Knee Injuries and Ways to Prevent It
Being the largest and the most complicated joints, the knees are the most easily injured part of the body. The knee is essential for all our movements – from standing up, sitting, walking to running. The knee is a weight-bearing joint that straightens, bends, twists and rotates to facilitate our movement. All these functions of the knees make it prone to injuries and knee pain.
There are various types of knee injuries causing knee pain; ranging from mild to serious, sudden to gradual. Let me discuss the different types of knee injuries:
Acute knee injuries – often caused by twisting the knee or falling. This is common to people who engage in sports like basketball, soccer, football, hockey, tennis, etc. The movement of running and jumping and sudden stopping and turning increase the risk of an acute knee injury causing knee pain.
Overuse knee injuries – this kind of knee injury is more common than acute knee injury and usually develops gradually for days or weeks. Pain is often mild and intermittent in the beginning and worsens over time. This happens when muscles and tendons are stressed beyond their capabilities. When muscles and tendons are stressed, microscopic tears occur, which must be given a chance to heal before the knees are subjected to the same activity. Overuse injury when not treated immediately can lead to chronic knee pain problems.
Knee osteoarthritis – this is the common cause of knee pain that is relative to age. Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis involving degeneration of the cartilage due to age. Regular exercise is recommended to reduce the stress on the knee joint in order to maintain strength and flexibility of the muscles supporting the knee.
Knee pain is commonly caused by doing too much too soon. It usually occurs when you haven’t exercised for a long period of time. Knee pain can be prevented in a number of ways such as:
- Starting out slowly before engaging in a strenuous activity like jogging and running. Walk for about a week before you run. Warm up and stretch before working out.
- Give your body a chance to recover from exercise. Take every other day off from high impact activities.
- Avoid running up and down the stairs and full squats.
- Do knee exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles that support the knee.
- Keep your weight under control. Reducing one’s weight reduces stress upon the knee.
Most knee pain can be treated conservatively but there are situations in which surgery is required. Most knee conditions respond to a combination of non-invasive treatments such as applying heat or cold, temporarily restraining from activities that aggravate pain, and medication that targets pain and inflammation.
Knee Saving Strategies
We bend them, kneel on them, run and jump on them daily, yet few of us give them second thought. Knees. They are the one of the most intricate – most injury prone – joints in your body.
Of course, you cannot always prevent injuries from occurring, and any serious knee injury should be evaluated and treated by a physician. But, if your knee problems result from overuse, disuse or improper training, you can make use of the following helpful ways to keep your knees healthy, in case pain persists to develop, to help relieve the hurt and help make healing fast.
Stay fit. Being overweight stresses all the joints of the body, but those particular pounds are on the knees. If you are overweight you are going to be needing greater muscle strength to prevent injuries.
Look at your feet. Too much overpronation or rolling inward of the foot is one common cause of knee problems. You can correct overpronation with supportive shoes designed to prevent pronation or with orthotics which are special shoes inserts.
Purchase the right shoes. All kinds of knee pain problems can be prevented by the right shoes. As much as possible, try to wear the lowest heel. The body can tolerate the heel about one inch. Look for shoes that have stiff heel counter, the part of the shoe that cups the heel. A stiffer heel counter will help prevent overpronation by stabilizing the heel. Antipronation devices such as athletic shoes are useful in preventing knee pains.
Replace worn out shoes. Most often than not, knee problems are results of worn out running shoes. A worn out shoe is NOT giving the support that your foot needs.
Do not depend on over the counter knee braces. Knee braces may make you aware to avoid overtraining however this is not a knee pain remedy as it does not correct or prevent the problem. You need to know that the counter braces don’t take the place of exercises. This is the reason why you need to strengthen your knees. If knee pain persists, you need to see a doctor.
Keep away from knee busting activities. Weight training is one common cause of knee pain problems. Lifting too much weight wears out the knees. So it’s best to avoid activities that are too hard on the knees. If you are doing activities that requires kneeling like gardening, try to use foam and kneeling pads to give your knees frequent rest periods.
Do not run if you have knee pain. Running through knee pain is a big no no! This may be doing more harm than good. You will not experience pain if everything is right in your body. Do not keep going. Avoid activities that can stress the parts that hurt. Rest can help the body heal in time.
Give it a R.I.C.E. Give your knees rest, ice, compression and elevation. Rest your knees. Use an ice pack for 20 minutes to keep the swelling down. Use an elastic bandage to reduce swelling and keep the knees elevated.
Take Anti Inflammatories. Reduce the pain, inflammation, and swelling by taking an aspirin or ibuprofen.
With all the knee pain relief tips mentioned above, it is always best to consult a physician.