By Dr Tony Setiobudi BMedSci, MBBS, MRCS, MMed (Ortho), FRCS (Ortho)
The knee is the joint connecting the bones of the upper and lower leg. The knee plays an important role in supporting various motions such as walking, running, etc. However, all the parts of the knee; bones, cartilage, muscles, ligaments, and tendons are susceptible to disease and injury, thus leading to severe knee pain. Knee pain is often caused by problems occurring from hip. Weak hip muscles may cause more strain on the knee lead to knee pain. Strengthening the muscles around the hip joint can help relieve it. The risk of knee pain can be minimised through some simple home exercise.
However, not to worry as knee pain can be avoided through some simple home exercises. Strengthening your hip and knee through the right combination of hip and knee stretches and exercise can greatly reduce the chances of knee pain.
When you first experience knee pain, especially from a minor injury or arthritis flare up is to carry out the “RICE” protocol — Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. This means that you should Rest your knees, apply Ice indirectly on the skin to reduce swelling, wear a Compression bandage, and keep your knee Elevated.
In addition, you still can take steps to reduce knee pain, after the first instance of knee pain, with strengthening and stretching exercises to improve joint mobility. The right combination of strengthening and stretching exercises can relieve pain by helping to improve joint moves and functions. To ease knee pain, you’ll want to perform exercises that work several different muscles. Here are some exercises to help relieve your knee pain:
1. Hamstrings Exercise
The hamstring is a group of 3 muscles called semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps femoris. A hamstring injury occurs when the hamstring muscles, which affect one or more of the muscle groups, tear or are strained. It happens when the hamstrings are overstretched or overloaded with too much weight.
These muscles, which are located at the back of the thigh, help bend your knees during activities like jumping or running. Therefore, the hamstring injury is most common in athletes that involve a lot of sprinting or start-and-stop movements such as football, soccer, or basketball players.
The symptoms of a torn hamstring depends on the severity of the injury. You might experience sudden sharp pain, swelling, bruising, tenderness, partial or complete weakness in your leg.
Stretching is good for overall health, as it improves flexibility and prevents injury. Regularly doing stretching and strengthening exercises, and warming up before exercise, may help reduce the risk of injuring your hamstring. Stretching the hamstrings will help to keep these muscles loose and flexible, which will improve posture, increase flexibility, and prevent lower back pain.
2. Quadriceps Strengthening Exercise
Quadriceps muscle is an important muscle that control the knee cap and the knee joint. Degenerative process can go faster if the quadriceps muscle is weak and the knee becomes unstable. It is important to have quadriceps muscle strong. Doing a lot of exercises is good but it does not guarantee strong quadriceps.
Quadriceps strengthening exercises must be done intentionally. The following is a video that tells us how to do quadriceps strengthening exercises.
It’s important to do these stretches regularly and do them to the best of your ability for maximum benefit. You should increase the reps when the pain gets better. However, you should stop exercising if you feel unwell and pain persists or worsens and consult with us.
Dr Tony Setiobudi is an Orthopaedic & Spine Surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Hospital (Orchard), Singapore. He treats bone, joint, muscle and ligament problems in adults and children. He has a special interest in nerve compression and spine problems such as back & neck pain, scoliosis, kyphosis, spine tumor & infection, spinal cord injury, osteoporosis fracture, spinal stenosis and slipped disc.
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