Knee Pain Overview (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
- Knee Pain Introduction
- Anatomy of the Knee
- Home Care for Knee Pain
- When to Call the Doctor About Knee Pain
- When to Go to the Hospital for Knee Pain
- Knee Pain Diagnosis
- Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Treatment, Prognosis, and Types of Acute Knee Pain
- Other Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Treatment, Prognosis, and Types of Acute Knee Pain
- Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Treatment, Prognosis, and Types of Chronic Knee Pain
- Other Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Treatment, Prognosis, and Types of Chronic Knee Pain
- Risk Factors for Knee Pain
- Complications of Knee Pain
- Prevention of Knee Pain
- Knee Pain Overview Topic Guide
Prevention of Knee Pain
Knee pain has a host of causes. Many types of pain are difficult to prevent, but you can do some general things to reduce the likelihood of sustaining a knee injury.
Staying slim reduces the forces placed on the knee during both athletics and everyday walking and, according to some medical research, may reduce osteoarthritis.
Keeping your weight down may also reduce the number of ligament and tendon injuries for similar reasons.
Keep limber, keep fit
Many knee problems are due to tight or imbalanced musculature. Stretching and strengthening, therefore, also help to prevent knee pain.
Stretching keeps your knee from being too tight and aids in preventing both patellofemoral syndrome and iliotibial band syndrome.
Strengthening exercises particularly of the quadriceps (straight leg raises and leg extensions are two excellent exercises, but please see a book on exercise and training for more) can help prevent knee injury.
If you have chronic knee pain, consider swimming or water exercises.
In water, the force of buoyancy supports some of our weight so our knees do not have to.
If you don't have access to a pool or do not enjoy water activities, at least try to limit hard pounding and twisting activities such as basketball, tennis, or jogging.
You may find that your aching knees will act up if you play basketball or tennis every day but will not if you limit your pounding sports to twice a week.
Whatever you do, respect and listen to your body. If it hurts, change what you are doing.
If you are fatigued, consider stopping; many injuries occur when people are tired.
Protect the knee
Wearing proper protection for the activity at hand can help avoid knee injuries.
When playing volleyball or when laying carpet, protecting your knees may include knee pads.
When driving, knee protection may include wearing a seat belt to avoid the knee-versus-dashboard injuries as well as injuries to other parts of your body.
Medically reviewed by Aimee V. HachigianGould, MD; American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Bauman A. On Your Knees. Runner's World 35.5 (2000): 26.
Hart, L. Knee Pain. Woman's Day 63.17 (2001): 44.
Lally, S. End Knee Pain Forever. Men's Health 5.5 (1990): 64-67.
Levy, A.M., and M.L. Fuerst. Sports Injury Handbook: Professional Advice for Amateur Athletes. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1993.
Roberts, D.M., and T.C. Stallard. Emergency department evaluation and treatment of knee and leg injuries. Emerg Med Clin North Am 18.1 Feb 2000: 67-84, v-vi. [Medline].
Tintinalli, J.E., G.D. Kellen, and J.S. Staphczynksi. Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. McGraw-Hill; 2000.
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 10/31/2014
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