The following exercises are the ones we have found most effective in helping people recover from and prevent knee pain in the last 12 years of practice. If you do have an existing condition then we recommend that you seek professional help before attempting these exercises. For more information on what knee conditions we can help you with here in Brighton and Hove then please click here: Brighton Knee Pain. If you are in any doubt at all please call us on 01273 921831 and we’ll be happy to talk about your condition and what you can do to improve it. You can always be better tomorrow than you are today.
The 6 Best Exercises For Knee Pain?
1. Posture
Not wanting to sound like a broken record but… try and keep everything on an even keel at all times. Whether that is whilst your sitting – avoiding slumping to one side, especially on the sofa after a long day or when your walking – try to hold yourself nice and tall rather than slumped down with your chin on your chest. Life isn’t that bad really! For more tips on posture check out our blog post here Posture: How To Sit To Avoid Injury.
2. Lumbar Extension
The opposite of slouching. Feels really good if you can cope with the blood rushing to your head. Affects all of the muscles which have an affect on the nerve that gives sensation in the knee. If that nerve (femoral nerve) is happy then your knee is generally happy. Over a Swiss ball is best but if you haven’t got one use the edge of the sofa or the bed. For the less mobile of you out there this may look a little scary. An easier entry level exercise which will have a similar effect is to simply lay back on your bed with your arms over head. Particularly after a long day!
3. The Half Moon
The name says it all! Stolen straight from yoga. Make sure the feet are together and make like half a moon. Simple. This affects the obliques and also the latissimus dorsi which become short and tight when your quadriceps do too much work putting extra pressure on the knees. This will also help release on low back problems caused by slumping too much. Release these muscles and it takes pressure off the nerve that gives sensation in the knees. Happy nerve means happy quads (the muscles in the front of your thighs) which equals happy knees. In the majority of cases it is as simple as that. Of course you may need some help releasing off the tension where all this comes from. And that’s where we come in.
4. Hamstring
An old one, but a good one. And a variation for better stretching on an old one. Especially for knee pain around the back. Simply plonk your leg up on something that seems like a good height and lean into it. A bonus tip is that you can keep the foot pointing straight, to the outside or inwards – each will hit slightly different muscles fibres. Did you know there were 3 hamstring muscles?
5. Quad Stretch
Again an old classic. But very effective. Simply pull your ankle up to your back side. The bonus bit here is to push the pelvis up and outwards at the same time (think pelvic thrust!). This should increase the stretch and help loosen those quads making the knees feel more lovely.
6. Leg Pit
Yes I did say leg pit! Your leg is a lot like you arm if you study the anatomy. Such things get muscle geeks like myself very excited! This mystical ‘leg pit’ houses the nerve that gives sensation in the knee, the previously mentioned femoral nerve. If you get into the same position as the hamstring stretch above and this time roll the foot all the way over so your inside ankle bone is resting into the surface you are stretching on. Now bend your standing leg to give yourself a suitable amount of stretch.
And there you have it. Happy knees all round. Well hopefully. If not or you’re still scared of making that knee pain worse give us a call on 01273 921831 and we’ll put your mind at rest and tell you how easy it should be to sort out. Alternatively just drop us an email using Info@BrightonSportsTherapy.co.uk
Hi, i am 9 weeks post knee surgery for 2 cartilage tears and patella shave. My knee is still very sore and swollen and seeing a nhs physiotherapist seems to be doing little to reduce the swelling.
I have had a couple of sport therapy massages which helped abit.
I really need a therapist who really understands the knee and can try to restore my mobility, confidence and previous active lifestyle.
Thank you in advance Katy
Hi Katy, thanks for you message. Yes this is certainly something we can help you with. We have helped many people in a similar situation before. We need to get your body working as it was prior to the injury to take the pressure of the cartilage and patella to enable them a speedier recovery and you more pain free movement. Have you been icing the knee much? Or taking anti-inflamatories still? If you could ring our number we can arrange for one of therapists to give you call – 01273 921831.