8 exercises to relieve knee pain
When you have knee pain, you should still do appropriate light exercise to maintain joint mobility and increase muscle strength around the joint.
Knee osteoarthritis mainly occurs in the elderly. There are also other risk factors such as obesity, genetics, joint misalignment, and gender. The disease causes destruction of articular cartilage, hypertrophy at the bone ends, creating spurs and subchondral fibrosis. Severe cases cause softening, ulcers, and wear of articular cartilage, even causing disability.
Symptoms include persistent pain, morning stiffness, and decreased function. The knee joint often hurts during movement, worsens at the end of the day, and is relieved by rest.
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Knee pain. |
To have strong knee joints, you should do the following 8 exercises every day:
Quadriceps Stretch
- Lie on your back with both knees straight. Bend the knee on the uninjured side as much as possible, keeping your heel away from your buttocks.
- When you feel your thigh muscles tense, hold the position for 10 seconds, then straighten and hold for 10 seconds. Similarly, switch legs and repeat 10 times.
Hamstrings
- Stand up straight and place your feet on a chair or exercise machine, but try not to bend your knees. Slowly lean forward until you feel a stretch in the back of your thighs. Hold the stretch for 20 seconds. Repeat 5 times.
Stretch the inner thighs and glutes
- Sit in a chair and place a rolled towel or ball between your thighs. Contract your glutes and squeeze your thighs together, hold for 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times.
Raise your legs
- Lie on your back, support your elbow with your hand and raise the painful leg away from your face.
- Next, keep your legs straight, heels 8-10 cm from the floor, and bend the knee of the unaffected leg to maintain balance and hold the position for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
Strengthen the quadriceps
- Sit on a chair, cross your arms and slowly stand up, being careful not to use your hands. Once standing up, slowly sit back down to the starting position without using your hands. Repeat 10 times.
Strengthens quadriceps and glutes
- Place the painful leg on a 7cm high wooden platform. Then step down slowly with the uninjured leg, taking 3-4 seconds to complete the step. Repeat 7 times and you can use a ladder for support.
To make the exercise effective, you need to warm up your body before starting to exercise. At the end of the exercise, you should gradually lower your temperature and heart rate by walking. If you are in an acute pain attack, you need to rest to help reduce inflammation. When exercising, if you feel pain or swelling in your joints, you need to reduce the intensity. Do the exercises gently, slowly and regularly.
