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Knee pain is an issue that effects everybody during some point in their lives.  Athletes, Dancers, runners, to those that consider a walk in the park their weekly exercise routine; knees bear a significant amount of force, and consequently become injured more often than other body parts.

Contrary to popular belief, hours in the gym lifting heavy weights and and gaining muscle through rigorous weight training isn’t always good for your joints.  What’s best?  Natural, body-weight training.  Gravity is all we need to maintain a strenuous workout that is safe, effective and injury-free.

If it’s your knee that is bothering you, should the pain not improve after R.I.C.E. over a 2 to 4 week period, a doctor’s visit is a wise idea.  The trouble with joint injuries is this: without proper attention from the first sign of discomfort or pain, it can progress to something much worse, if not permanent.  For instance, somebody with a mild tear in the meniscus (the 2 medial and lateral cushions between the femur and tibia in the knee joint) could continue weight bearing exercises for years until it progresses to a serious tear.  This in turn causes the cartilage within your knee joint to rub together which leads to early onset arthritis or chondromalacia.

Overtraining or fatigue can often result in that one split second where you’re either doing a traditional squat or lifting a box while moving, just to find yourself in pain afterwards.  Pulled muscles and joint pain either occur immediately after blunt force trauma, or over time.  The latter is often what happens to serious athletes (myself), dancers, or runners.  Joints are utilized continually throughout each day.  Injury usually occurs when you neglect to think about just how much force is continually placed on your joints.  In this sense, joint health is very much a mind over matter issue.

Some key points to keep in mind when taking care of your knees include:

• avoid crossing your legs when sitting and sit with a straight back while legs are 90 degrees on the floor in front of you.
• While driving, keep legs elevated above the waist (most cars are designed with this ergonomic feature included).
• when exercising, don’t let knees surpass toes

It’s one of those things where you don’t realize what you have until one day the accumulative wear and tear of athletic or everyday activity causes a tear that takes a good 3 to 9 months to resolve.  Stay active, but be smart and take care of your joints.

Ciao,

Nattapon Jontom Abbett

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