As many people know, you don’t have to have a knee injury to get knee pain. There are multiple causes for knee pain, some having very little to do with the knee! Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is a blanket term used to describe pain localized around the knee with no know mechanism of injury. The funny thing is that the sedentary desk worker and marathon runner may both have very similar knee pain but for very different reasons. These tips are by no means exlclusive, but they do attack many of the common reasons for knee pain
1) Do 10 repeated knee extensions for every 20 minutes of sitting. Make sure to engage (squeeze) the muscles at the front of your thigh while doing this.
2) Stretch out your ankles at least twice/day. My personal favourite is the knee to wall exercise
3) Get your Butt stronger! These are some of my favourites for beginners
4) Remember how I said do those 10 leg extensions for every 20 minutes of sitting? Well you should also get up and go for a 30 second walk for every 30 minutes of sitting! The key is to keep the knees moving. The more moving you do, the less stiff your knees will be (this also works well for those with arthritic knee conditions)
There are many reasons for knee pain and it is always best to get your condition professionally assessed to make sure nothing more serious is going on. If your knee pain persists or gets worse, pleas seek out the help of a qualified rehab professional to get a customized assessment/treatment program.
Work on these tips and you should see results soon!