FEELING GREAT: Top three ways to avoid nagging knee pain

The kind that slows you down in life, frustrates you when you walk up and down the stairs, and even stops you from doing something as simple as your weekly food shop.

And because last week I received this email from a patient of mine, I wanted to share with you the top three things to stop doing right now, that could be making your knee pain worse.

Here’s an email from Simon: “Paul, I’m sick and tired of waking up every day with a dull, nagging pain in my knee.

“I’m not sure what I’ve done but it’s always there when I wake up, and it always aches when I walk up and down the stairs. Walking down especially hurts.

“Is it something I’m doing that’s making it worse? Thanks!” – Simon, 54, Elwick.

More often than not, whether you’re dealing with annoying, nagging knee pain, or recovering from something more serious, there’s something you’re doing daily that’s making it feel even worse.

So here’s three simple things to stop doing right now, that will make a big difference to your knee pain as soon as today.

Number one, avoid sitting with your legs bent for more than 20 minutes at a time.

There’s so much ‘gossip’ that surrounds knee pain. But this is fact – you and I were not designed to sit. It goes against every basic, fundamental rule of the way we originally evolved as humans.

When you sit at a desk or in a chair with your knees bent underneath, you’re stretching ligaments and muscles and placing your knee in a position that is unnatural – and it really wasn’t supposed to be in for very long.

Limit the amount of time you sit with your knees bent, and keep them out straight for as long as possible – and keep them moving too.

Next, avoid taking it too easy, and taking too much rest. One of the most common things we’re always told to do when we have knee pain is to rest.

And of course, rest is an important part of recovery, but if we rest too much and sit around all day doing nothing, we’re only going to make the knee joint seize up, which means more pain.

Try some low-impact exercises that are easy on the knees. Swimming and cycling are great and will help you maintain safe range of movement in your knees, without them seizing up.

And if you have an exercise bike, even better. Just put your favourite programme on and pedal gently for 10 to 20 minutes.

And lastly, avoid crossing your legs.

Just like we’re not designed to sit with our knees bent for long periods of time, our knees are also not designed to twist and turn, and sitting cross-legged does just that.

In this position, your joints are twisted, your muscles are stretched and you’re vulnerable to injury.

Spending an excess of time in this position will catch up on you – in the form of unwanted noises like click, clunk and crack – and more swelling.

So there you have it, three things that you can stop doing today, to help ease your knee pain fast and stop it from getting worse.

There’s obviously so much more you can do too, but these are the fundamentals and if you apply them daily, you’ll feel a huge difference.

For more tips like this, visit my website HERE to download your copy of our FREE knee pain report.