Exercises to help you ease Knee Arthritis Pain

We all know that arthritis is a very common ailment that easily affects close to millions of people around the globe. There are two types of arthritis and both of these often lead to knee pain! These are Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) namely. We also understand that you might think exercising could prove counter-productive to you, but did you know that a when you develop a pattern in exercising, it has been known to lessen and even relieve one of arthritis pain? Apart from that, the exercises strengthen muscles that support your knee joint thus making sure that the joints are able to absorb shock better!

Now comes the tricky part! How do you know which exercises are good for you during arthritis? Well, that is what we are here for! Check out our list of exercises to help you ease Knee Arthritis Pain!

Leg Raises (Lying Down)

1. Start by lying flat on your back on your yoga mat on the floor.
2. Keep your arms at your sides with your toes up.
3. Keep your leg straight. Do this while remembering to tighten your leg muscles.
4. Slowly lift your leg several inches from the floor.
5. Tighten your stomach muscles. This helps in pushing your lower back down.
6. Hold this position for 5 counts.
7. Lower your leg as slowly as possible when you are done counting to 5.
8. Repeat the process 4 times and then switch to the other leg to begin with.

The exercise proves to be brilliantly effective in strengthening your quadriceps that is the muscles in your thighs that are attached to your knee joint.

The Half-Squat

1. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-distance apart.
2. Proceed with bending your knees until you are a half-sitting position.
3. If you have trouble balancing, holding on to a chair could be a good idea.
4. Remember to keep your back absolutely straight with your chest lifted.
5. Do not slouch, lean forward or bend.
6. While keeping your feet as flat as possible on the floor hold the position for 5 seconds.
7. Slowly stand back up when you are done.
8. Ideally, you should not be feeling any pain while performing this exercise.
9. If you are a first timer, then do not attempt to do more than 10 repetitions of the squat. You can increase the number as you become accustomed to it.

The half-squat helps in strengthening the front and back muscles of the thighs along with your gluteus as well.

The Hamstring Stretch (Lying Down)

1. Begin by lying on the floor with both your legs bent.
2. In the next step, lift one leg slowly keeping it bent.
3. After this, continue by bringing your knee back toward your chest.
4. Proceed by linking your hands behind your thigh and straighten your leg.
5. Pull the now straightened leg back toward your head until you feel a stretch in your thigh region.
6. Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.
7. Slowly bend your knee and lower your leg back to the floor.
8. Even if you only do a stretch per leg, in the beginning, that too would prove extremely useful.

This exercise is exceptional when it comes to strengthening and stretching your hamstrings. Hamstrings are essentially muscles that are at the back of your thighs and attached to your knees too!

Preparing your knees before a workout will go a long way in ensuring that the exercises themselves have a long lasting effect on them. If you can, try to put a moist heat-pack on your knees for at least 15 minutes before you start your workout. This will help in decreasing any kind of stiffness that might be present and promote more blood flow to the knees. After you are done with your workout, putting an ice pack on the sore knees will help ease any pain or swelling that might be present too!

So we hope that these exercises prove to be a boon for anyone who is suffering from arthritis and help them ease the pain that the disease might cause! Do let us know if these exercises helped you! We cannot wait to hear from you!