Can Osteoarthritis Knee Exercises Offer Relief?

When you have knee pain due to arthritis, your doctor may suggest trying osteoarthritis knee exercises. While there is no cure for arthritis, regular exercise can help manage stiffness and preserve mobility. However, for more lasting relief, you may need to seek medical intervention.

What are the best osteoarthritis knee exercises?

While exercise can't cure arthritis, it can help you build strength, move with greater ease and knee relieve pain. Regular exercise can also help you maintain a healthy weight, improve your balance and even sleep better at night. Now, before starting a new exercise routine, make sure to clear your proposed activities with a doctor. Then, consider trying some or all of these osteoarthritis knee exercises:

• Daily stretching
• Weight-bearing activities with resistance bands, hand weights or weighted machines, ideally performed every other day
• Moderate, joint-friendly cardiovascular exercises such as swimming, walking or biking
• Yoga or tai chi routines that can help improve balance and posture while reducing tension

Knee Osteoarthritis Stretches

Stretching your hamstrings each day can preserve flexibility while improving your joint range of motion. It can also help with knee pain relief or prevention. To start, warm up your body by walking for about five minutes. Next, lie down flat and loop a strap or bedsheet around one of your feet. Gently use the sheet to help pull your leg straight, holding the position for at least 20 seconds. Give yourself a break and repeat on your first leg before switching to your other one. You can also support your knee health by stretching your calf muscles. Begin by holding onto a chair to keep your balance. Now, bend one leg and step back with the other, straightening it slowly and carefully behind you. Move your heel toward the floor until you feel a nice stretch in the back of the back leg. Hold the position for at least 20 seconds and then switch sides.

Adding these stretches to your daily routine, in combination with gentle exercises, can help you maintain mobility, even when you’re living with knee osteoarthritis. Just be sure to take care with movement, so you don’t cause yourself pain or worsen any joint damage.

Tips for exercising with osteoarthritis of the knee

When you are beginning a new exercise routine and dealing with the pain of osteoarthritis in your knee, start slow and listen to your body. If working out with a trainer or taking a group fitness class, make sure to inform the instructor about your arthritis. And always listen to your body: stop and rest if any exercise causes you pain.

Additionally, any osteoarthritis knee exercises should be low impact. Before exercising, apply 20 minutes of gentle heat (warm towels or a warm shower both work) to your affected joints. And, after completing a workout, ice your joints for up to 20 minutes to address any possible swelling.

Non-surgical relief for knee osteoarthritis

If you're hoping to manage your pain with osteoarthritis knee exercises, you'd probably like to avoid surgery. And, even when lifestyle measures fail to manage your arthritis-related knee pain, you can find meaningful relief with Genicular Artery Embolization (GAE) in Texas.

This minimally invasive procedure relieves pain and inflammation and helps you delay or avoid knee replacement surgery. Performed by our interventional radiologists in Houston and Dallas, GAE may also help prevent disease progression for arthritis patients. Ready to see if you're a candidate for GAE? Click here to request an appointmentClick here to request an appointmentClick here to request an appointment today!