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Knee Injuries

There are many developments in health and science that have practical value. Two of them are: (1) a way of restoring painful joints; and (2) a way to lose and maintain weight. In this discourse we present a brief synopsis of these developments for your use. We suggest you speak with your personal doctor before embarking on these exercises.

KNEE DIPS

One of the most universal conditions we may face as we live longer is osteo-arthritis, more accurately known as degenerative joint disease. And, one of the first joints to succumb is the knee. We may find more and more that staircases become a great challenge, especially if the steps are high. Even some athletes at the age of 40 have to consider retiring because of knee problems.

There is a conservative way to help rejuvenate your knees. At a recent bicycle marathon race a discovery was made about arthritic or degenerating knees. Usually, the riders with arthritic knees could not finish the race because of knee pains. However, at this marathon, someone instructed these bad-knee cyclists to change the heights of their seats every few miles. Doing this, they were able to finish the race. Not only that, their knees never felt better, even after the race. That is very significant. It seems when the height of the seat is changed, the stress is shifted from an arthritic to a non-arthritic part of the knee joint.

It appears that pressure or movement of the non-arthritic part of a joint forces nutrition and removal of waste at the arthritic part of the joint. In other words, in any arthritic joint, there are parts of the movement of that joint that are not painful. If we abuse the painful part, we can further damage the joint. W e aggravate the arthritis. However, if we work the part of the joint that has no pain, we help feed, nourish, and repair the painful part. This seems to be the lesson of that bike race.

Now, how can we translate this into practical help for our knees? Following is an exercise that can strengthen our knees:

Stand behind a chair and place your hands on the top of it. Stand on one leg. Now, bend the knee you are standing on. Go down to a point where you start to feel pain in your knee. Now, straighten your leg. Try to remember at what point your knee started to hurt and how much it hurt.

Usually the first few degrees of knee flexion are the least painful. So, if we wish to rebuild our knees, it is this part of the knee movement we must exercise. This is simple. Put your hands back on top of the chair in front of you, and stand on the same leg as before. Now, do a slight dip of the leg you are standing on. Repeat the dips twelve times. Now, bend that knee to the same level as you did earlier. Straighten your leg. You should feel less pain than at first. Repeat the exercise with the other knee. Notice if you had pain the first time you bent your knee. Was there less pain in the knee after the knee dips? If so, you may wish to continue the exercise on a daily basis . If you have more discomfort after the exercise, you may wish to discontinue the exercise until you consult with your doctor.

Do as many dips with both knees as you find comfortable the first day. Then every day add a few more dips. After a week, do it every other day. Eventually, once a week can help keep your knees in good shape. You will find a new spring in your step, and you will have less or no pain when bending your knees.

You will have done two things for your knees. You will have strengthened the good cartilage in your knee while feeding and repairing the degenerated cartilage of the knee, and you will have strengthened the thigh muscle just above the knee. This muscle, the vastus medialis, is the great protector of the knee. When it is weak, arthritis prospers.

When it is strong, the knee is protected and less painful. The problem is that as the knee hurts we tend to exercise less. This weakens this great protector muscle. We are in a vicious cycle. So have this muscle help you. Do the knee dips! Find your youthful legs again!

See Active Release Techniques® and Graston Technique for more information on injury care and prevention.

For an excellent article on knee injuries and volleyball see Volleyball landings may explain ACL genger gap and Training improves ACL outcomes in female athletes