When we have it, knee pain is all we think about. The knee joint is one of the most used joints in the body. Sometimes, undoubtedly, we may injure our knee or suffer knee pain from arthritis. Knee arthritis is actually one of the leading causes of disability for people over the age of 65. There are few ways to help relieve this knee pain.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that physical therapy for knee pain may be just as effective as surgery for relief from chronic arthritis related knee pain. Physical Therapy for knee arthritis includes exercises, techniques, and stretches and strengthens the muscles around your knee to relieve swelling.
There are three muscle groups that drastically help to relieve pain from osteoarthritis in the knee and rheumatoid arthritis in the knee:
1. Strengthening your Butt
Sometimes knee pain occurs due to weak hip muscles. By strengthening the hip, the hip can take a lot of pressure off the knee. Weak hip muscles cause the pelvis to drop putting extra pressure and stress on the knee. Strengthening these muscles will go a long way toward decreasing the amount of stress put on the knee and therefore, can help to relieve knee pain.
Hip extensions are a great exercise we use in our Physical Therapy office to improve hip strength.
2. Stretch and Strengthen the Muscles around the Knee
Doing so again takes pressure off of the knee by allowing strong muscles around the knee to do work better. If the butt muscles are weak, the hamstrings and hip abductors have to do more work to compensate resulting in more force on the knee joint. These muscles overwork and then become tight. By stretching them, you decrease the chances that they cause muscle imbalances.
3. Strengthen Core Muscles
The core supports it all. Remember that! A strong core can take much pressure off of areas that are being overworked. A strong core allows you to keep you balance rather than that extra pressure on your knees.

Every little thing counts to relieve knee pain. The physical therapists at Cross Bay Physical Therapy, located in Howard Beach, Queens and serving as well as Ozone Park Physical Therapy and Richmond Hill Physical Therapy, can help you to relieve your knee arthritis.
Call (718) 835-0084 and schedule an appointment today!
By,
Benjamin Bieber