Knee care

giorgioc722
giorgioc722 Posts: 65 Member
edited March 2016 in Fitness and Exercise
So I'm 25 and I do a considerable amount of sports, but my main concern is my knees.

One thing is I've taken up is skate parks, I find it way too much fun to stop. (I wear knee/shin pads for anyone worried about me ;D) lol.

Whenever I bang my knees around I ice them, and hopefully thats what I should be doing. Anything else? IE: Should I purchase a knee sleeve when resting?

What I'm also confused about is if I should ice or use heat on my tendons. Mainly, my IT band in my left leg that I had tendonitis in about a year ago.

Ice seems to make it feel even tighter and not really help. Can I use heat or will I be damaging the tendon?

Thanks!

Replies

  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    edited March 2016
    I'm a runner and understand knee issues. :) Compression garments, especially sweatproof ones, help keep everything in my legs aligned; I used to have problems with my hips pulling my knees out of alignment (not anymore). I don't think compression sleeves are strictly necessary, however.

    In general, you can strengthen your knees with squats, lunges, leg lifts, and lower body exercises. Anything that will strengthen your quads/hams will help take pressure off your knees. If recovery is the main goal, there are some great yoga poses for the legs (half butterfly, for instance) that might help with pain and recovery.

    Most important: if your knees hurt, STOP! Go slow and low-impact for a bit. Knee surgery is expensive, painful, and doesn't always work.

    Regarding heat and cold: heat shouldn't cause any damage after 48 hours of the initial injury. A bath with epsom salts might really help your muscles out. RICE (with cold) is also a valid treatment, especially if there's pain.

    Good luck!
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    Please don't put some random brace from amazon or the super center on your knee. Go to a medical professional to diagnose any issue and recommendation treatment.

    Best of luck.
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Please don't put some random brace from amazon or the super center on your knee. Go to a medical professional to diagnose any issue and recommendation treatment.

    Best of luck.

    +1, especially if the pain is constant, severe, or you've had it awhile.
  • giorgioc722
    giorgioc722 Posts: 65 Member
    edited March 2016
    No, it's just my paranoia. Ever since I got tendonitis two years ago I've been paranoid. At the moment anything I feel is because I hit my knees or I messed up on a trick and a tendon didn't agree with it, hah.

    Don't know why my knees make me so worried that they won't last. I need to get over it @_@

    Can't hurt to properly take care of them tho when I hit the ground or over use :expressionless:

    I appreciate your guys input a lot :D

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