Successfully treating knee pain with exercises

Knee pain can have various causes – the cause is not always clear.

In case of severe accidents, it should always be assessed whether immediate surgical treatment or repositioning is necessary – this can be determined by the surgeon in the hospital.

Minor injuries, such as bruises or overexertion, can often be treated conservatively (i.e., without surgery).

Chronic cartilage and bone degeneration (e.g., osteoarthritis) often respond well to conservative treatment. During a "flare-up," a chronically known degenerative change can cause severe acute discomfort.

Helpful after injuries / in acute phases:

Cooling: 15-20 minute intervals, preferably several times a day. There is no need to buy anything expensive; anything frozen will do. Simply wrap it in a cloth to protect the skin.

Resting: Depending on the injury, from bed rest to being careful when walking. Partial weight-bearing is possible with crutches.

Elevating: "High" means always above the heart! This ensures that fluids flow passively towards the heart, reducing swelling. When elevating a knee, one usually needs to lie down – 15-20 minutes combined with cooling works wonders.

Bandaging: There are elastic bandages, but also special knee braces that prevent certain movements (and thus protect). The bandages stabilize and are also very effective against swelling.

After the acute phase, therapeutic exercises and physiotherapy can begin. Moving without straining: therapeutic exercises have only positive side effects. Blood circulation is improved, joint fluid is optimized. One learns to understand the joint and the whole body better. You can assess yourself better. Sports activities can be greatly enhanced later with the new knowledge. Warming up, stretching, strengthening... Regular physiotherapy exercises promote communication between the brain and the musculoskeletal system.

For severe pain and/or swelling, I like to prescribe medications to reduce swelling. There is a group of pain medications, the NSAIDs, which are well suited for this. Ibuprofen, diclofenac, mefenamic acid, acemetacin, etodolac are good examples. The medications can be taken regularly at first, especially to ensure restful sleep. Over time, you can do more and more physiotherapy/therapeutic exercises and need less and less medication if everything goes well.

If things do not go well, further examinations and possibly orthopedic specialists are necessary. Physiotherapy after an operation is always recommended and often very beneficial before the operation as well.

Many of my patients have already benefited from the exercises by Liebscher & Bracht. This German physiotherapy group has published many high-quality physiotherapy videos for free on YouTube. If you happen to know similar good English websites, please let me know. ChatGPT recommended the Bob & Brad YouTube Channel.

KNEE