Whether you’re an athlete looking to protect your knees or you just want to continue to navigate the New York City streets with ease, any steps you take to improve the health of your knees are great steps.
Over the past two-plus decades, the prevalence of knee pain has skyrocketed by 65% and now affects one-quarter of the adult population in the United States.
At our practice, we’ve certainly had a front row seat to the increase in knee issues, which is why Dr. William Schell and our team want to focus on prevention. As much as we enjoy seeing our patients, we prefer that you minimize the opportunity for knee pain to strike, and the following strategies will go a long way toward that goal.
Your knees are large joints where three bones come together — your femur, tibia, and kneecap — and these bones are supported and connected by ligaments, cartilage, and tendons. One of the best practices for healthy knees is to support these tissues with strong muscles.
Your thighs contain some potentially strong muscle groups, namely your quadriceps in the front and your hamstrings in the back. Exercises that target and strengthen these two muscle groups can not only improve function and balance, they can also prevent knee injuries.
To get started on knee strengthening, click here.
On a global scale, osteoarthritis (OA) affects 528 million people, and the knees are the most common joints to succumb to the disease. OA is associated with wear and tear, and much of it comes from carrying extra pounds, which can wear down these joints more quickly.
Unfortunately, the obesity problem in the United States has turned the corner into a crisis and new research suggests that, by 2050, nearly 260 million Americans will have obesity.
We want to see you go in the other direction and make weight loss a top priority if you’re struggling with your weight. Your knees, and your overall health, will thank you.
Any sport with jumping can really wear down your knees. While we’re not suggesting that you give up your day on the courts, it’s always a good idea to balance these activities out with ones that don’t place so much stress on your knees. For example, swimming and cycling are great alternatives that give your knees a much-needed break while you still get aerobic exercise.
It’s really important to give your knees the right support if you’re active or if the joints are starting to wear down. This support often starts with your feet — good orthotics can help balance your feet and align your knees, for example. We also want you to make sure you’re wearing shoes that support your feet and allow them enough room to spread out.
Moving up to your knees, if you’re having issues, we can outfit you with a brace for additional support.
This last tip is important — come see us sooner rather than later if you’re experiencing knee pain or other symptoms. It’s not uncommon for us to see patients who allowed a small tear in their ligament or meniscus to turn into a larger one because they ignored the issue.
We want to catch any knee problem in the earliest stage possible, because early intervention can get you back to healthy knees much faster and easier than letting a knee issue progress.
If you’d like to learn more about protecting your knees or you have a knee issue you’d like us to check out, please contact our New York City office, which is located on Columbus Circle on the Upper West Side.
