Ridding yourself of knee pain and swelling, knee joint problems in general and reducing strain in your thigh muscles to stop runner’s knee pain
If I used the words patellofemoral pain syndrome, you may be a little put-off. Medical terms like this can feel far off and unlikely to apply to you, but if I swapped those words for terms like runner’s knee and knee pain… suddenly, it all starts to feel a little more familiar.
Whether it’s centred wholly in your knee or you can feel your thigh muscles pull, runner’s knee can be a big problem. Funnily enough, just like any problem, it’s good to know how to fix it. This blog is going to do exactly that, and help you prevent runner’s knee and fix runner’s knee whenever the issue arises.
Let’s get into it.
Symptoms first
Symptoms are essential to know. If you want to treat runner’s knee you’ll want to know what to look for in the first place. Cornerstone Physiotherapy writes:
- Standing up from or sitting on a chair
- Going up or down stairs
- Squatting
- Walking
- Kneeling
From poor foot support to significant swelling, the causes and symptoms can be ever-present.
So let’s find out how to fix the issue.
Stretches
Often, tightness is a big issue when it comes to runners knee. Strengthening exercises are simple and super effective, so if you’re used to stretching (which you should be), then you’ll be glad to hear this one.
Try stretches with foam roll techniques, standing stretches with knees bent approaches, using chairs, walls, general environment and other bodyweight movements too (like squats).
Be careful if you have a knee brace for some of these exercises as the extra layer could cause friction issue
Tape
Tape is another option. It’s cheap, easy to use and available in great variety. You have KT tape and Leukotape as two prominent types. Proper taping technique will see your movements align in a better way, pulling your motion and correcting strain.
Warming up properly
This is a great pre-workout fix. You need to make sure you warm up properly, it’s obvious, but relative to runners knee a warm-up allows for a physical examination beforehand., and may identify any dull pain that could worsen mid-workout.
Cornerstone Physiotherapy writes, ”Take 5-10 minutes to warm-up your legs before going into your run. Incorporate light repetitive movements such as jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, and skipping. In addition, incorporate movements that bring your joints to end-range such as deep squats, gentle leg swings, butt kicks, high knees.”
Conclusion
These are just a few ways to approach the issue. Make sure to check out other areas like iliotibial band syndrome, flat feet issues and more. You never know what your body could really be suffering from.
FAQs
Will shoe inserts help?
Shoe inserts are great for rebalancing tension across your stance. They can definitely be used to combat knee pain.
