. Then, a major component of our responsibility is helping to undo the ingrained patterns so that we may resume more consistent and effective activity.
3. Improving strength
Improving strength to a level that lets the knee withstand the stress you wish to apply via it marks the last stage of all this. A long enough duration of discomfort and swelling producing muscle inhibition and resulting in inefficient movement patterns can cause a general loss of strength, therefore any activity now results in a rather higher degree of work since your peak level of strength is now diminished.
Developing that strength will help one to keep excellent movement patterns and tolerate the pressures on the knee. Strength is also progressively exposed to greater and more strain, creating tolerance such that returning to something like sport is a very real prospect.
Consistency is the most crucial element among the three points you just came across! Maintaining good knees mostly depends on keeping up with regular rehabilitation and continued activity even after the rehab trip ends.
Though what you might think, given the correct direction and training even the poorest knees are capable of amazing things. If you are using your knees properly, you will not aggravate them more.
Our team at Active Health Co. and wonderful physiotherapist, Josh have the experience and clinical knowledge to best help with your “bad knees” so you can get back to enjoying life more. Book an appointment today.
