Discussion Board

Interesting research. Evidently with some types of knee pain, exercise can provide more benefit than rest. Just posted this:

Knee pain and exercise therapy.

I could not find any information about the specific type of exercise, yet interesting nonetheless!

Lani

I used to have severe knee pain. The topic brought back a lot of memories, ouch. It would be like if my knee hit something it would swell, become painful and hard to bend. The worst was when I was on a High School wrestling team. For some reason the knees have been fairly pain free since, even though I wrestled my junior year in college I do not remember the intense pain I had in high school and before. I do not like being on my knees much even today. Funny thing is the knees have not bothered me in decades. I guess I outgrew it.

Steve

Steve, so glad for you that you don't have the knee pain issues any more! Maybe it had something to do with a growth spurt at the time. Glad your story has a happy ending .

We demand so much of our knees and yet they are so easily injured. For this reason, I think everyone should be doing exercises that strengthen the muscles around the knee joint to help stabilize them. This helps prevent injury - I call it pre-habilitation!

Lani

Lani, do you think this principle would apply to hip pain, as well? My hips have been hurting me after trying to start up a walking program this past fall. The left one has stopped hurting, but my right one still hurts in the evenings. I know my leg muscles are much weaker than they used to be. I've been thinking of doing the exercises shown in this link:

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=18359&PageNum=2

I thought I might talk to my doctor first, but I can't really afford physical therapy right now.

Thanks,

Sarah

SarahJ,

You are smart to look at joint stabilizing exercises as a way to improve overall function let alone reduce and eliminate pain as much as possible. Excellent!

A couple of things.

First, the pronation that we see at knee often works its way from the ground up. The leg is one l-o-n-g appendage with a lot riding on that knee. Due to gravitational pull, over time, those knees start to pronate to the midline of the body and the ankle tends to roll out - and you'll notice this is accompanied by an outward turn of the toes, also known as "duck feet".

So, from the start, work to correct this by consciously walking with toes straight ahead (at first it will feel like pigeon toes, trust me!) Knee rehabilitation exercises focus on countering the inward rotation at knee by pulling the knee outward, too. Thus offsetting the tendency to roll knees in by gently pulling them away from midline of the body.

OK, let's work our way back up to the hips, which you mention. All of the exercises on the link you sent look very good. There's just one thing I'd add, and that would be the focus on alignment during those exercises. If we just work our muscles around the joints to strengthen them, and they are out of balance and alignment, it is possible to simply strengthen them in a less than optimal position. Make sense?

So, for those hip exercises, add the following points of reference:

~ when the feet are flat on the floor (bridge) they should be hip joint distance apart - knees same distance apart as well. Feet in parallel straight ahead, unless an outward-turned toe exercise.

~ consciously keep the knee from rolling in during, for example, the bridge by pulling the knee gently counter to the inward roll. You should have active knee muscles before beginning any reps. Same with single-leg bridges. If you just proceed with this without consciously placing the knees, you'll just pronate and continue to stress the knee joint.

~ the standing stance exercise (which looks like a lunge) - put all of the above in place. Foot placed forward direct from hip. As you lunge in, do not let the knee roll inward. Knee should not hyper flex beyond your foot. Keep the spine upright and weight centered. Hips square, and engage the muscles of the pelvic girdle with a tuck to protect the back and the knee during the position.

~ hip flexion exercise - there is no instruction about the alignment with which you bring up that knee, and I think it matters. Put the above tips in place here, too.

I've mentioned T-Tapp already and want to mention that this is one of the cornerstones of that workout - getting the feet and knees in proper alignment and following that up through the rest of the anatomy. That's why it is known as a physical therapy approach to fitness.

The key principles above can be applied to any exercise.

Lani

That is an awesome answer! It was so much more than I was expecting. It is wonderful to have you on this board! Thank you so much.

Sarah

Sure Sarah.

BTW, I just put up another post with link to another knee article.

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=14674

That you may find helpful as well.

Lani

Thanks for posting this link. These are the exercises my physical therapist advised me to do several years ago, after seeing that I have very weak hips. I was always pigeon-toed, and my knees roll in easily and my feet also pronate--I have to consciously keep my legs "turned out" from the hip area (which actually gets them pointed straight forward), and that takes care of the knee alignment and the over-pronation. I've slacked off on the exercises, so this is nice to have them all printed out together.

Lani, thanks for all of the information you're providing for us here!

Momof4, thanks for posting - I'm sure it will provide great reinforcement for SarahJ!

Glad you like the column here, too!
Lani

Yes, Mom of 4, thanks for sharing that with me! I did these exercises this morning. I thought weak muscles might be causing my problem, but now I KNOW! They weren't too hard, though.

SarahJ, how are the exercises going? It will take consistency over time to make a difference - that's just how physical therapy and our bodies work.

keep us posted!

Lani

I've done them a couple of days now, Friday and yesterday (Mon.). Already my hip pain is decreasing. There was only a pinching feeling in my right hip last night at bedtime. Before I sometimes had tenderness and couldn't lay on that side. Yesterday I added in some exercises for tennis elbow that a physical therapist had me doing a year ago. That went well, also. Oh, am I hoping this is the year I get back into the swing of things!

This is great news, SarahJ. It's amazing how purposeful movement can make such a difference.

Thanks for the report!

Lani

Geoffrey, thanks for the resource! I'll be sure to check out those links.

Lani

Geoffrey,
Thanks for posting those links. I always thought I was doing lunges right, but my knees hurt--I tried her description and used a chair for support, and it worked great. I'm glad I can add these in now.

Also, have you ever noticed how little kids squat for everything? I always wondered when it is that we become lazy and start hunching over instead!