A fair amount of individuals go through most of their life not having any sort of physical ailments. At some point though, a person will experience an ailment that will become dibilitating. As we get older it doesn’t take a whole lot to throw out your back or to start having knee pain. These sort of issues can arise doing simple tasks like getting out of a chair or grabbing a pair of socks on the floor.
What most individuals do not realize is that most injuries are a build up of life, exercise, stress, and sleep. Usually unless it’s a direct contact injury, there are other issues going on in the body that people are unaware of. Many individuals do not know how messed up their body is unless there are doing something physical that puts them down and out for a few days. Knee discomfort or pain happens fairly often and can really put a damper on your mobility. Here are some things to try before you decide to go under the knife to fix the problem.
Steps to try before surgery:
- If you are not active on a regular basis, you might want to try walking and see if that loosens up the discomfort in your knee. When you are done walking try incorporating some light static stretching and take notice to areas that might limit your mobility like your hamstrings.
- A person who is fairly active may already have done things like walking and stretching, so another suggestion would be to try to foam roll the areas surrounding the knee joint. There are many various types of foam roller, I happen to prefer the Extra Firm Rumble Roller that has hard nodules on it. This helps target areas that might be tight and painful and helps to loosen up those problem areas.
- If you have tried the first two steps with no success, my next suggestion would be to try a deep tissue massage. The daily stresses that occur in life may have caused various areas in your body to tighten up and a good massage usually does the trick.
- If steps 1 through 3 have been done and still you are having issues, you might want the help of a good physical therapist. A good therapist will look at your biomechanics and be able to assess if they can help you or if you might require surgery. If the first thing they suggest is a shot to your knee, please get up and leave their office immediately. Injections are not a cure and are only a temporary bandaid to the problem.
These suggestions are meant to be tried before running to your family doctor, as a lot of times you can avoid the office visit. If you have exhausted all possibilities and the knee has not gotten any better, than you should schedule a visit with your primary physician to discuss other solutions. If you are experiencing pain in the knee or around the knee consider calling Xcellerated Speed Training for some help, as we have encountered these types of issues on a regular basis.