I was just talking to my team and we were discussing the importance of building strength to support a knee that has arthritis.
What is the impact of arthritis on your life?
This is important because osteoarthritis can become a major issue in your life. The reality is if you don’t know how best to manage this it can feel overwhelming. I want you to understand what is within your control. The goal is to maximise your independence and function around the arthritis in your knee. The impact of doing nothing can result and is not limited to the following:
- Reduced independence
- Reduced confidence in your knee
- Ongoing pain
- Reduced ability to make plans to travel,
- Reduced capacity to engage in social activities
- Increased need for medication
And I don’t want this for you.
Let’s take control of this
I want you to be enjoying this time of your life. I want you to be living with confidence, setting big goals to travel and socialise with the people that mean something to you. I want you to have a life life that is active, you are confident and enjoying a life with activities that fill up your cup with joy and happiness. Damn, you have worked too hard to not do this, am I right?
So here is what I want to share with you today:
Tip 1 – Quadriceps
You must build the strength in the primary muscle to support your knee – the quadriceps. This muscle straightens the knee and also helps to straighten your knee going up stairs and getting out of a chair or off the toilet. This is an essential muscle to get stronger as part of the holistic plan to achieve your goals.
Tip 2 – Hips
Your hip muscles are a vital platform to get strong to support your knee from above. With any movement such as walking, going up and down stairs and getting out of the chair, your body moves in unison, never in isolation. Your hips muscles are an essential part of the holistic plan to support an arthritic knee and get you the best outcome possible.
Tip 3 – Calf muscle
Your calf muscle, these can easily be overlooked. In the basic movements of walking, sitting to stand and walking up and down stairs your ankle is also particpiating. The ankle typically is moving as part of a triple extension at your ankle, knee and hip. Getting the calf strong is essential to strengthen the entire kinetic chain. This ensures that the role of doing these tasks is more evenly distributed to all three areas of your hip, knee and ankle. Thus taking pressure off the knee.
Listen, I hope this was helpful
P.S: Want to learn more about how we can help you to get the best outcome with your knee arthritis
