Strong and stable knee joints are important for sports, work and the activities of everyday life. Your knees must support your weight and enable you to move, and it doesn't take much for an injury to occur. Different treatments are available for knee injuries, including rehabilitation exercises.
Types of Knee Injury
Your knees can suffer from many different types of injury such as sprains, strains, tendonitis, fractures or dislocation. Loose bone fragments may also be present in the knee joint as the result of some sort of trauma, or you could have an abnormal kneecap alignment causing problems. Conditions such as arthritis and bursitis are not technically injuries, but can cause discomfort and limited mobility of the knee.
Knee Anatomy
The knee joint consists of one joint on the top and one on the bottom. The patello-femoral joint is where your kneecap connects to the upper leg bone, and the tibio-femoral joint where the upper and lower leg bones hinge together. Ligaments hold all of these bones in place, and are supported by muscle tissue. These muscles will hold the knee joint together when strengthened and conditioned properly.
Knee Therapy Exercises
Your knee therapy exercises will vary depending on the area of the knee injured and the severity of the injury. Your physiotherapist will design an exercise program that will take into consideration your personal needs. Some common physiotherapy knee exercises include mini squats while holding the edge of a counter or sink for support, toe raises while holding a table for support and standing leg curls where you slowly curl your heel up toward your buttocks. Straight leg raises from your back, side and stomach are also effective for knee rehabilitation, says the University of Michigan.
Prevention
Avoiding a knee injury in the first place can be achieved by strengthening the structure around your knee joint. Exercises such as squats, lunges and leg presses will strengthen your quadriceps and hamstrings and provide your knee with the support it needs to function properly. Regular stretching of the muscles in and around the knee will also provide support.
Considerations
When more serious structural damage occurs as part of a knee injury, surgery is often necessary to make the repairs. Physiotherapy exercises are part of the post surgery treatment plan. With chronic knee conditions, replacement of the knee joint is sometimes required.
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