Today, I will share some tips and tricks on how to overcome knee pain due to arthritis. Enjoy!
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
I got Alix to demonstrate the exercises.
1. Ice the Knees
Get a bag of ice or some frozen vegetables, wrap them in a towel and place them up against your knees for 5 to 10 minutes. The inflammation and numbing will decrease, so there should be less pain. You can ice the knees a number of times throughout the day after walking or exercising.
2. Decrease the Stress on Your Knees
One stressful activity that we do with our knees is standing. Look to see if you are standing unnecessarily. If you can move from standing to sitting, you will decrease the stress and pressure on your knees. This will lessen your knee pain and allow your knee joints to recover.
Think about how you sit. If you are sitting with your feet underneath your seat and with knees bent, you are still stressing the knees, which can lead to more knee pain. Straighten your legs when sitting to lessen the stress on the knees.
3. Work on the Range of Motion of the Knees
Do what you can to maintain and improve the range of motion in the knees. In an upright sitting position, bring your knee up and pull the knee toward you. Bring your leg down and then straighten it out.
Work on the Range of Motion of the Knees
If it is too much stress for you to grab the front of your knee, grab your leg from the underneath and pull the knee toward you. This puts less stress on the knee.
Modified: Work on the Range of Motion of the Knees
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement. We are aiming to improve the movement within the knee joint.
4. Strengthening Exercises
A. Isolation Strengthening
To begin these steps to help get rid of knee pain from arthritis. Start in an upright sitting position, and place resistance tubing, either circular or flat tubing, around your foot. Flex your knee toward your chest. Straighten out your leg, and then bring it back to flexion.
Isolation Strengthening
We are working on strengthening all the muscles around the knees to decrease the stress and pain in the knees. Perform one set of 5 to 10 reps in a smooth, controlled movement with a good stop at the end for up to 2 seconds. If it is easy for you to do 10 to 20 repetitions, increase the intensity of the tubing by either grabbing more of the tubing or choosing a type of tubing that has more resistance.
B. Whole Body Strengthening
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, bringing your hands out front for counterbalancing. Squat down to a point that is pain-free. Raise back up. The key thing to remember is that you are not squatting forward. Squat and bring your seat back like you are reaching for a chair to sit.
Whole Body Strengthening
With this slight tweak, we are working the muscles around the knee, the glutes and the seat. Strong glutes and seat muscles decrease the stress on the knees.
5. Joint Complex 4000
I recommend taking a supplement to decrease your joint pain. This has been a common question that my clients have asked, so I formulated a product called Joint Complex 4000, which is an all-natural joint health supplement that will help reduce the aches, pains and stiffness.
So, there you go. Give those five steps to help get rid of knee pain from arthritis a try and let me know how it goes.
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS