Knee pain is the most common musculoskeletal complaint that brings people to their doctor, and with today's increasingly active society, the number of knee problems is increasing. Fortunately knee pain can be relieved and possibly avoided with these simple steps.
1. Strengthen your gluts – research has shown that knee injuries, including ACL tears and ‘runners knee’ can occur when glut muscles, specifically gluteus medius, are weak.
2. Maintain a healthy weight – being overweight makes women four times more likely, and men fives time more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee.
3. Stretch – The hamstrings and hip adductors often become tight, as a result of being overworked due to weak glut muscles. This muscle imbalance can result in compressive forces on the knee joint, leading to knee pain.
4. Strengthen your core – a weak core can result in poor spinal alignment, which has a knock on affect to the position of your knees. Strengthening your core muscles will allow your knees to be in the best position for movement without joint compression.
5. Pay special attention to your feet – Foot biomechanics has a huge effect on the rest of your body, especially your knees. Being flat footed, over pronating, wearing high heels (which can cause tight calf muscles) or not changing you running shoes regularly could increase your risk of developing knee pain.
If you have problems with your knees, make an appointment at Ascent Physical Therapy today – (970) 949 9966. We can evaluate the source of your pain and develop an appropriate treatment protocol to help relieve those knee symptoms.
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