Why your knee pain keeps coming back
Mine did! And I knew better.
My right knee hurts a bit. It started last year on the patellar tendon - the thick bit of tissue that connects the bottom of the knee cap to the top of the shin. They are super-strong, every time you jump, use stairs, or do heavy stuff like squatting, big forces go through it. They cope very well indeed. However, they do need time to adapt to new loads. I did lots of heavy squats last year and this year I started doing stiletto squats (a deeper version) and heavy leg pressing. It was a bit much, now I have patellar tendinopathy. It aches a bit in when I exercise, then screams at me the next morning.
The fix? Very simple, first, back off the aggravating factors, the heavy stuff. Second, load it a bit - I used a leg extension machine, with a load where I could feel it ache a bit, but not much. Doing this 3 times a week and gradually adding weight. Tendons take a while so some patience is needed. Already improving.
This approach works for a lot of musculoskeletal pain:
Identify the issue
Reduce the aggravating activity
Gradually add load
Reassess and change the loads
This really helps to prevent problems in the future. By getting stronger the tissue becomes more resilient and nervous system gets used to the activity. If we focus on passive therapies - things that are done to us, yes you will probably get some pain relief while the hurty thing recovers, but nothing significant changes. This is why loading strategies are generally superior, plus they are empowering and have long-term effects.
Sometimes we can get flare-ups, so knowing this approach helps us deal with these. Follow the principles.
Ad for my stupid knee, I knew it was coming but decided to try denial. It didn’t work, so back to basics.
In fairness, denial sometimes works, by that I mean often things will just get better if we do nothing. But not always.
If you're dealing with knee pain in the Towcester and Daventry area and want to explore what's actually possible, feel free to book a free discovery phone call click here