If you’ve ever experienced knee pain, you don’t realize how thankful you are for healthy knees until it hits you. Knee pain can derail your life but there are some ways you can get relief from the pain.
Tell anyone that knee pain can be considered a minor injury and they’ll laugh in your face. Knee pain is far from life-threatening, but it ruins your quality of life and makes day-to-day life unbearable. Fortunately, there are stretches that can help you in reducing the discomfort and agony you might be suffering because of your knee pain.
Any debilitating knee pain will need to be looked at by a physician as there may be some actual ligament damage that needs addressing. Don’t ignore long-term pain and have this looked at. But if you’re suffering from general knee pain, you’ll want to do anything to give yourself some relief.
What Causes Knee Pain?
It’s hard to pinpoint the cause of knee pain as there may be a lot of different factors involved. It may come from an old injury such as a ruptured tendon or cartilage. You may have arthritis, and even infections can cause knee pain. One of the first things you want to look at is your footwear.
Worn down shoes can cause poor support through the feet which will travel up to the knee. The pain from your feet can even affect your upper back as there is a spillover effect through various points in your body.
You should change your shoes every 250-500 miles even if they still look new. When the support weakens, and you spend a lot of time on your feet, your knees will feel more of the brunt.
General knee pain can also build from:
- Walking
- Climbing stairs
- Walking up inclines
- Bursitis
- Damaged cartilage under the knee cap
- Jumping or hard impact from sports or workouts
The question is what can you do to help relieve the pain when it comes to natural remedies?
Here are 4 stretches for knee pain you can start doing today.
1. Partial Squats
A partial squat will help build up the muscles that surround the knee without putting too much force on the knee itself. These may not be possible depending on your level of knee pain, or if you have arthritis, but they’re about building up support. They will also build your quad and glute muscles which help keep your legs more stable and take the pressure away from your knees.
You start in a standing position with your head up and will hinge at the hip lowering into a squat. Imagine yourself about to sit down in a chair and you’ll be in the right position and form. You then will return to a standing position and you can do 10-12 repetitions of this. Rest a minute or so and then you can repeat and even do a third round.
2. Standing Hamstring Stretch
This is a classic stretch but one that will help the hamstrings which are involved with supporting your hips and knees. Some knee pain can be caused by weak hamstrings which are one of the weakest muscles on the body and can be easily pulled and strained.
To do this stretch:
- Start by standing on your right foot and your left one out in front with its heel on the ground toes pointed up.
- Lean forward at your hips and bend your right knee while you lean your body back a bit.
- As your right leg is bending keep the left leg straight so you can feel a stretch through the hamstring.
- Hold this stretch for at least 15-20 seconds before switching to the other leg.
3. Calf Stretch
The calves are like the hamstrings because they can be related to potential knee pain. When they are tight, this will put more pressure onto the knees and if you are having knee pain, it will be even more pronounced.
To do this stretch:
- Stand in front of a wall with one leg behind you straightened and the other in front of you slightly bent.
- Put your hands up on the wall and push against it. Keep your back leg straight and your foot flat on the floor.
- You should feel the stretch on the calf of your back leg and you want to hold this for 15-20 seconds before switching to the other leg.
4. Side Lunge
The side lunge will help in stretching your knees because it’s also a hip stretch and tight hips, like the other muscles in your leg, will directly cause knee pain.
This will stretch your abductors which are the muscles on the inside of your leg and they help stabilize your hips. When they are tight, it causes your hips to be unstable which will make your knees unstable. This is bad enough if you don’t have knee pain but if you do, it will feel even worse.
To do this stretch:
- Lunge out to one side bending the knee while keeping the opposite leg straight. Make sure to not lean forward too much and focus on keeping your core muscles tight.
- Keep the foot of the straight leg on the floor and put your fingertips on the floor in front of you if you need more balance. You should be in the position where you feel the stretch through your hips and the inner thigh.
- Depending on your flexibility you may have to go deeper, or lighter, into the stretch to fell it.
- Hold for 15-20 seconds before switching to the other side.
Final Thoughts On Stretches For Knee Pain
You can see now that there are a lot of factors that go into knee pain and a lot of it is caused by the other muscles in the lower body. By stretching these muscles out, and keeping them strong, you will minimize, and hopefully relieve, your knee pain.
References: