How to Exercise After Knee Injury or Pain: Reload’s Advice for Getting Back to Pain-Free Movement
The typical physical therapy approach has a glaring shortcoming when it comes to knee injuries.
Focusing primarily on short-term relief using tools like heat, massage, or electric stimulation may provide short-term comfort, but it overlooks the transformative potential of exercise.
Embracing exercises designed to adapt to physical stimuli can create significant shifts in recovery even from minor knee pains, without jumping the gun. Targeted exercises address underlying issues and promote proper adaptation, even in cases of minor knee pain, without rushing the process.
In this article, Dr. Marc Jacobchick explains what you need to know about exercising your knee after an injury or traumatic pain.
Beating the Fear of Pain During Exercise After Knee Injury
The sensation of pain can make us feel limited, restricting us from movements that used to be second nature. It’s not about ignoring pain, but understanding what the pain is telling you and gaining confidence to navigate it. Having an experienced physical therapist can be the key to understanding the pain.
Blindly pushing through pain is never the solution. Finding the right path toward improvement and recovery is the key.
How to Exercise Your Knee After Injury or Pain
There’s a huge amount of information on the internet. You may be tempted to surf the web for the answers you seek. The truth is that you’ll find plenty of answers, but they will all be general and not specific to your unique condition. When it comes to recovery from injury and pain, one size does not fit all.
Generic online advice might propose gentle exercises that are beneficial for many. But herein lies the danger of blanket recommendations ─ what soothes one could exacerbate pain in another. Over-reliance on such resources could even instill misbeliefs about pain, downplaying its intricacy.
The ideal strategy is to embrace a strength training regime, meticulously crafted for your individual situation and fitness goals. A qualified professional or physical therapist plays a pivotal role in this, charting out a bespoke exercise plan. This ensures that the journey to recovery is both effective and safe.
Developing Your Unique Exercise Regime
A comprehensive evaluation process is critical to providing specific recommendations for individuals experiencing knee pain. Relying on generic exercises is likely to lead to ineffective – and even harmful – results.
Going for a walk might be suitable for many. For experienced runners with knee pain, it’s unlikely to be sufficient.
Our recommendation is to start with a tailored strength training program, designed by a qualified professional. Developing a unique exercise regime requires help from a fully trained and experienced physical therapist or healthcare provider. The first step is thorough evaluation. Only then can a personalized exercise plan to develop specific needs and limitations be developed, with emphasis on more effective and safer knee pain management and recovery.
In summary, online self-diagnosis can lead to unhelpful beliefs, associating pain with specific structures without considering pain complexity and recovery potential. The exercises you find on the internet don’t consider individual differences. Some exercises that work for one may aggravate pain and injury in another. What we do is fully evaluate your condition, and then develop personalized exercise programs to promote recovery and overall wellbeing – it’s a unique-to-you approach that you won’t find online.
The Secret to Making Steady Progress
Maintaining motivation is undeniably crucial. However, we must tread with prudence. The frequency of exercise depends on the type of activity pursued.
For example, for a marathon enthusiast, intervals of rest might be imperative. In contrast, someone recuperating from a milder ailment might benefit from daily low-intensity workouts. The crux is to strike a balance that suits specific needs. This is vital for safe and effective progress in your fitness journey.
The pull of immediate relief is very strong. But quick fixes often reverse with equal speed. Many of our clients, having trodden the well-worn path of conventional treatments, come to us with a mix of skepticism and hope. They’ve been disappointed with the medical system after trying various treatments without success. They arrive feeling jaded but open to our approach, understanding that it offers a more comprehensive solution.
Temporary solutions and quick fixes are not the solution. Our personalized, holistic approach is likely the only way to achieve lasting relief from unique issues.
Beyond Pain Management: Our Approach to Continuous Functional Improvement
As Marc says, “I recall working with a former college basketball dynamo, now several years past her prime playing days. Initially approaching us for a shoulder issue, she later revealed her knee pain, a long-standing issue that she assumed to be an inevitable price of her sports career, potentially culminating in a knee replacement.
I was determined to help her see a different reality. As we journeyed through our sessions, her knee pain dramatically subsided, rekindling her trust in her body’s capabilities. She shared her success with her boyfriend, who also became a Reload client.”
Many people share the misconception that their body’s condition is unchangeable, that it’s just the way it is, and they have to live with it. This just isn’t true. Bodies can change and improve with the right approach.
Your current physical condition isn’t set in stone. There is room for improvement. All it takes is the right guidance and the right actions to set those changes in motion.
Get the guidance you need. Start today by booking a comprehensive 90-minute body evaluation with Reload.
