Simple Tips That Will Help You Take Care of Your Knees Better

Your knees are the strongest joints in your body, and people use them almost constantly during everyday activities. They bear 80% of your body weight when you stand still and over 100%  when walking around.

Many factors such as age, injury, or constant repeated motion may contribute to damaging your knees and lead to various types of knee arthritis. Here are some tips on how to protect your knees, or at least keep the damage to a minimum.

Lose a Bit of Weight

Walking around with excess weight places tremendous pressure on your knees, and with every pound you gain, your knees feel the force of four or more on them. Losing even a small amount can help and spare your knees from having to cope with four additional pounds of extra force. And it isn’t only the weight, less fat means less inflammation. Fat cells deposited in your body release particular chemicals that may lead to inflammation, which is hard on your joints and cause osteoarthritis.

Keep on Moving

Regular physical activity, even light or moderate workouts helps maintain joint function, including strength and mobility of the knees. Even though it was believed that activities such as running can be bad for the knees, the latest evidence shows that might not be true. Exercise can help keep your joints healthy, as long as you don’t do the same motion repeatedly for too long. It’s also wise to mix up your workout routines for example running and something low-impact, like pilates or swimming.

Strengthen the Muscles Around the Knees

Developing strong thigh muscles, most importantly the quadriceps, hamstrings, and abductors are essential for the improvement of the range of motion, knee cartilage protection, and reduction of the stress you place on the knees. Squats and lunges are the perfect workout choice for maintaining healthy knees. It is however advised to avoid squatting below a 90-degree angle as deep squats may even increase pressure on the knees. In case you prefer using weight machines, it is best to go for the leg press, knee extension, and abductor machines.

Be Aware of any Joint Pain

If you develop pain and swelling in your knee at some point, it is important to take a break from any high-impact activity you’re doing, for a while. Give your knee some rest, apply ice, compression, and elevation. If needed, consult with your physician and take an anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen. You may also choose to get knee braces, which are medically approved devices used for reducing knee pain caused by arthritis, meniscus injuries, and other musculoskeletal issues. If the pain doesn’t subside in a few weeks, you should visit your doctor for further examination.

Stretch

Flexing the muscles and connective tissue around your knee, including the iliotibial band, is crucial for knee health. Stretching every day helps with improving the mobility and flexibility of your joints and plays an important role in protecting the cartilage from more wear and tear. Yoga and pilates are amazing choices when it comes to practicing quality stretching.

Combining these two might be perfect because the variation of the exercises allows you to avoid repetitive motions that may lead to injury. Besides taking care of your joints, these exercises have a positive impact on your overall well-being, when done daily.

Choose the Right Shoes

Wearing supportive, comfortable shoes is important whenever you move, be it a walk around the park of a high-intensity workout. Having the right footwear promotes proper alignment of the joints in your lower extremities as you move, and makes sure everything stays in its place. Postural abnormalities of the feet may contribute to knee osteoarthritis, so it’s necessary to wear exclusively shoes that can prevent inward or outward rolling of the feet during movement. Also try to avoid high heels, as they only increase the load that’s placed on your knees.

Improve your Posture

Another issue that directly damages your knees is having poor posture. It changes your body’s center of gravity, putting excess stress on your knees, spine, and hips. The perfect way to stand tall is by aligning your head with your shoulders, and placing your shoulders directly over your hips. your hips should stand in the line with your knees, and your knees with your feet. Practicing tai chi and focusing on core-strengthening exercises such as planks significantly improves your posture, and prevents irritation around the kneecaps.

Keeping your joints, most importantly your knees, healthy is crucial for maintaining your overall health and fitness. As you can see, many factors contribute to the continuous subtle damaging of your knees even though it might not seem that bad. Keeping in mind these tips will surely help you take good care of your knees and spare you a lot of pain and suffering that neglecting your joint health may bring.