Learning how to reduce knee pain while walking can significantly improve your quality of life. Pain should not stop you from walking because walking actually helps to relieve osteoarthritis pain, according to WebMD. This is because walking allows more blood to flow to your joints.
Other benefits of walking include:
- Improves your balance.
- Delivers nourishment to your cartilage.
- Strengthens your muscles and bones.
How to reduce pain while walking
Walking helps improve the production of joint fluid, which lubricates the joints and reduces stiffness and pain. The following are walking tips that can ease knee pain:
- Apply heat to your joints before walking, or just take a warm shower
- Cycle on a stationary bicycle to keep your opposing muscles in good shape
- Walk about 6,000 steps a day to help reduce your knee pain
- Wear shoes that have ¾-inch heels or less to lower the pressure on your knees
- Lose weight so that you can walk with less pain
- Use walking poles to help with stability and reduce joint fatigue
- Stretch every 15 minutes in a day to keep the joint fluid moving in your knees
Things to avoid with knee pain
The following are some of the things you should not do if you have knee arthritis:
- Too much rest: you may think that resting can help you manage knee pain, but the truth is that it may make it worse. Resting can weaken your muscles. So, make sure you are constantly moving during the day. Talk to your doctor about exercises that you can do every day that are safe for your knees.
- Risking falls: people with knee osteoarthritis can easily damage their knees when they fall. So, make sure that you always use handrails on staircases and that your home is well lit. You should always be on the lookout for wet surfaces and so on.
- Become overweight: Any weight you add on is only going to increase stress on your knees. Losing even a few pounds may help with the pain.
- Jarring exercises: Jarring exercises, such as lunges, deep squats, kickboxing, and more, only make knee injuries worse. Learn how to do these exercises correctly or find alternatives that are just as effective.
If you have knee pain but have not been diagnosed with knee arthritis, go to a doctor to check it out.
Daily walks for knee pain and weight loss
You should talk to your doctor before you start your daily walking routine. Before you begin walking, follow these steps:
- Pick a familiar route that has a smooth surface and doesn’t have too much traffic.
- Ensure the route is safe, and always ensure you let people close to you know the approximate location where you plan to walk.
- Always wear comfortable walking shoes that are flexible but yet support your feet.
- Ask a member of your family or friends group to be your walking buddy. You can also just appoint your dog as a walking buddy.