1) Avoid Prolonged Sitting

Is sitting the new smoking? Not exactly, but sitting for prolonged periods of time is bad for your knees. Our joints need movement to stay healthy. Bearing weight on your knees by standing up and walking provides the support structures of the knee joints hydration and nourishment. If possible, get a desk that is adjustable and try to stand for 15 minutes of every hour. If an adjustable desk is not possible, try to get up and walk and/or stand for part of every hour. Additionally, you should practice standing up and sitting down. Try doing this 5 times an hour.

2) No Heels

No heels. Heels of any height tighten the muscles of the calf and alter the position of the joint when you walk. This leads to pain and swelling with everyday movement. Cushioning is helpful, in moderation. Cushioning helps reduce the stress of walking and standing on hard surfaces, but too much cushioning can be counterproductive. An excessively cushioned shoe reduces your body’s natural ability to stabilize the knee joint. Gradually switch to shoes with less cushioning, as tolerated. Shoes that are wide at the toes are best. The toes and bones of the foot need lots of room when walking or running. A wider foot provides a more stable base of support, which directly helps with alignment of the knee joint. Also, take off your shoes while at home, as this is an easy way to strengthen and stabilize the knee joint.

3) Strengthen

The strength of your leg muscles has the single biggest impact on knee joint health. Stronger leg muscles take pressure off the knee joint, but more importantly provide healthy joint alignment and movement. Your legs just need the capacity to get you through your daily life and exercise routine. If your knees hurt, you don’t have that capacity, yet. Huge leg muscles are not necessary and you don’t have to go to the gym for endless hours or run 10 miles to improve leg strength. Start simple, walking and standing up and sitting down repeatedly are great ways to get started with exercising your legs in a functional way. Move on to other functional movements that can be structured into an exercise routine or engage in an active hobby for at least 30 minutes a day, every day. Yoga is another example of a low impact way to strengthen your legs.

4) Flexibility

Flexible legs reduce friction under the kneecap. Tight muscles on the front of your leg create too much pressure on your knees. This pressure increases the friction under the kneecap when you sit or crouch down. Stretching lengthens the muscles on the front of your leg, which reduces the pressure under the kneecap as you move. Tight leg muscles reduce the full range of motion of the knees. Flexible legs allow for full joint movement and better alignment reducing friction inside the knee joint. A short, simple stretching and movement routine can enough to increase the flexibility of you legs

5) Breathing

Yes, we all breathe, but most of us don’t breathe correctly. Poor breathing habits promote bad posture. Bad posture trickles down to poor alignment of the knees. There are two things to focus on. Only breathe through your nose and tighten your stomach muscles a bit. This automatically improves your posture and will immediately help with knee alignment. If you want to improve your breathing further, set aside 5-10 minutes for structured breathing. Count to 5 on your inhale and 5 on your exhale. Gradually increase the time as you see fit. This simple exercise increases the strength of your diaphragm, further improving your posture.

5) Physiotherapy

We have 10+ years of getting patients back to the lifestyle they want and need. Return To Sport Physio will provide the unique path you require to eliminate and prevent knee pain. Contact us for a free discovery visit.
Note: Insurance companies do not and will not provide payment for the hands on type of treatment, and wellness instruction that you need to end knee pain as fast as you would hope. Disappointing, but true.