Whether you are a runner or a daily walker, knee flexibility, and coordination remain crucial to living a healthy, active life. We all know knee pain is a common problem. As one of the most critical and essential joints in the human body, keeping it works is the most important. Doing keen stretches can help relieve the pain, loosen the muscles well, and reduce the joints’ pressure.
There can be many factors that cause knee pain. We’ll be discussing more of that down below. Still, for sure, the primary reason this becomes a health problem is that most people don’t exactly know how to take care of their knees properly and how to do knee stretches for pain relief.
Knee stretches are simple exercises that many people tend to skip, but We shouldn’t cut it out of your workout routine.
Well, In this article, we’ll tell you what causes knee pain and take you through some of the most effective exercises to help you strengthen and relieve knee pain.
Identifying Growing Pains: When to Start Raising Concern?
When your knees hurt, it’s evident that there is something wrong with it. However, a slight ache or pain on the knee is often neglected and brushed off more times than people even realize because, more often than not, they assume that it will get better on its own.
Look, some symptoms can be worse than others. You need to identify them right away for you to bring immediate medical attention to it. Here are signs of a knee injury to look out for:
- Swollen Knees
- Jolting pain when you straighten, bend and put pressure on your knee
- Knee buckling or instability
- Crunching or popping noises
- Difficulty in moving the knee
What are the Common Causes of Knee Pain?
The majority of knee problems, such as pain, aches, and swollenness, are usually due to the continuous wear and tear on the knee joints. This exact stress to the ligaments, tendons, and surrounding muscles of your knees can lead to knee injuries, which are debilitating and troublesome to many people. These can also be considered “non-contact” injuries and are often the outcome of improper habitual movement patterns.
Aging can also be a factor and athletic or contact-based injuries such as trauma to the knee. But to lay it all down, here are the most common causes of knee pain:
Arthritis
Also referred to as an inflammation of the joints is one of the most common causes of knee pain that worsens with age, including the joints’ swelling and tenderness. Two of its most common types are:
Rheumatoid arthritis. It causes the joints of the knees to be inflamed and destroys knee cartilage. This type of arthritis, more often than not, affects people at an early age. And
Osteoarthritis. It is also known to be the most common type of arthritis that debilitates the knee. It gradually wears the cartilage away with age and typically affects middle-aged to older people. It is mostly caused by heavy stress on the joints. Obesity and being overweight are usually susceptible to this.
Torn cartilage
Torn cartilage often occurs in sprains or other severe trauma that may require a person to wear a brace to prevent the knee from succumbing to further injury.
Sprained or strained knee ligaments and muscles
are among the most common forms and causes of a knee injury. Sprains from knee muscles or ligaments include pain and swelling.
Tendonitis
It’s typically caused by excessive strain or overuse of the tendon from typical activities that involve blunt force such as jumping, sprinting, and even cycling. It causes the tendons to get badly inflamed.
Muscle Tightness
As your body develops, the bones grow faster than the muscles, making it more challenging to stretch. Muscle tightness is usually caused by over-exercising, poor posture, improper habitual movement patterns, and even extended periods of inactivity that can cause strain.
Such tightening affects both the hamstrings and quadriceps muscles, which causes significant pressure on your kneecaps. This exact pressure makes the kneecap rub on the joint beneath it, which can all in all contribute to knee pain.
Anterior Knee Pain: Can Tight Hamstrings Cause Knee Pain?
The hamstring muscles are located at the back of the thigh. Typically, hamstrings help the knee bend, and tightness in the area can cause hamstring tendonitis, making simple activities such as walking or even bending very painful to the knees. Usually, runners or athletes are the most vulnerable to experiencing such tightness to the hamstring tendons or muscles due to the excessive and prolonged activity done on their legs and knees.
Benefits of doing Knee Stretches
Why is Stretching Important for the Knees?
Sure, doing knee stretching exercises is an essential factor most people tend to miss or skip, even if they aren’t experiencing knee pain. Stretching is the best way to how to loosen tight tendons. Adding knee stretches to your workout exercises can not only alleviate those aches and ease the tension on your lower extremities. It can prevent your knees from suffering further injury or other debilitating conditions such as arthritis and tendonitis in the future.
Including knee exercises in your daily routine can help improve flexibility, and even strengthen certain areas such as your anterior muscles and calves can prevent pressure on the joints or any strain on your knees to let you live a comfortable and active lifestyle.
However, it is essential to keep in mind to execute the right type of stretches to prevent further injury or pain on your knees. Sometimes, a simple exercise such as quad stretches hurts knees if done incorrectly.
From anterior knee pain exercises to simple and easy knee stretches, we will be giving you 10 of the best and safest stretches you can do at your own home:
10 Best Knee Stretches for Knee Pain Relief
1.Straight Leg Stretch – Targets the hamstrings and anterior muscles of your legs.
How to Do it:
- Lie down on your back and keep your legs straight
- Proceed to bend your one leg while keeping your foot flat on the floor.
- Raise and extend your other leg up as high as possible until you feel the stretch in your hamstrings.
- Hold it up for preferably 30 seconds or as long as you are comfortable with it.
- Put your leg down and proceed to repeat the process on the other leg.
2.Heel and Calf Stretch – Targets the lower leg and calf muscles.
How to Do it:
- Stand against a wall and proceed to place both of your hands against it.
- Move your one foot back as far as you can with your heels firmly flat on the floor.
- Bend your knee slightly until you feel a stretch on your back legs.
- Hold that position and lean into it for about 30 seconds.
- Change legs, then repeat the process twice for both legs.
3.Side Lunges – Targets the adductors, inner thigh muscles that can help stabilize your hips.
How to Do it:
- Extend one leg to the side into a lunge.
- Bend the exact leg’s knee while keeping the opposite leg straight.
- For support and balance, place your fingertips on the floor in front of you should you feel the need to.
- Hold your form for about 30 seconds to a minute.
- Switch sides and then repeat the process.
4.Lunging Hip Flexor Stretch – Targets the hips’ tightness to prevent over-reliance on the quad muscles that put pressure on the knees.
How to Do it:
- Kneel carefully on one knee.
- Place your other leg in front of you, foot flat with the front of your thighs parallel to the floor.
- Stretch your hips towards the floor by leaning forward.
- Squeeze your butt muscles tight to stretch your hip flexor more.
- If you want a deeper stretch, proceed to reach an arm up from the knee’s similar side on the floor.
- Hold that position for 30 seconds or a full minute.
- Switch sides and then repeat the process.
5.Quad Stretch – Targets the Quad muscles and relieves muscle tightness.
How to Do it:
- Lie down on one side.
- While keeping the bottom leg as straight as possible, bend your top knee until your foot is near your butt.
- Hold the top foot with your hand and pull it slowly towards your butt.
- Remember to keep your hips stable to prevent yourself from going out of balance as you draw.
- Hold that form for 30 seconds up to a minute.
- Switch sides and repeat the process.
6.Standing Quad Stretch – Targets the Quad muscles to ease muscle tightness and improve balance.
How to Do it:
- Stand up straight with your feet a hips’ width apart.
- Grab your one ankle, and proceed to raise it towards your butt carefully.
- Raise your hand that is on the opposite side up towards the ceiling (this is optional).
- Hold this form for about 30 seconds up to a full minute until you feel the stretch in the quad muscle of your raised leg.
- Switch sides and repeat the process.
7.Figure Four Stretch – Targets the glutes to relieve tension and tightness on the legs’ back muscles.
How to Do it:
- Lie down on your back.
- Proceed to cross your left foot over the right quad and bend your right knee.
- Hold this position for about 30 seconds to a full minute until you feel the stretch.
- Switch sides and repeat the process.
8.Butterfly Stretch – Targets the inner thigh muscles to relieve tension and muscle tightness.
How to Do it:
- Sit on the ground while keeping both your torso and head up high.
- Proceed to move the soles of your feet together until your legs form a triangle position.
- Carefully drop your knees to the sides as far as you can.
- You can assist the process with your arms to push your knees down into a stretch.
- Lean forward with your torso and head aligned as possible.
- Hold this position for about 30 seconds until you can feel the stretch in your inner thighs.
9.Hamstring Stretch – Targets the hamstrings, calves, and the muscles at the back of your thigh.
How to Do it:
- Lie down on the ground with your body and legs straight. (Bending both of your knees with your feet flat on the floor is also optional.)
- As you lift one leg from the floor, anchor both of your hands at the back of the thighs.
- Gently pull your knee towards your chest until you feel a stretch.
- Hold that form for up to 30 seconds.
- Switch legs and then repeat the process.
10.Standing Hamstring Stretch – Targets the hamstrings to help relieve tension and muscle tightness.
How to Do it:
- Stand straight with your left foot and place your right foot in front of you, with your heel on the floor and toes up.
- Move your hips forward and proceed to bend your left knee as you settle into a half sit.
- Keep your right leg as straight as possible as you put your weight at the edge of its heel.
- Maintain this position for about 30 to a full minute until you feel the stretch of your hamstrings on your straightened leg.
- Switch sides and repeat the process.
The Bottom Line
Regular stretching helps keep our muscles lean, long, and flexible; it would help maintain a range of motions in our joints and prevent and alleviate muscle tightness that puts your joints, specifically on your knees, at risk.
Should you exercise with knee pain? Please never do, If you ever feel the slightest discomfort in your knees, don’t hesitate to seek advice from a medical professional.
Take care of your knees. Taking measures such as adding knee stretches to our daily routine is necessary to live a free and comfortable life.
