Walking as a form of exercise has enormous benefits, particularly for older adults. It's easy on the joints and helps boost heart health and improve circulation and balance. And new research now suggests that taking a walk can reduce and prevent knee pain related to osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.
The Best Exercises for Bad Knees. The most effective way to alleviate pain in your knee joints is simply to get moving, Woods says. “Walking, water aerobics, cycling, swimming, yoga, and strength training all help improve the symptoms associated with arthritic knee pain and knee pain in general.”
1. You sit for long periods of time. If your knee hurts, you might want to stay off of it. But resting too much makes your muscles weaken and often makes knee pain worse.
Stretch as often as possible. A simple stretch can help prevent stiffness in your joints and lubricate and nourish the cartilage with synovial fluid. Stretch exercises like yoga and pilates can help alleviate the symptoms of osteoarthritis and also strengthen your muscles to prevent further joint injury.
"Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for knee pain," says Dr. Lauren Elson, an instructor in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. The right combination of strengthening and stretching exercises can relieve pain by helping to improve the way the joint moves and functions.
Your knees may be weak or shaky due to inflammatory conditions, systemic disease, or other vascular issues (blood clots or deep vein thrombosis). Your knees may also feel weak due to poor blood circulation. Some other causes are: Infection in knees.
A woman's pelvis is wider than a man's, creating a sharper angle where the bones in the knees meet. As a result, the front of the knee joint, the thighbone and the kneecap fit together poorly, and this misalignment can lead to injury and wear and tear on the joint. Women have looser ligaments than men.
Vitamin D deficiency is the state of having inadequate amounts of vitamin D in your body, which may cause health problems like brittle bones and muscle weakness.
High-impact exercises can further injure painful knees. Avoid jarring exercises such as running, jumping, and kickboxing. Also avoid doing exercises such as lunges and deep squats that put a lot of stress on your knees. These can worsen pain and, if not done correctly, cause injury.
A minor knee sprain may take up to 6 weeks to heal, while a severe sprain may take months.
Cycling makes knee joint bend and stretch gently and helps to ease the movement of the joint. Cycling also improves the muscle strength around the knee joint, which ultimately protects the knee joint if there are any impact actions. So it's wise to say that cycling promotes knee joint health in many ways.
For one thing, movement is important for the metabolic processes in the joint cartilage. Also, exercise can strengthen muscles, improve joint stability, and increase range of motion. This not only protects the knee but also helps in everyday life – for example, when climbing stairs or getting up from a chair.
Because cartilage does not have a blood supply, it has limited ability to repair itself. Cartilage regeneration, along with strengthening muscles around the joint, can help some patients delay joint replacement surgery for damaged joints.
There is no cure for arthritis of the knee. It's a lifelong condition. But the good news is treatment can relieve some of the symptoms. Treatment might even slow down or stop the disease from getting worse.
Knee pain will usually go away without further medical treatment, using only a few self-help measures. If you need help you might first see a physiotherapist or your GP.
The cartilage damage associated with arthritis is irreversible, but there are nonsurgical and surgical treatments that can help reduce pain, increase joint flexibility and improve overall quality of life for people with knee arthritis.
Do walk. Moderate walking is recommended for people with knee pain because it's a low-impact activity. If your joints are painful and stiff, start slowly and work up to 20 minutes of walking per day, recommends Stuchin.
The Exercise: Take a step forward while moving your right foot toward your midline, then back out to the right. This will appear like a skating pattern. Repeat with your opposite foot. Keep your hips level and feet parallel as you walk.
Unlike other surfaces, concrete has no give. This inflexibility affects the body. Standing or walking on concrete flooring every day can result in backaches, knee pain, swollen legs and sore feet. Left untreated, you may experience injuries and chronic pain.