1. Take the Pain Quiz
2. Rheumatoid Arthritis Joint-Friendly Exercises Slideshow
3. Slideshow: Osteoarthritis - Exercises for OA of the Knee

Medical Author:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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Medical Editor:

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.

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Knee pain has a host of causes. Many types of pain are difficult to prevent, but you can do some general things to reduce the likelihood of sustaining a knee injury.

• Stay slim
• Staying slim reduces the forces placed on the knee during both athletics and everyday walking and, according to some medical research, may reduce osteoarthritis.
• Keeping your weight down may also reduce the number of ligament and tendon injuries for similar reasons.
• Keep limber, keep fit
• Many knee problems are due to tight or imbalanced musculature. Stretching and strengthening, therefore, also help to prevent knee pain.
• Stretching keeps your knee from being too tight and aids in preventing both patellofemoral syndrome and iliotibial band syndrome.
• Strengthening exercises particularly of the quadriceps (straight leg raises and leg extensions are two excellent exercises, but please see a book on exercise and training for more) can help prevent knee injury.
• Exercise wisely
• If you have chronic knee pain, consider swimming or water exercises.
• In water, the force of buoyancy supports some of our weight so our knees do not have to.
• If you don't have access to a pool or do not enjoy water activities, at least try to limit hard pounding and twisting activities such as basketball, tennis, or jogging.
• You may find that your aching knees will act up if you play basketball or tennis every day but will not if you limit your pounding sports to twice a week.
• Whatever you do, respect and listen to your body. If it hurts, change what you are doing.
• If you are fatigued, consider stopping; many injuries occur when people are tired.
• Protect the knee
• Wearing proper protection for the activity at hand can help avoid knee injuries.
• When playing volleyball or when laying carpet, protecting your knees may include knee pads.
• When driving, knee protection may include wearing a seat belt to avoid the knee-versus-dashboard injuries as well as injuries to other parts of your body.

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