Can You Work Out With Knee Pain? | Livestrong.com
Posted by Dennis Mundt on
If you have knee pain, you may think twice about heading to the gym, but in many instances, you should not!
It may be not only acceptable to work out, but also helpful in relieving your symptoms, depending on the cause of your pain.
To make exercising with a painful knee more doable, follow these helpful tips.
Exercising with knee pain should focus on simple strengthening exercise, low-impact cardio and gentle stretches to enhance your mobility after you have gotten the all-clear from your doctor or physical therapist.
The most important goal of working out with a painful knee is to avoid increasing your symptoms, above all else.
It can not only slow your recovery by pushing through pain and doing exercises that aggravate your condition, it can worsen the condition that caused the knee pain in the first place.
If you can't exercise without pain, get in touch with your doctor.
To add to this, if your knee pain is the result of a traumatic incident, such as a fall or a car accident, before beginning an exercise routine, it is always best to have it evaluated by a doctor.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, osteoarthritis, or tear wear in the cartilage that cushions the ends of the knee bones, is one of the most common causes of knee pain.
According to the National Institutes of Health, degeneration or tearing in the meniscus is another common cause of knee pain.
Sitting between the tibia and femur in your knee, this piece of cartilage helps absorb the loads placed on the joint and distribute the force across it.
Try gentle strength exercises like the leg press or shallow wall squats instead, only bending your knees without pain as far as you can.
In and around your joint, spasms or strains in the muscles that cross your knee can lead to a reduced range of motion and pain.
Hinge forward at your hips without rounding your lower back until you feel a mild pull behind your knee.
You may experience knee pain caused by a ligament sprain following a fall or a sports injury.
Damage to these structures can lead to knee buckling or giving way, which provides support to your joint.
New York University recommends that you focus on restoring the strength in your knee muscles to provide support for the joint after the initial swelling from the injury has subsided and you are able to walk around without significant pain.
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