Home exercises to support healing knee pain

Keep your knees healthy with these easy physical therapy tools

Keeping our knees healthy and pain-free as we age is critical to getting out and staying active. There are a few key stretches and physical therapy techniques just about anyone can use to improve knee pain, and to maintain healthy, mobile knee joints that can take you down the stairs and around the park. These simple home remedies for healthy knees are doable even for people with chronic fatigue or mild disability.

Two easy physical therapy knee stretches

It’s important to keep as much range of motion in your knees as you can, without strain. Often, a compromised knee joint will have a hard time straightening all the way, or bending all the way, or both. Stretching in both directions can help increase (or just maintain) flexibility in the knees, which can increase hydration in the joint, function, and comfort.

• Stretching the knee joint straight

  Sitting on the edge of a chair, place your heel on the floor in front of you, so that you can straighten your leg as much as possible. Place your hands around your knee joint, and gently press it toward completely straight. Look for a good stretch, not pain. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds or so, and then relax. You can repeat this several times if it feels good.

• Stretching the knee into a deep bend

Kneel on a soft mat or pillow, with your hands on the seat of a chair or another support. Slowly drop your butt toward your heels, like you’re going to sit in a kneeling position. You may be only able to go a little way down, that’s OK. Again, look for a good stretch in the knees, and avoid pain or strain. Hold this stretch 30 seconds or so, and repeat a few times if you like.

Keeping your feet flexible

One root cause of knee pain is inflexible feet. There are 33 joints in each foot, and they are there for a reason! The feet are built to act as flexible springs in walking. Unfortunately, we tend to immobilize our feet starting at a young age with shoes that prevent full range of motion (and add insult to injury with high-heels). Most adults’ feet are stiff and inflexible as a result, which means they can’t act as shock absorbers for the knee joints the way nature intended. A simple rolling exercise can help.

• Rolling your soles

  You can roll your feet with a tennis ball, a lacrosse ball, or a “pinkie” ball, all available online for cheap. Just place the ball under one foot, with a hand on a wall or another support for balance. Explore the bottom of your foot with the ball, especially the arch. Find your stiff and sore spots, and give them some attention. Let your foot drape over the ball, including your toes. Look to increase your foot’s ability to give and soften, increasing the space between the bones. When you’re done, take a walk around – it’s likely you’ll feel the difference in your knees.

Butt strength is key

Most folks with dodgy pins have a weak booty. If the butt is weak, more weight will fall into the knees as you walk, putting a strain on knee joints. Here’s one easy, home butt strength exercise I give all my clients.

• Standing booty squeeze

  Stand in “first position”, with your heels together and your toes apart, making a wedge shape with your feet of about 90 degrees. Straighten your knees as much as you can, trying to bring the backs of your legs together. (Put your hands on a wall for support if you need to.) As you exhale, squeeze your rear end, imagining that this helps to rotate your thigh bones, turning your knees out so that they face over your toes. If you can’t feel your butt working, go ahead and grab it with your hands, and find out. You should feel it tightening, and your thighs rotating as a result.

These home exercises should help to ease knee pain and keep the knee joints hydrated and mobile, so that you can get out and about with greater comfort. Of course, go easy and listen to your body. If something hurts, back off and get some help from a qualified movement therapist or bodyworker.

If you have Lyme-related knee pain, you may need both movement therapy and other support as well. Here’s an article I wrote for Practical Pain Management, called Living with Lyme Arthritis. The article is about my personal story with Lyme related joint pain, and contains a YouTube video of me going through some foam roller exercises you can do at home to help balance and support the joints.

You are a walk in sunlight,

Shona

Sources:

Buhner, Stephen Harrod. Healing Lyme, Natural Healing of Lyme Borreliosis and Coinfections Chlamydia and Spotted Fever Rickettsioses. Silver City, NM. Raven Press, 2015.

Arvikar SL, Steer AC. Diagnosis and treatment of Lyme Arthritis. Infect Dis Clin North Am.June 1, 2016.