Will Walking Make My Knee Pain Worse?- Knee Pain Advice

Will Walking Make My Knee Pain Worse?

Last month I had a client come into me that had been suffering with knee pain. He noticed the knee pain nearly a year ago whilst walking down the stairs. However he thought that it would be ok and the pain would subside after a few days.

Unfortunately the pain didn’t ease and he noticed the pain every time he went up and down the stairs and when walking up hills. He decided to get it checked out by his local GP, who advised him to rest and take some pain killers to help ease the pain.

REST

Unfortunately REST can be misinterpreted!!!

Does it mean sit in all day until you feel the pain ease?

Or should you avoid all activities or just the ones that cause you discomfort?

How long should you wait to return to activity and how will you know?

Being told to rest and take pain medication is the most common advice I hear given to my client before they come to see me. The problem is that this advice is too general and won’t get to the cause of your knee pain problem.

MOVE

The reality is that the best advice I could give someone with knee pain is- to keep moving their knee (as long as it’s not a serious injury). The best activity you could do is to walk, as it is safe and causes minimal stress on the knee. This may feel contradictory if you are currently suffering with knee pain and fearful of injuring it further.

Use It or Lose It

The problem is if you avoid movement at the knee it can increase joint stiffness and inflammation- which could make your knee pain even worse. If you have had a serious knee injury that has actually caused damage to your knee then you may need to seek specialist advice. But if you are experiencing daily niggling knee pain then the follow advice may help you on the road to recovery, without making it worse.

Check Your Shoes

Sometimes your favourite shoes may have seen better days or do not provide enough comfort and support anymore. If you are active make sure to get measured for your shoes, as our feet can change as we age. When you are searching for the right shoe the most important thing is not price or brands but comfort and support. Cushioned shoes can be useful to help absorb forces when exercising. Lastly some people may benefit from orthotics for further support and change how the foot moves inside the shoe.

Exercise

Make sure to do a warm up before going for your full paced walk. Follow that up with a stretch of the thigh and calf muscles. Always start your walk at a slow pace and build it up to your normal pace. Try to walk at time of the day when your knee feels less painful. Begin with short walks near your house and build up the distance a little each time (no more 10% increase in distance). Download a step measuring app on your phone to help you measure your distance. Do not start with long 30 minute walks, try 5-10 minutes and increase from there. Walking on the flat rather than on hilly area will also reduce stress when you begin to exercise.

Another brilliant place to begin exercise is in the pool. Exercising in the water can take the stress off our knees due to the buoyancy of the water (Up to 70% less stress on your legs!!). Do any of the following exercises in the pool can help ease your knee pain- walking, squatting calf raise, leg curls and some swimming strokes (mainly using the upper body).

To help build up the strength in your knees for walking some simple and safe exercises can help greatly. The following body weight exercise can be a brilliant place to start – squats, calf raise and glute bridges. A good number to aim for with the exercise is between 10-15 repetitions (so long as they are not painful). Flexibility exercise for the leg muscle will help keep movement and range of motion in your knee joint and reduce stress around the area.

Always make sure that you warm up before stretching and performing exercises and don’t overdo-it. It is important that you feel little to no pain when you do these movements. The good news is that our knees are made to move and bend. They are designed to help us walk, go up and down the stairs, cycle and kneel- not to stay still and rest all day!!! (Lots of people have been told to do!)

Always start slowly with light walking and strengthening exercises and build up slowly so you can do more each day.

Taking pain medication and rest is not your only solution- there are other ways to get back to living a life you enjoy again.

Download my knee pain advice booklet- https://www.bk-injuryrehab.com/knee-pain

Call for a Free phone consultation- Barry Kiernan Injury Rehabilitation on 085 1493978

Message me- https://www.bk-injuryrehab.com/contact-us

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