Exercises for Knee Pain

You may have heard someone tell you that you’ll miss your knees when they’re gone, but only until they are really gone do you understand the gravity of that statement. Fortunately, there are exercises that can restore knee health and decrease knee pain. All it requires is a little “knee” maintenance.

Stretching Can Help Your Knee Pain

Keeping your joints in motion promotes blood flow, and blood flow promotes ease of movement. Think of it like a little grease on a squeaky door. Here are some stretches that can help your knee pain disappear:

• Knee Flexes. You can do this while sitting in a chair. Take a towel or an exercise band and loop it around your foot. While keeping the band or towel tight, straighten and lift your leg about 5 inches from the ground. Bend your leg back to its original position and repeat ten times per leg.
• Hamstring Stretch. Stand up with your feet together. Step one foot forward with your toes up. Then bend the other leg and hip. Feel the burn in your hamstring as you move your upper body forward. Hold for ten seconds. Repeat ten times with each leg.
• Chair Exercise. Stand up and lightly grasp the back of a chair. Keeping one leg straight and firmly planted in the ground, bend the other until your foot touches your buttocks. Hold loosely with one hand. Hold for ten seconds. You should feel your hamstring burning. Repeat three times with both legs.

Strength Training to Reduce Knee Pain

After you’ve got the blood pumping, it’s a good idea to also build some leg muscle. Leg muscle can protect your knee, in turn keeping it healthy and functional.

• Bicycle. Jump on a bicycle – stationary or moving cycle are both okay - for ten to twenty minutes a day. Increase the incline in order to make it more challenging. Do 1-minute intervals of leisure biking and intensely fast bicycling. You may want to join a spinning class.
• Lunges. One of the most popular ways to get stronger legs is to do lunges. Make sure that you keep accurate form so as not to aggravate knee pain, but rather increase strength.
• Floor Exercises. There are many different floor exercises that can help you strengthen your leg muscles. First, lie on your back, with your legs in a straight starting position. In a slow, controlled motion, bend your legs and bring them up to your chest. You should feel the burn in your quads and your stomach as well. Then, turn on your side and do external and internal leg lifts, holding the pose for ten seconds each time your muscle is flexed. Increase the range of motion a few inches, until the burn intensifies. These leg exercises can help your overall leg strength, thus helping to protect your knee.

If, after stretching and strengthening your leg muscles, your knee pain still persists, then you may need to consider getting a knee replacement. If cost is a concern, then you can also explore getting a knee replacement in Tijuana where you will save between 40%-70% of the total price of surgery. Don’t compromise your health on the basis of expense, particularly when there are other options.