Pain felt in the front/sides or below the kneecap is a really common occurrence. It can be sharp, aching or a combination of these. Typically this type of pain can sometimes: keep you awake at night, make it difficult to go up and down stairs, twinge when you stand up out of a chair and give you a tight feeling when you try and bend your knee.
Consequences of this are: limping, wasting of the important quads muscles in the top of your leg, swelling and frustration and annoyance that you aren’t able to live life the way you should.
The cause of this relates to irritability around the knee cap.
The irritability is usually a secondary effect of one or more of the following: poor muscle support, degeneration behind the knee cap, tightness in the surrounding soft tissues, overload on the kneecap from too much squatting/lunging type exercise.
STEP 1 – STATIONARY BIKE
Find yourself a stationary bike. If you don’t have one there are some local places you can hire from for a reasonable price or join the gym for $50-$80 a month!.
Adjust the seat height so that the knee remains slightly bent at the bottom of the pedaling stroke. If you have trouble bending the knee as it comes over the top of the pedaling stroke you may want to start with half rotations first.
Peddle steadily and progressively increase your speed to a comfortable level. Don’t add too much resistance to start with.
Continue for 15-20 min. Repeat again in the afternoon.
You should not experience any pain when doing this! Continue to perform daily and consistently for the coming weeks.
IF you feel comfortable with this – you may like to progress to doing.
STEP TWO: QUADS ACTIVATION
In Sitting:
- Place a small towel under your knee.
- Perform a thigh muscle clench. Do this by trying to squeeze the back of your knee onto the towel.
- Do not squeeze so hard that you illicit pain.
- Aim for 40-50 squeezes per day.
