Knee pain relief treatment with 6 physical therapy exercises

Your thigh and your shin form your knee. Cartilage covers both bones. Because your thigh bone is round and your shin bone is flat, they don’t fit together very well. That is why there lay 2 meniscuses on your shin. These ensure that the bones fit together well and your knee is stable.

For further stability, your knee has an anterior and posterior cruciate ligament inside the knee. There are also 2 knee ligaments on the inside and outside of the knee that provide further stability.

The kneecap lays on your thigh bone. The kneecap ensures that the forces of your thigh muscles are transferred to your lower leg, and you can move your knee. Your thigh muscles provide strength and also a lot of stability for your knee.

The joint capsule surrounds the bones in your knee. It is a rigid structure that provides further strength to your knee.

The cause of knee pain lies in damage or overload of one of these structures. The damage can be caused by falling or twisting your knee. Twisting your knee puts extra force on the meniscus, cartilage, and ligaments. These can tear, causing pain and instability.

Contrary to what many people think, running is not a cause of knee pain. Runners have no more or less knee pain than non-runners. A runner’s knee is the only knee pain type in which running can bet he cause.

Based on the cause of your knee pain, I will now describe the symptoms so that you can recognize them yourself and treat them appropriately for quick pain relief.

Based on the location of the knee pain and the associated symptoms, the cause of the knee pain is often easy to trace. I am now going to discuss the possible causes of your knee pain per location.

Pain on the inside of the knee

Pain on the inside of the knee is the most common form of knee pain. It can result from damage to the meniscus or strain of a knee ligament, the medial collateral ligament. Degeneration of the knee also causes pain on the inside of the knee.

A torn meniscus gives pain when turning and fully extending the knee. Walking and climbing stairs is often painful, but cycling is less sensitive.

Degeneration of the knee often causes problems when standing up and taking the first steps. The knee feels stiff and can be a bit thick and warm. The knee often cracks a bit more. Cycling is fine, but walking is painful and limited. Bending the knee is also painful and restricted.

With a strained inner knee ligament, the knee is painful when fully flexed, and the knee feels unstable.

The final inner knee pain cause is a tight adductor muscle or groin muscle. The adductor muscles run from your groin to the medial side of your knee. They can therefore cause both groin pain and inner knee pain.

Pain on the outside of the knee

The cause of pain on the outside of the knee is usually the tendon plate that runs from the thigh to the knee. It is caused by running and is also most commonly felt during running. The tendon plate is too stiff and rubs against the bone point on your thigh. At rest, you have no pain, but the pain increases as soon as you start moving. Therefore we call this type of knee pain a runners knee.

A meniscus injury or outer knee ligament can also cause pain on the outside of the knee, but this is rare.

Pain around the kneecap

Pain around the kneecap is called patellofemoral pain syndrome. The pain is often vague and nagging and cannot be identified in one place. Sometimes the pain is felt behind the kneecap. The knee feels weak, and the pain increases with load.

Read all about patellofemoral pain syndrome here.

The patellar tendon attaches to the underside of the kneecap. The patellar tendon runs from your kneecap to the protruding point on your shin bone. The tendon transfers the forces from your thigh muscles to your lower leg. When this tendon becomes overloaded, it irritates directly at the bottom of your kneecap. The pain is primarily felt when climbing stairs and jumping. It is therefore also called a jumper’s knee.

Pain in the back of your knee

Overuse of the knee causes knee pain. When your thigh muscles are too weak, and your knee becomes overloaded, this can result in pain in the back of your knee. The muscles in the back of the knee try to take over the load, causing them to become overloaded. It makes them stiff and can cause pain.

A strain of your anterior cruciate ligament can also cause pain in the back of your knee. Due to the cruciate ligament strain, the stability of the knee decreases. As a result, he overloads faster when standing and walking for a long time. It causes a nagging pain in the knee and pain in the back of the knee because your calf muscles start to compensate and become stiff. Stretching your knee is often painful.

Other possible causes of knee pain are wear and tear, hamstring complaints, and calf complaints. Your hamstring and calf run over the back of your knee. When these muscles are stiff, this also causes pain in the back of your knee.

Exercises can treat all forms of knee pain well with exercises. By making the knee, hip, and thigh stronger and more stable, you reduce the load on the affected structures. It will reduce your knee pain.

The treatment of patellofemoral pain syndrome is slightly different from the treatment of other forms of knee pain. For this treatment, it is best to go to the particular page about patellofemoral pain syndrome.

All other causes of knee pain can be treated with the following 6 physiotherapy exercises. For each exercise, I describe what you train with it, how to perform it, and which causes of knee pain are good.

If an exercise causes more knee pain, it is better not to perform it (yet).

In addition, you can wear a brace for knee osteoarthritis and meniscus complaints to reduce the load on the knee and to promote the recovery process. Furthermore, cycling on an exercise bike helps to keep your knee flexible and strong against knee complaints.

You can also reduce knee pain in the back of your knees by massaging the back of the knee. By massaging the stiff muscles in the back of your knee, the pain here will quickly decrease.

I am now going to discuss the 6 knee pain exercises.

The purpose of the first exercise is to strengthen your thigh muscles. By strengthening your leg muscles, the load on your knee joint decreases. It will reduce your knee pain. The exercise works for any knee pain, and you can do it right away.

The exercises go like this:

• Lie on your back
• Pull your toes towards you and straighten your knee
• Lift your leg
• Repeat this 10 times
• Do the same with the other leg
• Do this 3 times in a row

You can also find the execution of the exercise in this video.

You will notice that the exercise with your sore knee is harder than with your other leg. The strength of the leg muscles decreases as soon as you develop knee pain. That is because you put less stress on your knee as a result of the pain. When you have done the exercise several times, you will notice that the difference quickly disappears.

At this point, you can increase the number of repetitions to 15 or 20, and you can optionally use an ankle weight to make the exercise even harder.

The second knee pain exercise aims at improving the mobility of your knee. Bending the knee is often painful and limited in the case of pain in the back of the knee, meniscus complaints, and knee osteoarthritis.

That is because the joint capsule enclosing the bones and giving the joint strength has become too stiff.

By stretching the haircut and improving the bending of your knee, your knee will become more flexible, and the pain will decrease.

The exercise goes like this:

• Sit on a chair
• Place your healthy leg in front of your painful leg
• Now push your painful leg back with your healthy leg
• Hold this for 10 seconds
• Repeat this 10 times

You can also find the execution of the exercise in this video.

Repeat this exercise three times a day. As you have done the exercise more often, you will notice that your knee becomes more flexible.

The third knee pain exercise aims at improving the stability of your knee. Your meniscus, knee ligaments, and cruciate ligaments provide the stability of your knee joint. When one of these structures becomes damaged, the stability in your knee decreases. It can make it feel wobbly or make you sink through it. It also overloads the knee joint.

By training the stability of your knee, you ensure that your thigh muscles work better together to guarantee the stability of your knee. Your muscles take over the function of your knee ligaments. This increases stability and decreases knee pain.

This exercise is suitable for all types of knee pain but also ankle complaints.

The exercise goes like this:

• Stand on 1 leg (your sore leg)
• Bend your knee a little bit
• Continue to stand upright
• Hold this for 30 seconds\
• Repeat this 10 times

You can also find the execution of the exercise in this video.

If the exercise becomes too easy, you can do it with your eyes closed. You can even use a balance cushion to make the exercise even harder.

The second exercise focuses on strengthening your hip muscles. Strong glutes and hip muscles ensure that your hip is better positioned above your knee, putting less stress on your knee.

This exercise works for any knee pain, and it is also an excellent exercise for hip pain.

The exercise goes like this:

• Lie on your healthy side with both legs stretched out
• Pull your toes towards you
• Now lift your leg sideways to about 45 degrees
• Repeat this 10 times
• Now turn around and do the same for the other side
• Do this 3 times

You can find the execution of the exercise in this video.

In the beginning, the exercise will be challenging, but later you will notice that the exercise becomes more manageable. You can now try to increase the number of repetitions to 15 repetitions.

The fifth knee pain exercise aims at strengthening your thigh muscles. This exercise is a lot heavier and more taxing on your knee than the first exercise. Therefore, do not start with this exercise until your knee pain has already subsided and the other exercises are going well.

The exercise goes like this:

• Put your left leg in front of your right leg with your knee bent 90 degrees
• Bend your other knee slightly too
• Now bring your bodyweight straight down until your back knee almost touches the floor
• Make sure your front knee stays in place and doesn’t move forward
• Now come back up slowly
• Repeat this 10 times
• Do the same for the other leg
• Do this a total of 3 times per leg

You can also see the execution of the exercise in this photo.

Repeat the exercise 2 times a day and try to build up the number of repetitions slowly.

The last knee pain exercise aims at strengthening the leg muscles. In addition, with squats, you also include your glutes and back muscles.

This exercise is also very taxing on your knees, and you should only do it when your knee pain is improving.

The exercise goes like this:

• Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart
• Stretch your arms forward
• Bend your knees and bring your buttocks back as if you were sitting on a chair
• Repeat this 10 times
• Do this 3 times

You can also find the execution of the exercise in the photo.

When the exercise becomes more manageable, you can increase the number of repetitions to 15-20 and eventually start doing it with weight.