One of the questions that people have for me and commonly come in with is knee pain. Knee pain is one of the most chronic health conditions in America. It’s one of the biggest reasons why people stop being active.

We certainly want to get to the cause of the issue and we don’t want to be treating the condition with over the counter pain medications like ibuprofen or Advil or Tylenol. We certainly don’t want to be getting knee replacements, knee surgery, or knee injections that don’t really work a lot of times or use really strong painkillers. Most importantly we don’t want to lose the things that we love and quality of life.

How to Reduce Knee Pain Naturally

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Getting to the Source of Knee Pain

The first thing with knowing exactly what’s going on is you want to get to the source. As a corrective chiropractor one of the most common causes of knee pain is subluxation of the pelvis and lower back.

Most people don’t know this but the nerves in your lower back actually go down into your legs, knees and feet and they regulate function oxygen blood flow, and the nerve supply to this area.

If your pelvis is tilted or out of balance in any way it’s actually changing the biomechanics of your lower extremity. It’s gonna put more stress on the hip, on the knee, on the foot, and can even lead to degeneration and injuries over time.

So the first thing you wanna look at to get to the primary cause is to make sure your pelvis, your spine, and your nervous system is being checked by a corrective care chiropractor. This means you will have exams and x rays, and a plan to actually resolve the issue.

Exercises and Stretches for Knee Pain

If you’re already under regular chiropractic care and these things are being addressed and you’re still having knee problems, there may be a primary knee issue. The exercises and stretches I’m gonna show you today can also be used preventatively to prevent any problems, especially if you’re active with walking, running, regular exercise, or sports, to prevent injury, recover faster and perform at a higher level.

Lying Leg Lifts

This exercise is specifically designed to strengthen the quad muscles that help support what’s going on here in the knee.

• Lie on your back.
• slowly lift your leg up all the way and hold to a count of five.
• slowly lower and do the same thing to the other side.
• The key here is that you’re really contracting this muscle in your leg, not just lifting your leg. You’re also extending your leg right here through this quad muscle so you should feel it through here.
• Hold for five seconds and come right back down.
• Start with doing one set of four.

Hamstring Stretch

The purpose of this is to stretch  your hamstrings which attaches to the back of the knee. If you have consistent tight hamstrings, especially if you sit a lot or you do any type of sedentary work, you’re gonna get tight hamstrings.

• So when you do this we’re gonna do it on both sides.
• You wanna bend your knee and put your hands behind your knee here and once you’re here you extend your leg as high as you can.
• As you extend you wanna pull back as much as you can until you feel real good stretch.
• Hold this for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Repeat on other side.

Half Squat

• This is designed to strengthen your quads, your hips and your glutes. All these have an effect on what goes on with your knees.
• From a standing position put your hands straight out in front of you
• Come to a half squat, like you’re getting ready to sit in a chair.
• Hold that for five seconds and slowly come back up.
• If your balance isn’t good enough to be able to do that, you can grab a chair.
• The key is making sure that your back is straight, your chest is up, and you want to fill it through your quads and glutes.
• Work up to 10 repetitions. Ideally doing three sets of these 10 repetitions to really strengthen your hips and glutes and better support the function of your knees.

One Leg Half Squat

This more is a more advanced move than the half squat. This one, you’re gonna do a one leg half squat. So now you definitely want to have a chair or something to balance!

• Lift one leg about 6 to 12 inches off the ground.
• With the other leg dip down until you get into about that half squat.
• Keep your chest up and your back straight.
• Hold this for that same five seconds and then come back up.
• Repeat on the other side.
• Do 3-4 repetitions on each leg and try to work up to three sets.

Single Leg Bridge

The last leg stretch will be done sitting on the floor legs straight out in front of you, chest up, back straight and hands to the side to help stabilize you.

• Bring one leg in as far as you can until you feel a good stretch and then create a slight bridge hold for five seconds, then drop back down.
• Go back down and repeat on the other side.
• Work up to 10 repetitions on each side.

With all of these exercises, if it’s too painful to do or causes more pain, you don’t want to do it. Do all of these to tolerance only. If you notice that even with these exercises it’s still getting worse, you want to make sure that you are getting evaluated by a primary care doctor such as a chiropractor, your medical doctor, or an orthopedist, to determine if there is any actual structural or ligament damage.

Want More Educational Videos Like This?

If you want to learn more about how you can get to the cause of your pain, stress issues and your health problems and find a natural drug free solution check us out online or call the office. We have hundreds of videos on our Youtube channel that you can look at and there’s all kinds of other resources that we post to other social media channels to help you live a healthier life, naturally.

Have you had the opportunity to join us at one of our community education events yet? During the community education events, Dr. Tim sifts through all of the knowledge out there to bring you key information about how to get healthy and stay that way and shares answers to frequently asked questions on chiropractic care and healthy eating. Contact our office to learn about upcoming classes. Enjoy the clips of previous events here.