Corrective Exercises for Knee Pain
Strength, mobility, and motor control are the three most important elements to improving movement dysfunctions. When a muscle does not have the strength or mobility to control the force applied to it, movement becomes limited.
A muscle group lacking motor control disrupts movement precision. Corrective exercises can address movement dysfunction. With the right corrective techniques, you can help prevent further damage to the body. Here I’ll review common knee issues and how you can implement corrective exercise to help prevent and improve these conditions.
Types of Knee Pain
The knee is the largest joint in the human body. The main role of the knee joint is to perform flexion and extension with small amounts of internal and external rotation. The muscles responsible for flexion of the knee are the hamstrings and calves. The muscles responsible for extension of the knee are the quadriceps. To perform internal rotation, the adductors will be highly stimulated. For external rotation, the biceps femoris will be working. The iliotibial band also helps with lateral knee stabilization.
When a person experiences knee pain, it normally occurs within or around the knee joint. If you are unable to withstand any type of load on the knee, have noticeable markings like bruises or swelling, and cannot fully flex or extend the knee, it’s likely a serious injury. You should consult with a doctor before performing exercise.
If you experience a mild amount of stiffness, tightness, and discomfort, the injury may be less serious. However, this does not mean the lack of mobility should go unnoticed. Address it with prescribed corrective techniques such as stretching, foam rolling, and exercising the muscles responsible for the actions of the knee. This will help prevent further damage to the knee joint.
Ligament Injuries
Knee injuries are often a result of torn ligaments. There are four ligaments in the knee that keep the knee, femur, and tibia connected and moving properly. The articular cartilage in the knee plays a major role in normal function of the knee. If both ligaments and cartilage are damaged, you can expect movement to be severely limited. If this is the case, you should consult with a physician for imaging tests.
ACL Injuries
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is in the center of the knee and helps stabilize the tibia through rotation and forward movement. ACL injuries often occur in athletes when they plant a leg and continue twisting the body. This causes pain in the knee from swelling and decreased stability.
The Lachman test can help confirm an ACL injury. As a person lies on their back with their knees bent 30 degrees, a licensed professional can hold the femur in position and pull the lower leg up. If the ACL is still intact and there is no injury there will be little movement. If the ligament is torn, there will bet a loose movement when the lower leg is moved..
PCL Injuries
The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) controls the backward movement of the tibia. An injury to the PCL is less common than the ACL. This is because PCL injuries occur mostly from a direct blow to the knee.
These injuries are more common in car accidents, such as when the knee directly hits the dashboard. This ligament keeps the knee from hyperextending, which is why a direct blow causes injury and pain. The forces push the tibia backward to an extent that the ligament cannot withstand. This degree of stretch and hyperextension causes the ligament to tear.
MCL and LCL Injuries
The medial collateral ligament (MCL) provides inner knee stability and the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) provides outer knee stability. The MCL is a stabilizer ligament and works to prevent valgus stress. It attaches on the medial portion of both the femur and tibia connecting the two bones. It is a common ligament injury caused by valgus and external rotational forces. For the LCL, when you have forces applied to the inside of the knee, the LCL stretches to protect it from moving laterally. It will tear if it moves too far laterally.
Muscular Imbalances and Structural Misalignments
Besides ligament tears, there are still other knee problems that could cause pain in the knee joint. Muscle imbalances are a leading cause of joint pain. Over time, joint pain causes chronic pain in the leg muscles and knee.
With overuse of the knee, a person may encounter pain in and around the patella region. The patella sits in the trochlear groove, moving up and down the groove every time you bend or straightens the knee.
When overtraining and extra stress from intense exercise like running with bad form cause the patella to misalign, it can no longer track according to the groove. This causes aggravation to the ligaments and cartilage in the knee joint, causing knee injuries and pain. This may be from patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee.
Every person has muscular imbalances and structural misalignments. They may cause anatomical issues in the kinetic chain and even knee pain from repetitive rubbing and grinding on the knee cap. It is important to work towards full body balance.
To help avoid these issues, design your program with injury prevention in mind. Include proper warm-ups, stretching, foam rolling, and improved exercise techniques.
Corrective Exercises to Improve Knee Pain
Implement corrective exercise if you are approved to participate in exercise. Corrective exercises to improve knee pain may include the following:
Resistance band hamstring curls
Resistance band knee extensions
Heel touchdowns
Step downs
Single-leg balances
Terminal knee extensions with a band are an effective way to directly target the quads. This exercise helps restore knee and quadricep mechanics to improve activities of daily living. This leads to less chance of a patellar tracking disorder that influences the hip, leg, and foot kinematics. Runner’s knee develops from issues in the feet or from improper patella tracking.
Foam rolling all surrounding muscles such as the calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, iliotibial band, and tensor fasciae latae is important in parallel to the exercises.
When people experience knee injuries, they almost always have weak or inactive glute muscles. This can cause hamstrings and hip flexors to tighten, which need daily stretching. Performing corrective exercises like side lying clam shells or hip abduction are great ways to help strengthen the glutes. This helps to keep the knees from bearing any extra forces they cannot tolerate.
A Professional with a background in Corrective Exercise can be extremely helpful!
Reference:
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