Undo Years Of Knee Damage, Quickly & Easily

Wear and tear of the knee joint is something that it’s possible to reverse, albeit usually quite slowly.

Fortunately, most knee pain isn’t actually because of wear and tear, and is rather a matter of other factors that are much more quickly and easily fixable, as over-50s specialist physio Will Harlow explains:

A multivector approach

Contrary to popular belief, wear and tear inside the joint only explains 30–40% of symptoms. Much more common factors are muscle tightness, weakness, and joint stiffness around the knee—all of which can be improved with exercise.

As such, he recommends:

1. Calf stretch: stand facing a wall/door, put one leg behind with your heel on the floor, keep your back leg straight, and bend your front knee until you can feel the stretch in your calf. Hold 30 seconds each side, repeat multiple times daily (little and often is best). This improves knee extension, and reduces pressure on the knee joint.
2. Straight leg raise: lie on your back, with one leg bent for support, and the other leg straight. Pull your toes up, flatten your leg into the floor/bed, and lift your straight leg until it’s parallel with the opposite thigh, then lower it slowly back down. Add a resistance band around your ankles if 30+ reps are easy. This strengthens your quadriceps, without squatting (useful, as squats are often difficult if you have knee problems, creating a catch-22 of needing to strengthen things enough to do them, without being able to comfortably do them, so this exercise gets you through that stage nicely).
3. Wall glute lift: stand facing a wall with your weight on one leg. Then, lift your opposite leg out to the side and slightly back, without leaning. You should feel the contraction in your upper glutes; hold for 30 seconds per side, a few times daily. Again, you can add a resistance band around your ankles if it’s too easy. This strengthens the glutes (critical for many things, including the health of your knees and back), improves leg alignment, and reduces any tendency to inwards knee collapse.

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!