Knee Pain Relief Yoga Exercises

Should I Do Yoga If My Knee Hurts

When your knees hurt with every step, you may stop moving. After all, if movement hurts, you should avoid it, right?

Not necessarily.

While its always crucial to talk to your doctor before beginning any new type of exercise, safe movement is typically incredibly beneficial for sore joints, including the knees. Regular exercises increase the lubrication in the joint, strengthen and lengthen tendons, and improve range of motion.

In the case of acute injury, its best to follow any of your doctors instructions for a period of rest. There are times when complete inactivity is necessary to give your body time to rest and restore itself. Once you get the all-clear, yoga poses for knee joint pain can be gradually added, making modifications as needed to keep you safe.

If the cause of your knee pain is arthritis, yoga can be practiced with a qualified teacher to the level thats feels good to you. For severe pain, chair yoga is a great place to start .

Why Do My Knees Hurt When I Do Yoga

Your knees hurt when you do yoga because your joint has been forced into a pose that compromises your anatomy or that you advanced too quickly.

For example, a Virasana without a tall block can compromise the soft tissues around your knees if your joints arent flexible enough to handle deep flexion. Padamasana, Matsyasana, and Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana are other examples.

Remember: Yoga is supposed to help you fight off pain and injury but only if you practice mindfulness. So, go slow, listen to your body, and only progress when you feel comfortable enough to do so.

Heel And Calf Stretch

This stretch targets the muscles in your lower leg, specifically your calf muscles.

To do this stretch:

Also Check: How Long Is Yoga On The Rocks

Top 10 Physio Exercises For Knee Pain

Posted byCharlotte Anderson on Apr 24, 2015 10:13:00 AM

Are your knees causing you considerable pain? Is it challenging for you to walk and do the activities you love? Do you sometimes feel like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz? Even simple day to day activities can cause wear and tear in your knee, resulting in reduced mobility and a feeling of instability in your knee. To manage discomfort, you’ve tried following RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. You’ve even purchased a knee brace to support your knee joint and you are still in pain. Now what?

Research shows that knee pain exercises after an injury keep your joints from stiffening and provide the support you need – thus making movement easier and reducing pain. Similar to a rusty door hinge, with some TLC you will be able to strengthen your knees and get back to doing the things you love. Here are 10 physiotherapy exercises for knee injuries that can help strengthen your muscles that support the knee joint.

* Please consult your doctor or physiotherapist before starting any physiotherapy exercises.

1. Quadriceps Stretch

Stand tall and with your right hand grab your right ankle. Pull the ankle up towards your buttocks, and you should feel a pull in the front of your leg. Hold for at least 30 seconds. Repeat three times. Alternate sides and repeat.

2. Hamstring Stretch

3. Kick Backs Exercise

4. Bridging Exercise

5. Clam Shell Exercise

6. One Leg Stance

7. Calf Raise Exercise

8. Wall Squats

9. Bend and Reach

Yoga For Knee Pain: 6 Poses To Relieve Discomfort

Yoga can be incredibly effective at alleviating knee pain, arising from muscular imbalances. This is especially prevalent amongst runners, cyclists and mountain bikers. We can stretch the muscles that are tight, strengthen those that are weak, get the knees reacquainted with safe, diverse movements and calm the central nervous system.

Please remember that this article is not intended as a substitute for seeing a skilled physical therapist to gain an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan for your specific issues.

Recommended Reading: Substitute For Exercise Mat At Home

Yoga Poses For Knee Pain Relief

Suffering from achy, painful knees? Try these soothing yoga poses to strengthen your knees and melt away pain.

If youre suffering from knee pain, youre not alone. Theres been a surge of wear and tear joint problems and knee replacement surgeries are on the rise . Common causes of knee pain include excess weight on the knees and using improper technique during exercise. With these yoga poses, you can help to prevent knee damage while repairing current injuries.

The yoga poses shown below can help stretch and strengthen the muscles surrounding the knees, which prevents tight muscles from making joint pain worse. They also help to strengthen the surrounding muscles, providing needed stability.

Suffering from a sore neck, back and shoulders? Get our mobility guide to ease pain and soreness.

Another bonus: A consistent yoga practice can help you lose weight, decreasing the daily pressure applied to those knees!

Try these 11 yoga poses that work the surrounding muscles for knee pain relief.

Yoga Can Reduce Knee Pain By Correcting Muscle Imbalances

Chronic knee pain, as well as many of the most common knee injuries in yogis, runners, cyclists, and other athletes, are often caused by imbalances in the muscles controlling the knee, hip, or ankle.

When the strength of these muscles is imbalanced, they pull the knee or the surrounding joints out of alignment.

For example, muscular imbalances and/or tightness can pull the knee cap out of its proper alignment and contribute to the development of runners knee.

The prevailing theories based on evidence to date are that either weakness in the quads, specifically the vastus medialis obliquus or weakness in the hip abductor and external rotators causes malalignment of the patella and abnormal tracking when you run or walk.

When the IT band or lateral quad muscle, known as the vastus lateralis, overpowers the strength of the VMO, it tilts the patella and pulls it too far to the outside of the groove, causing compression and pain.

Weak hip abductors and external rotators allow your femur to rotate inward relative to the knee cap when you land in your running stride, causing abnormal tracking and pain.

Yoga is a great way to strengthen the muscles controlling the knee and hip and correct muscle imbalances caused by other repetitive exercises like running, cycling, and rowing. Yoga can also increase stability in the knee joint to ensure the kneecap tracks correctly in the patellar groove.

Studies have shown that yoga can improve the knee pain associated with osteoarthritis.

Don’t Miss: Yoga Vs Pilates For Toning

Best Yoga Poses For Knees

Just as many styles of yoga are different, not all yoga poses are created equal. Some can put strain on the knee and should be avoided.

Yoga poses that may help with knee pain include the following.

In yoga, it’s always important to listen to your own body. A pose that works for you may not work for someone else, and vice versa. However, here are a few tips for specific poses to avoid if you’re experiencing knee pain.

• Avoid postures that are difficult for you to maintain proper alignment in. If you’re struggling, ask your teacher for a modificationa good teacher will have a number of alternatives that can help you gain the benefits of the pose without the risk.
• Avoid poses that place the legs at uneven, awkward angles or place an extreme stretch on the knee joint, such as hero’s pose or child’s pose. Sitting on a block may make these poses more accessible , but don’t feel pressure to perform them if you experience discomfort.
• Avoid poses that involve bending your knee to the side, like pigeon pose.

Yoga For Arthritis: 9 Poses For Joint Pain Relief

Arthritis is a condition causing joint disease or joint pain, leading to inflammation, stiffness, and loss of mobility in the joints.

Its pretty common and if youve had it, you know its no joke. Its a serious public health concern. But guess what? Yoga can help.

With managing arthritis, lifestyle changes like increasing physical activity and physiotherapy are super important. This includes yoga!

Various yoga postures strengthen joint muscles and make the body more flexible, which helps with arthritis symptoms. Plus, practicing yoga helps reduce stress and youd be surprised how much of a difference that makes.

In this article, Ill go over the benefits of yoga for arthritis and the top yoga poses that will help the most with managing arthritis pain.

Read Also: Labor Inducing Ball Exercises

Yoga For Knee Pain: What Poses Should You Avoid And 10 Yoga Poses For Knee Pain

• Pin

What are you are a regular yogi with a consistent Vinyasa practice or a runner, cyclist, or athlete of another sport with a recent knee injury or chronic knee pain, it can be helpful to know how to adapt yoga for knee pain to ensure you have a way to safely move your body while you rehab your injury.

Modifying yoga for knee pain allows you to have a way to work out while you give your knee time to heal.

There are also certain yoga poses for knee pain that can increase the strength and stability in the muscles controlling the knee to help reduce the risk of knee pain and injuries and restore function to an injured knee.

In this guide to yoga for knee pain, we will discuss how to safely perform yoga with knee pain or knee injuries and how to use yoga to prevent knee pain.

We will look at:

• Can I Do Yoga With Knee Pain?

• Common Knee Injuries

• How Can Yoga Help Knee Pain

• 10 Yoga Poses for Knee Pain

• Practicing Yoga With Knee Pain

• Yoga Poses to Avoid With Knee Pain

Lets jump in!

How To Modify Yoga Poses For Knee Pain

Lets be honest: strengthening the muscles around your knees is great, but its not instant relief. It takes time to reverse improper alignment or weakened tendons.

What about those poses that feel great on your back but make your knees scream? Here are some tips for quick knee relief in common asanas

Read Also: Putting On Yoga Pants

Extended Side Angle Pose

Hamstring strengthening is an important principle in improving muscle strength and decreasing pain in people with hip arthritis. Extended Side Angle places the front hip into abduction and external rotation, allowing for increased activation of the hamstrings. This change in the center of gravity, when compared to Warrior I, minimizes the activation of the hip adductor muscles and offers more potential for strength gains in the posterior leg muscles. Isometrically pull the front knee toward the trunk to activate the hamstrings.

Start in Warrior II Pose, with the left foot forward. Place the left forearm onto the left thigh, or the left hand to the floor or on a block outside your foot. Extend the right arm over the right ear to feel the extension in your right side body. The palm faces down to the ground with the fingers extending out in front of you. Extend both sides of the waist to reach out and over the front thigh. Engage the abdomen to protect the spine and side. Your gaze can extend toward your right hand, to the ground, or straight forward, depending on which is most comfortable for your neck. Hold for 5 breath cycles. To exit the pose, turn the torso to the mat to frame the left foot with your hands, and step back to Downward-Facing Dog Pose before switching sides.

Warrior I And Warrior Ii

The two following postures the Warrior poses can build a great deal of strength and alignment when it comes to our knee pain.

When done right, these postures strengthen our inner quad muscle , which is responsible for counteracting the pull of our outer quad. Or in simpler terms, these poses counteract the all-too-common reality that our kneecaps can get off track from daily life.

But heres the problem our inner quad is typically weak and under-utilized, meaning we need to train that muscle to awaken, strengthen and get to work.

And thats exactly what we plan to do! How to practice these poses:

• Come into each pose like you normally would
• Bend the knee to a 90 degree angle with your weight centered in your heel
• Keep both inner heel and big toe grounded, while maintaining a lift in the inner arch of the foot
• Attempt to keep the outer ankle, knee and hip of the bent leg in alignment with one another by dropping the outer hip down as you lift the inner arch, knee and thigh up
• Hold each pose for ten breaths and repeat on the other side

Want a refresher on the proper alignment for Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Pose? Reference this Warrior 1 and 2 Alignment Tutorial

Optional yoga prop: Yoga Block and Yoga Blanket

Congratulations! You made it to the floor poses which means were in the home stretch of our yoga for knee pain sequence. King Arthurs Pose offers an incredible stretch to the quadriceps .

Don’t Miss: Hothouse Yoga Virginia Beach

Virabhadrasana 1 And 2

Virabhadrasana, also called Warrior Poses, are different standing poses that open up your hips, stretch your core muscles, and strengthen your posterior and inner leg muscles.

All these benefits can be helpful for knee pain especially when its caused by imbalances and misaligned kneecaps.

How to do the Virabhadrasana:

Practice These 10 Yoga Poses To Relieve Knee Pain

• 6.2KSHARES

Knee pain is estimated to affect nearly 20 million people in the United States alone, with over 600,000 knee replacements occurring every year. And that number is only on the rise.

But whats more interesting to me is that . . . Im part of this statistic.

Hello, my name is Allie. I am a certified yoga teacher, active yoga student, advocate for health, and would fit into the category of having a strong, toned body.

Except, I suffer from chronic knee pain, knee discomfort, knee sensitivity, and even knee insecurity.

Recommended Reading: Getting The Film Off Manduka Mat

Yoga And Exercise With Knee Pain: Dos And Donts

Yoga poses are actually taken for the betterment of your mental and physical well being. The various yoga poses are immensely beneficial for an individuals health. However, some yoga poses can be very hard on the body of an individual. Individuals with knee painshould take into account certain poses which may harm their knees. There are many poses which require the knees to be flexible and some other poses require the knees to be able to carry the total body weight. People with knee injury should avoid such poses as this can lead to complications. Therefore, it is very essential that one knows which poses an individual with knee joint pain should avoid. This will help him/her to strengthen his/her knees and will not cause much distress. Read through to know what all you should avoid if you suffer from knee pain:

Best Props For Knee Pain

Before you get started with yoga poses to help with knee pain, youll definitely want to invest in some props so that you dont accidentally make the pain any worse.

The truth is that many traditional yoga poses can put a lot of pressure on those with injured knees, arthritis, or other joint issues. However, yoga should NEVER feel painful. The best props for yoga with knee pain are:

• Yoga bolster

Any time you feel pain, you should stop and gently back out of the pose. Using one or several of these props can help you modify certain asanas so you can still enjoy a good stretch without so much tension on your knees.

Also Check: What Yoga Moves To Avoid When Pregnant

Heat And Cold Therapy

Use cold often during the first 24 hours after your injury. You can use a gel-style cold pack to reduce pain and swelling. For the heat side of things, you can make use of a heating pad to rest your knee while youre reclining. This will help stop your joint from swelling up. Remember to alternate between heat and cold for maximum recovery.

Benefits Of Yoga For Knee Pain

On the bright side, several specific yoga poses can help provide relief, as well explore below. Studies show that people with knee pain can get some much-needed relief by practicing yoga a few times a week.

In 2013, for example, researchers worked with 30 women who had knee osteoarthritis. Half were assigned to an 8-week yoga program. By the end of the study, their pain and symptoms had decreased more than those of the control group, and they had a better overall quality of life.

One study is great, but how about six?

A 2016 review looked at six studies on the effects of yoga on osteoarthritis. In these studies, people experienced pain relief and functional improvements as early as 2 weeks after regularly getting on the mat. The researchers concluded that yoga could be a medication-free means of relieving pain and improving mobility.

Other more recent studies have shown similar results, placing yoga among the best natural knee pain relief methods, alongside tai chi and massage therapy.

While this is exciting news, some research has also found that certain yoga poses can be stressful on the knees. On the other hand, squatting and lunging postures can improve leg strength and minimize knee adduction the inward movement of the knees thats associated with osteoarthritis.

Recommended Reading: Aerial Yoga Calories