7 ways to tackle knee pain when walking

With this warmer weather and sunnier days many of you are getting out and about and enjoying the beautiful coastal paths and countryside we are so lucky to have around us, as well as all the wonderful benefits walking brings to your health and wellbeing. However, for some of you the dread of old knee pain, or the sudden emergence of creaky knees after a winter of being less active can put the sudden breaks on your yomp.

Luckily for you, I've got 7 ways that you can combat this all to common struggle. So if you want to get back to hiking up hills, and cruising the coastal paths without having to worry that your knees are going to let you down, read on...

1. Exercise (wisely!)

We’ve all heard the phrase “use it or lose it” and it does truly apply to muscle strength. When we look at making sure we use the knee muscles well, we always need to consider how you are using your foot. Foot activation is one of the biggest problems we see in clinic that leads to problems with the knee, and the hips! The leg needs to work together like an orchestra, each joint doing its own bit, when this doesn’t happen, we find that other joints end up being overloaded and problems occur.

Another thing worth mentioning is the difference of weight bearing versus non-weight bearing exercise – both forms are amazing, BUT especially as we age, and bone density decreases, weight bearing is one of the best proven ways to keep the bone density up. This is what makes walking such a fantastic exercise, even if you aren’t walking for long, or on steep hills. Bottom line is, exercise, your bones, muscles, heart, and mind will thank you for it!

2. It’s not always no pain, no gain.

Listen to your body – pain means your body is unhappy with what you are doing, and trying to tell you something is wrong! We often see people in clinic who have pushed through pain, and this has made things worse, and perhaps even caused pain elsewhere in the body.

I understand that some of you may be living with chronic conditions such as arthritis or fibromyalgia, but there is almost always a way to optimize how you use your muscles and joints. Do not ignore pain – especially persistent pain. Come and chat to someone on what can be done to make walking easier.

3. Try the simple things:

Really simple things can be done to try managing the aches and pain, often your therapist may even recommend some of these things to you. A few common things that can be done to manage pain are:

- heat or ice therapy (what you use will depend on what is causing your pain)

- Eating a clean diet full of minimally processed, whole foods. Limiting inflammatory substances such as sugars and alcohol can often impact symptoms of inflammatory conditions. Smoking can also slow healing down.

- Using knee pads when gardening and walking poles when walking – this can help offload the joints whilst you are using them. Walking poles also ensure you are using your upper body whilst walking so you get even more of a workout in!

- Pacing can be useful for those of you suffering from auto-immune or rheumatic conditions. This means that rather than doing everything all at once and barely being able to move by the end you can do little spurts of activity to preserve energy and avoid a massive dip.

4. Don’t neglect other areas of your body!

Yes, we use or legs to walk, but don’t forget, as you walk you also may be breathing a little heavier on that hill which now means you’re using your ribcage more, AND to keep yourself upright, you will need to use your abdominals. Its not as simple as just using our leg muscles.

5. This being said, it is ALWAYS worth doing some gentle stretching:

A few stretches after a long walk won’t go amiss! Usually, the common ones we recommend are calf stretches, adductor stretches, and glute stretches however it is worth consulting a therapist so they can create a bespoke plan for what is best for you. Stretching allows our muscles to lengthen, which means they can function more optimally. Why not check out the calf stretch Reel (LINK HERE IF ABLE) to get your started?

6. Get good hands on Physio:

The fastest way to get pain free is to invest your time and money in good, hands-on Physiotherapy. A Physio that treats the cause of the problem (not just the sore bit) will give you long term relief. Your old injuries, movement habits, and beliefs all influence your posture, movement, and load on your knees. 

A good physio will outline what is wrong and all the steps you need to take to get you back doing the things you love. Commonly the pain eases after 3-4 sessions but that doesn’t mean you should stop coming. Sticking to the FULL program will ensure you get your whole body stronger and muscles working together so your problem doesn’t return in the months and years to come. 

Give us a call on 01548 852 355 or contact [email protected] to find out more about how we can help you. You can also click here to enquire about cost and availability.

7. Get your FREE Knee Pain Guide:

IF you want more tips on how to get rid of knee pain now AND long-term, so you can get back to walking with no trouble, click here to download our FREE knee pain report "The 12 Secrets of Eliminating Knee Pain & Getting Active Again". It's packed full of our best tips and tricks to get you moving and grooving again, without fear of knee pain getting in the way.

“Without The HealthHub I would be far less active than I am now" - Nick

The sun is (finally!) out – get out there and get walking!

With love,

Naomi

and the HealthHub Team

P.S. Don't forget to download the FREE knee pain report by clicking here. There's no reason to suffer from knee pain, there is ALWAYS something that can be done.