Watch Your Knees

Knee pain can occur for a number of reasons so my first recommendation; get it checked and examined.

Know what tissue, ie ligament, tendon, muscle, joint, arthritis or meniscus injury is creating your symptoms.

An osteopath should be able to distinguish the differences and test accordingly.

Once you know what is happening and what is causing you pain, a plan can be put into place. 

To help move you along here are a few tips to ease your pain and assist your recovery.

-If your knee is inflamed or you have experienced a recent injury, rest and allow time to settle, take the pressure of the injured tissue, do not leave it too long as the knee needs movement to recover, to be used and loaded in the right way to allow the most effective repair. 

-Use medications as instructed

-Plan activities such as, shopping and walking and get the heavy stuff delivered to the door.

-Get a Rehabilitation plan as soon as possible that can create mobility improvement and recovery. Look at strength, mobility and flexibility. Also consider the overall physical balance and proprioception. Improved balance helps reduce risk factors.

-Use ice and compresses, though there is a varied amount of information with regards to ice and heat, in clinical practice we have found ice really useful for acute injuries and aggravated tissue injuries, whilst heat can be helpful for relaxing muscles.

-If you are nervous and feel unsteady use a walking stick, they can be a real help when out walking and also out on the fells as well.

-If you run, workout or attend classes wear appropriate training shoes, get them measured to fit. It sounds obvious but minimise the use of high heels. 

-If you are back training well and feel really good do not be tempted to run an extra mile or work out longer. Work to plan, if you feel your training is too comfortable then see a trainer as you are not training to maximum, it needs to engage the body in right way applying the right load at the right time.

-Have a pre and post work out routine: this is aimed at warming up and preparing the body to exercise, then a post workout to help recovery. Static stretches should not be done prior to exercise and are best afterwards.

-Hydration: maintain a healthy intake of fluid, water is vital for the body and is crucial in the role of recovery, the closer to pure water the better.

-Strapping and supports are useful to help with  rehabilitation, however you have to be careful it does not become a reliance or a necessity to enable you to carry out certain exercises.

If you find yourself taking medications such as pain killers prior to exercise then you have a problem that really needs looking at. Training like this will stop you experiencing pain and may cause further damage and irritation. 

If in doubt speak too your osteopath or physio, it is what we do: Assess-Treat-Rehabilitate,

any questions give us a call..

Deansgate Osteopathic Clinic
Tel:01204 522133