Preventing knee pain by improving leg muscle strength, the flexibility the largest joint in your body, the knee takes on its fair share of impact.
Not surprisingly, knee pain is a common complaint among people of all ages.
The most common causes include inflammation caused by improper lifting of heavy objects, poor flexibility, bad shoes, muscle weakness, starting high-impact fitness routines without warming up, and structural knee problems, such as arthritis, torn cartilage or ligament damage.
“People who have inflammation issues almost always respond to physical therapy, medication or rehabilitation and almost never require surgery,” says Charles Bush-Joseph, MD, a sports medicine surgeon at Rush. “But those with structural issues are more likely to need some kind of surgery or arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage.”
So how can you tell the difference between inflammation and structural problems? According to Bush-Joseph, people who are able to extend their knees straight without pain typically have less serious inflammation issues.
Whereas people often have structural damage when their knees are visibly swollen or they cannot get into a squatting position with their knees at 90-degree angles.
“Knee pain can happen to anyone at any age,” says Bush-Joseph. “Usually if the patient’s knees are swollen and they are in pain, I have them ice the knees, stretch and take some anti-inflammatory medications for seven to 10 days.
If their knees are still visibly and persistently swollen for longer than that, that warrants further evaluation, including imaging tests like an X-ray or MRI.”
Bush-Joseph offers these five tips for preventing knee pain:
1. Don’t skip the exercise, even if you have a structural problem.
The key is to know your limits. Strength training that focuses heavily on building up muscles in the quadriceps and hamstrings can decrease pain and help people better tolerate arthritis and other structural knee problems.
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