Niggly knees have a multitude of causes. Most commonly though, are degeneration of cartilage, inflammation of tendons or bursa, arthritis or sprains/strains of muscles. With such a wide variety of causes how can we protect ourselves from knee pain and injury? Here are three tips to help keep you moving comfortably and manage your pain.

1) Non-weight bearing activity. Try incorporating some non-weight bearing activities into your weekly exercise routine. Movement can be difficult when a simple walk leaves you in debilitating pain for hours, but movement is something we cannot live without. Weightbearing activities such as walking and running load directly through the knee, aggravating damaged structures resulting in pain. Low impact activities such as cycling, and swimming allow you to increase your training load and strength, without triggering long lasting discomfort. The dynamics of each allow you to avoid direct loading through the knee while still applying resistance to the surrounding structures, whether it be water or air, to increase your strength. In the case of inflammation or arthritis, warm water is a wonderful medium to assist. A heated pool can provide soothing thermotherapy. The heat causes blood vessels to dilate increasing the blood flow to the area, easing muscle aches and pains, and helps lubricate the synovial fluid within the joint, making movement easier and more comfortable.

2) Strength training is a must! Our skeleton’s only support is our muscles. When deconditioned or imbalanced the muscles cause alterations to our posture and movement patterns. This, in turn, causes overloading through imperative joints, damage to cartilage and impingement of structures, ultimately resulting in tendon and ligament strain. Strength and conditioning of the lower limb including the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves (gastrocnemius and soleus muscles) will be crucial to manage knee pain. By strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee you provide the support that the tibiofemoral joint needs. The muscular strength helps align the femur (upper leg bone) and tibia (lower leg bone) encouraging optimal movement patterns. Furthermore the muscular strength assists with preserving the synovial joint space and protecting the articular cartilage which coats the ends of the bones.

3) Variety is key. We all have activities we enjoy more than others, but over doing it with one activity can be detrimental to our bodies. You can have too much of a good thing. Overuse occurs when the body is placed under repetitive strain, without sufficient time to recover or strength to support these movements. By participating in a variety of activities by way of practicing split training programs (where you train different areas of the body each day allowing others to rest) or changing up your training routine weekly you can ensure that different structures are loaded and avoid overuse. So next time you are struggling with your knee, think N.S.V. (Non-weight bearing, Strength and Variety). Try these three tips and kick knee pain to the curb.