Types of knee pain
There are different types of knee pain, and it’s essential to try to distinguish between them. You will generally know if you have torn a ligament or an ACL or caused structural damage to your knee. In those cases, the pain cannot be ignored and is an important signal for your body to stop and for you to see your doctor. But there is also a different kind of pain, the knee pain that is less acute but longer-lasting. Chronic pain can sometimes last days, weeks, months, or even years. Many things cause this type of knee pain, from overuse to a muscle pull to osteoarthritis. When chronic pain causes you to stop exercising for an extended period, it’s vital to determine the root cause and then find safe ways to continue to be active. Remaining inactive can layer problems on top of the initial joint pain and the negative implications can snowball.
Should I exercise with knee pain?
Aerobic exercise helps release human growth factor hormones that promote healing in the tendons and connective tissues.” says Dr. Stephen M. Pribut, D.P.M. “With chronic pain, the body almost gets into this downward spiral where … you get fearful of movement, then you don’t move, then you get weak, then you get more pain,” says Douglas Ebner, a physical therapist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. That fear can lead a person to be sedentary, causing the afflicted joint to stiffen. “Then they don’t want to do anything, and then they get even weaker,” Ebner says.
Beyond just helping your knee, studies indicate that exercise can significantly reduce the chance of getting some of the most common and deadly health concerns facing Americans today. Adding exercise and movement to your daily activities can decrease the chance of getting heart disease by 29%, stroke by 27%, and cut your chance of getting diabetes in half. Add to that the positive effect on your mental health, and you have a prescription for a much healthier lifestyle.
What if I haven’t exercised in a while?
Before beginning any new exercise regime, be sure to check with your doctor. Ease into your new fitness routine. If you haven’t worked out for some time, be gentle on yourself. This may be the first time you’ve ever exercised, or maybe it’s the first time in months since you’ve exercised. Regardless, give yourself time to build your cardio endurance and muscle strength. Rome wasn’t conquered in a day, and neither will your exercise regime!
How can Fluid Running help me?
Fluid Running is one of the best ways to workout, especially if you are dealing with chronic or nagging knee pain. Check out why:
No Impact: Fluid Running is one of the best exercises for getting back into fitness, recovering from injury, or dealing with chronic knee or joint pain. It’s performed in deep water, so there is no impact on joints, eliminating the problem often caused by land-based exercise.
Excellent cardio: Increasing your endurance and cardio strength provides so many benefits to your overall health. Fluid Running allows you to build up your endurance at your own pace without the impact of land-based exercise. Long sets interspersed with high heart rate intervals are the best ways to build heart and cardio strength.
Decrease inflammation, increase range of motion: One great way to decrease inflammation, and increase range of motion is to begin moving. Water offers a safe way to add movement without fear of impact or falling. Deep-water adds an additional benefit of hydrostatic pressure, which pushes blood up to increase circulation and decrease inflamation. Hydrostatic pressure also adds compression to your lower limbs, which reduces inflammation and decreases recovery time for injuries.
Strength building: Water is 800 times denser than air. Moving in water requires more effort than moving on land. This extra resistance can help to strengthen the muscles that support the knee. Strengthening of the legs can also help to improve balance and flexibility.
Calorie burn: Running in deep-water burns 40% more calories than running on land because of the water’s added resistance. Eliminating extra weight can decrease the pressure placed on your joints and therefore relieve pain. Fluid Running provides a healthy way to burn calories and lose weight with a net positive effect on your physical and mental well being.
How to properly Fluid Run with knee pain?
Fluid Running should not cause knee discomfort or increase existing knee pain. If you feel pain while Fluid Running, it may be because the muscles around your knee need time to strengthen. If you are sensing pain, consider these minor adjustments:
Do not lock your knees – be sure there is a micro bend in your knee joints.
Focus on placing equal pressure on the forward and backward leg thrusts – focus on putting equal force on the forward as well as the backward leg motion. Placing too much emphasis on one can put extra pressure on your knee joint.
Eliminate certain moves until you have gained strength – if you continue to experience pain during specific movements, consider eliminating them until you feel healthier. If sprints exacerbate or causes pain, consider replacing that with cross-country (where your knee doesn’t bend), running or arms-only until your pain has disappeared or improved.
Make minor adjustments – consider making minor adjustments to your running stride. Unlike land running, Fluid Running offers the ability to make minor stride adjustments if one leg is feeling pain or is injured.
Stretch – stretching is critical to improving flexibility, which optimizes function and helps prevent injury. Water is one of the safest mediums to stretch because without gravity pushing down and compressing your joints, you can find a greater range of motion.
Conclusion
Knee pain can manifest itself differently in different people. However, the need to stay active and healthy is a common truth for all of us. If you’ve been sedentary or sidelined because of knee pain, you know, taking the first step to a more active lifestyle can be scary and difficult. Fluid Running is a fantastic option because it provides a safe and effective way to exercise. “Where you build some confidence, you build a little strength, and then you move a little bit better,” Ebner says. And it’s that confidence and strength that you get from Fluid Running. When we move, we improve. Fluid Running has helped hundreds of people who thought they would never move again. That knowledge alone is the driving force behind what we do. We hope you find your strength with Fluid Running.
Additional Resources
Physical Activity and Stroke Risk – AHA Journals