Your knee injury needs attention but don’t have the time to visit a physiotherapist? You can start doing exercises to relieve your knee pain in the comfort of your own home. In this guide, you will uncover yoga poses and exercises that will help you tackle your knee injuries easily. But before digging deeper into the remedies, let’s understand their types, causes, and symptoms.
How Can Knee Injuries Occur?
You can suffer from knee injuries because of several reasons. Tissues that comprise the knee joint are ligaments, tendons, bones, muscles and cartilage. If anything causes trauma in any of these tissues, knee injuries might occur. Let us understand in detail how knee injuries occur so that you can avoid injuring your knee in the future.
- Trauma– Knee injuries can occur if you fall, the knee is twisted violently, impacted by a severe car accident, or other forces.
- Overuse– Injuries due to overuse of the knee can occur due to repetitive actions using the knee or from training excessively for the purpose of a sport.
- Sudden twisting– The meniscus is the springy cartilage that serves as a shock absorber between your shinbone and thighbone. Tearing can happen if your knee twists suddenly while you are bearing weight on it.
- Sports– Sports such as football, basketball, soccer, and skiing can result in knee injuries, particularly when they entail abrupt directional shifts or knee twisting.
- Other health issues– If your bones suffer from osteoporosis, the bones may become weaker and your chances of breaking bones increase.
What are the Types of Knee Injuries?
Let us discuss the most common knee injury types.
- Knee sprains– A sprain can occur if your knee ligament gets strained or overextended. The degree of ligament tearing or stretching determines how severe the pain will be.
- Meniscus tear– A meniscus tear happens in the cartilage. It can happen if you have suddenly faced a forceful rotation of the knee, degeneration due to malnutrition or old age and rapid moving activities.
- Dislocations– A dislocation of the knee occurs when the femur and the tibia fail to join the knee joint.
- Fracture– A fracture is a medical condition that occurs when a bone breaks. If any kind of trauma occurs during a sport, fall or accident, a fracture can happen. Some medical conditions arising due to repeating activities like running or jogging can increase the risk of a fracture.
- Ligament tears– It might be extremely difficult to pivot, turn, or twist the leg due to a ruptured ligament in the knee. Trauma or sports injuries can result in damage to the knee ligaments. The anterior cruciate ligament is the most often injured ligament.
- Tendinopathy– Tendinopathy is a situation that occurs when there is continuous strain on the muscles which causes the formation of tiny tears in the muscle.
What are the Symptoms of Knee Injury?
The place where the painful spot is located and how severe your ain is depends on the reason for the problem. Knee injuries symptoms that sometimes accompany knee pain include:
- Unable to move the knee
- Hardship in bending the knee
- A popping sensation
- Swelling of the knee
- Erythema
- Instability feeling in the knee
- Knee pain
- Problems in bearing weight
- Tenderness
- Catching or locking of the knee
- Popping or crunching sounds in the knee
- Joint stiffness
- Inability to straighten the knee
- Redness or warmth on touching
- Stiffness in the knee
Tips and Treatments for Knee Injuries
Let us discuss some of the ways of knee injuries treatment.
- Rest- You will have to immediately stop doing any activity that involves movement of the knee and minimize exercises in which you have to bear weight. If your injury is very severe it can require a longer period, while injuries that are minor might only require a day or two of rest.
- Ice– Every two to four hours, apply ice or a towel-wrapped bag of frozen peas to the knee for 15 to 20 minutes. Repeating this may mitigate discomfort and swelling.
- Compression– In order to keep the knee stable and reduce the swelling effect, you can wrap your knee with a bandage that is elastic.
- Elevation– In order to reduce redness and swelling of the painful area of the knee, raise your injured leg on a stack of pillows or recline in a chair.
- Pain medication– You can even use common painkillers like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or acetaminophen (Tylenol).
- Avoid heat and massage– Using heating electric pad and massaging the painful spot reduces pain is a myth. You have to avoid using heat on the joint, as well as massage, as these activities may exaggerate swelling and bleeding.
- Strengthening exercises– Exercises to strengthen muscles can assist in the injury of ligaments.
- Protective knee brace– Wearing a knee brace can protect the knee during exercise.
- Surgery- One small surgical treatment procedure can be helpful in detecting and treating knee problems with the assistance of arthroscopic knee surgery.
- Osteotomy– If you notice that one side of your knee joint is affected by early-stage osteoarthritis, You might have to do a knee osteotomy.
- RICE method: Knee pain treatment at home can be done by keeping in mind the “RICE” method. If you’ve twisted your leg, fallen, or otherwise strained or injured your knee: Rest, Ice, Compression, or Elevation.
- Exercise: Regular exercise can help you preserve your mobility and muscular strength which can in turn help with knee injuries. It’s a vital tool in the treatment of osteoarthritis and other knee pain conditions. While restricting your movement or resting your leg could help you avoid pain, it can also stiffen the joint and make recovery more difficult. In the event of osteoarthritis (OA), insufficient exercise may accelerate joint deterioration.
- Weight management: If you have a high BMI and knee discomfort due to knee injuries, your doctor can help you determine your target weight and create a strategy to help you get there. The foundation also notes the links between obesity and inflammation.
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Some Knee Pain Relief Exercises You can Try at Home
Stretching activities for the lower body can assist increase your knee joint’s movement and adaptability. Your knee may move more easily as a result of these knee pain relief exercises. You have to warm up for a minimum of five minutes before starting to exercise.
Low-impact activities like using an elliptical machine, walking or riding a stationary bike are good warm-up options. Before beginning the exercises that strengthen your knees, you should warm up by performing the stretches listed below. You will have to do these stretches four to five times per week.
- Heel and calf stretch: To perform this stretch, face a wall, place your hands on it, and step back as far as is comfortable for you. Keep your heels flat, your knees slightly bent, and your toes pointed forward. Bend into the stretch and hold it for 30 seconds. You should feel a stretch in your back leg. Switch legs and repeat. Repeat this stretch twice on each leg.
- Quadriceps stretch: To do this exercise you can take the help of a chair or stand near a wall for the purpose of support. Keep your feet as wide as your shoulders. Your glutes should touch your foot when you try to bend one of your knee. As comfortably as you can, hold your ankle and bring it toward your glutes. For 30 seconds, hold. You will have to repeat the whole process with another of your leg. On each side, repeat two times.
- Hamstring stretch: To do this exercise, you can cushion your back during this stretch by placing a pad underneath it. Laying on the mat or the floor, straighten both of your legs. If it feels more comfortable, you can also bend both of your knees while keeping your feet flat on the ground. Elevate one leg off the floor. Keeping your hands below your knee and on the back of your thigh. With gentle care, pull the knee close to your chest; stop it when you feel a stretch. This shouldn’t be harmful to do. This position must be maintained for a minimum of thirty seconds. Lower yourself and alternate legs. Repeat twice on each side.
- Half squats– Half squats are an excellent way to build your quads, glutes, and hamstrings without overly straining your knees.
- Calf raises– As you continue practicing this exercise, the back part of your second half of the leg will start getting stronger.
- Hamstring curls– The standing hamstring curl targets your hamstrings and glutes. Core strength is also required to keep your hips and upper body stable.
- Leg extensions– Instead of using a weighted machine to develop your quadriceps, use the body weight of your own to keep extra strain off your knees.
- Straight leg raises- The straight leg lift develops stronger hip flexor and quadriceps muscles. In order to complete the workout you will have to flex the muscles of your foot which should automatically tighten the shin.
You can elevate the level of hardship of this exercise by beginning with a 5-pound ankle weight and then trying a bigger weight as your leg strength grows.
- Side leg raises– This exercise works on the hip abductor muscles. Hip abductor muscles are the muscles that cover the outside of your hips which promotes easy standing, walking, and leg rotation. Discomfort in the knee can be avoided if you practice this exercise daily.
You can add an ankle weighing five pounds as the exercise becomes easier, and as your strength grows, gradually elevate the level of your exercise by using a bigger weight.
Conclusion
In case you have knee pain arising from any knee injuries, degeneration or physical activities, you can follow the discussed remedies in the comfort of your own home. Remember, chronic pain from knee injuries does not subside quickly, it takes time. Patience and commitment to the treatment procedures are vital for managing knee injuries.
