How to improve knee pain without surgery
Research shows that the best treatments for most knee issues are physical activity, exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.
Exercise & activity
There is strong evidence that focused exercises to strengthen the muscles of your knee, hip and core improves pain and function, keeping your joints healthy for longer. See here for some specific exercises to try
Consider seeing a physiotherapist for specific guidance about strengthening exercises. For mild-to-severe hip or knee arthritis, you may consider attending the GLA:D Canada program.
In addition to focused strengthening, it is important to keep active, even if you need to modify your usual activities. If you need to adjust your level of activity, try:
- Splitting your usual activity into smaller chunks that you do more often throughout the day. For example, you might break your usual 30-minute walk into a ten-minute walk, three times a day.
- Finding lower-impact activities instead of your usual high-impact activities. For example, you might try ‘Nordic walking’ or cycling instead of running.
Safe ways to stay active when you have knee issues:
- Try to walk more, not less. To improve knee pain, aim for 3,000 steps a day and work up to 6,000 or more.
- Walking poles can decrease the strain and load on the lower body and improve the way you walk. View this video on ‘Nordic Walking’
- Biking and water-based exercises put less load on your joints. Aim for 30 minutes most days, at a moderate-to-vigorous level for best health gains (sweat a little). Exercise in 10-minute chunks is just as good.
- Mind-body exercises such as Tai Chi and Yoga have been shown to reduce falls and improve pain, function, depression, and quality of life.
TIP: If you’re getting back to your usual activities after a flare-up, it’s important to progress the time or distance gradually.
Body weight makes a difference to knee pain!
Being overweight puts added stress on weight-bearing joints like your knees. Research shows that maintaining a healthy weight helps takes pressure off your leg joints and can lower your osteoarthritis risk. If you are overweight, a weight loss of five-to-ten per cent can reduce joint pain. Keeping a food journal can help.
