Sore Knee

The knee is that part, which joins the thighs to our legs. It is made up of four bones, connected by various muscles and ligaments. It is the largest and the most complicated joint in our body. When we stand, walk, or run, our knee bears our weight.

Thus, it becomes the most important joint in our body. When we experience pain due to any external or internal reason, we have a sore knee. In other words, we face knee pain due to numerous reasons like obesity, arthritis, ligament injury, tendon injury, sports injury, etc.

Here are some simple and useful tips to get rid of this problem:

• Activity Reduction - Stop the activity that is causing the pain. Place a pillow below your knee, and give it adequate rest.
• Ice Pack - Apply an ice pack to the knee, several times a day. Ice will definitely help in reducing the soreness. If you have a sprained knee, ice will work wonders for you.

Knee Wrap - Use a knee wrap around your knee. It will provide the necessary compression and support, and protect it from getting hurt further.

• Elevation - Keep your leg at an elevation to reduce the swelling.
• Slow Pace - Increase your activities slowly so that you do not put any pressure on your knee, once it has recovered.

• Footwear - If you are a sports person, replace your shoes often so that you do not hurt your knee due to improper shoes.
• Protection - As mentioned above, you will have to use a compression knee wrap. But if your knee injury is severe, you might need braces, or even crutches, in order to stabilize your knee-joint.

Some reasons may be minor and can be taken care of at home by exercising. Given below are some exercises, which may provide you some relief if your pain is minor. Begin with five repetitions of each, and gradually, increase them to 15 over a few weeks.

• Leg Stretch: Keeping one leg on the ground, stretch the other leg, keeping it straight, on a chair. Bend from your hips, and hold the position for 30 seconds. This is a good exercise for your hamstrings.

• Leg Bend: Stand with your left leg behind and your right leg in front of you. Bend your right knee, keeping your left knee and back straight. Hold this position till you find a gentle pull in the left calf muscles. Repeat with the right calf.

• Leg Pull: Lying on your stomach, position your left foot on the heel of your right foot. Pull your right heel towards your hips, and at the same time, resist this with your left leg. Hold for about 10-15 seconds and repeat.

• Leg Lift: Lie on your back with both the legs straight in front of you. Bend your left knee at 90 degrees, and keep your right leg flat on the ground. Lift the right leg till it is at the same height as the left knee. Hold for 5 seconds and repeat.

• Leg Tilt: With your back and legs straight on the floor, lift your foot straight in the air at about 30 degrees. After holding it for 5 seconds, slowly lower it while bending your knee. Repeat this exercise to strengthen your quad muscles.

Sometimes, due to some major reasons, a surgery or knee replacement becomes unavoidable. Knee rehabilitation exercises form a crucial part in faster recovery process after the surgery. Rehab process helps to strengthen the weak knee after the operation.

They are also done so that the knee-joint does not need to take a lot of load on it. Following are some rehab exercises for knee injury.

• Stretching - It is necessary that you stretch your leg muscles for faster recovery. Don't keep them cramped and stiff.

• Exercising - It is vital that all the muscles around the knees like the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles are exercised properly. 

• Hip Stabilizers - If the glutes are weak, they also lead to this problem. Hence, it is necessary that you exercise the muscles around the hips. Physical therapists also suggest strengthening the hip muscles during rehab, after any surgery.

• Muscle Strengthening - Rehab patients need to increase the endurance of their muscles by doing certain low impact cardiovascular exercises like swimming.

It's beneficial to do these exercises after surgery in order to recover faster and better than before. If you are suffering from sore knee, exercise to remove the stiffness in it.

If you have undergone surgery, you will need to plan your rehab after talking to your therapist. Don't ignore the injury, as it may later become risky and unbearable.

Disclaimer: This Story is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.