Your knee is one of the largest joints in your body and is unfortunately one of the most problematic.
Knee pain can affect people of any age but thankfully we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve that can help improve most knee pain!
Watch Dr. Rob show you exactly how to fix your bad knees!
https://youtu.be/ltSfsmo5uDw
Your knee is made up of 3 bones, the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone), and the patella (your kneecap). These bones are held together with strong ligaments and tendons. Your quadriceps or thigh muscles connect your femur to your patella and your patella to your tibia.
For your knee to work properly and pain free, your quadriceps need to allow the patella to move up and down on your knee!
The most common cause of knee pain happens when this system isn’t working properly. The fancy name for it is patellofemoral pain which means knee pain in Latin.
Like Dr. Rob mentioned, when your quadriceps are too tight your knee cap isn’t moving up and down on the front of your knee and this leads to pain! So any time you’re contracting your quad it feels painful. The pain and stiffness it causes can make it difficult to climb stairs, kneel down, and perform other everyday activities.
When things hurt, we tend to avoid them so we don’t use our quads and they become weaker and tighter which can cause even more knee issues.
If this sounds like anything you’ve experienced then maybe these exercises are for you!
The best way to get rid of tightness in your quads is to loosen things up!
We recommend foam rolling your quads and your calf muscles. Seriously, a foam roller is a god-send for knee pain! You can roll out while you watch the news or your favourite show.
Lay down on the foam roller and find a tender spot and slowly rock back and forth on that area for 30 seconds or so. This pain shouldn’t be unbearable, just slightly uncomfortable and it should go away as soon as you stop rolling.
You can also incorporate some static stretches like these ones:
Hold them for 30 seconds on each side then repeat!
Once things are loose you can start to work on strengthening some weak areas.
When we have tight quads it’s usually because our glutes are weak and aren’t activating enough.
Check out this video Dr. Rob did in the past showing you how to activate your glutes:
https://www.pricehealth.ca/our-most-prescribed-exercise/
Here are some more great strengthening exercises to try:
Straight Leg Lift:
- Lie down with 1 leg bent at a 90-degree angle with your foot flat on the floor and extend your other leg fully.
- Tighten your quadriceps (thigh muscle) within your straightened leg and raise it to a 45-degree angle.
- Hold your leg in this elevated position for a second or 2 before slowly lowering it back to the ground.
- Repeat for 20 repetitions then switch legs. You should do 2 or 3 sets per day
Wall Slide:
- Begin by standing with your heels about 6 inches away from a wall and your feet about a foot apart. Your back and buttock should be pressed against the wall.
- Slowly slide your hips down the wall until your knees are bent at roughly a 45-degree angle.
- Hold that position for about 5 seconds, and then slowly slide back up to the starting position.
- Repeat this motion 10 to 15 times for 2 to 3 sets.
Want help treating your knee pain? Come see one of our practitioners for a personalized tips and exercises!
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