This video, I'm going to show you how to instantly fix knee
pain from going downstairs. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to quickly
fix knee pain from going downstairs which tends to come
about due to weakness and tightness in three muscles that
are responsible for stabilizing the hip, leg, and knee during
that down the stairs movement. So, the muscles that we're
going to focus on are the glutes, the quadriceps, and the
tibialis anterior muscles and to make this easy, I'm going to
break this video up into two separate parts. In the first part
we're going to focus on getting rid of that tightness and the
second part we're going to focus on long lasting relief
with some great daily strengthening exercises. All of
the exercises work just a little bit differently so go
through them all use what offers you the most amount of
relief. As a bonus, all of the exercises can be done at home
and you may find we'll give you quick knee pain relief, even in
as little as 30 seconds! So let's get started and fix that
knee pain going downstairs right now. In this part, we're going
to focus on a big cause of knee pain while going down the
stairs which is tightness in the muscle ligaments and
tendons around the knee. We're really going to focus on the
quadricep muscle the top part of the leg right here and going
into the patellar tendon. This is known as gua sha or muscle
scraping and it's quite amazing. It's perfect for getting quick
knee pain relief. We just need a couple things. The first being a
large metal spoon, you want one with a little bit more thickness to
it, you'll get better results. The next being a form of
lubrication. I'm going to be using coconut oil massage
lotion but you can use any massage lotions or creams. You
just want to coat the whole area around the knee. Below,
above, on the sides. You want to put plenty on there because you
do not want friction during this exercise, it doesn't feel
good. So, what I'm going to start with is using my spoon
right here. It doesn't matter what part you use. You can use
the rounded portion. You can use the handle. Actually,
experiment with both. Whatever works better for you, go with
it but I like to use the handle. I'm going to start
right at the top part of the kneecap right here. So, I'm
going to take my spoon, angle it roughly about twenty-five,
30 degrees, and press into the soft tissue. Before we start, I
do want to make a note that only go over soft tissue like
skin and muscles. Stay off bony spots because that can cause
irritation but apply just enough pressure in there where
it's going to be a comfortable self massage. You want to do a
upward strokes with this one, towards the heart. I just apply
enough pressure in there where I feel a very good massage and
go over as one spot for about five times. Just nice and
slowly. When you do this, you're probably going to notice
that red pockets start to form at the top of the skin. I don't
know if you can see it here on the video. That is completely
normal. That's blood flow coming into the area which is a
good thing because it helps promote healing but you want to
do this process five times and then just switch to a spot
around the leg and repeat. When you do this, you're going to
notice that a certain spot may feel very gritty, like right
here for me. I can almost feel like a muscle knot. It kind of
feels like sandpaper to me. I make note of that and throw
more repetitions in. What you're doing is breaking up
adhesions and getting rid of that tightness that might be
causing that knee pain while you're going down the stairs.
So, repeat this whole process around the top part of the leg.
Sides, top, and also make sure to hit the hamstrings in the back.
After that, what you're going to do is go around the kneecap.
I like to use the tips of the spoon right here and just start
to dig in there really focusing on any spots that just feel
tight and achy. So, go all the way around the kneecap right
here. From there, we're going to attack the calf muscle and a
little bit around the shin. So, again, just repeat this process
going all the way around the calf muscle right here. If it
feels really good, you can go all the way through the
Achilles into the heel. This can pretty much be you on any
muscle in the leg that just feels tight and achy but
explore the whole area and focus on the spots that need it
the most you can also take this one to the next level by
putting the knee into different positions so go straight with
it bend it any spot that you feel like it's activating that
tightness or just feels a little bit more painful where
you're going to do is locate the centered spot of pain like
let's say when I put it right in this angle I really start to
feel some tightness right here around my kneecap that's when
I'm going to up right there, dig in there, try to get that
tightness out, and then do that motion again, and see if it
helps out. It's just a wonderful way to really target
the spots that need it the most. In this part, we're going
to focus on lengthening and strengthening the muscles
responsible for going down the stairs. If you not only want
quick pain relief but also to prevent it, you have to
strengthen everything. This first exercise is known as the
step down. It's going to mimic the process of going down the
stairs. The nice thing is it will help you progress into it,
identify weaknesses and really help build the glutes up which
help stabilize the hips, and then also the quadricep muscle
which will help stabilize the leg while going down the
stairs. I'm going to be using a basic step up exercise board.
If you have one of those, you can use it but I would
recommend just going next to a staircase. One with a handrail
or a wall that you can use to stabilize yourself. So, I'm
going to start with the easiest way to do this exercise and
then progress into more challenging ones. Just place a
couple of hard-covered books right in front of you at the
front of those stairs. Put all of your weight on your heels
during this exercise. You're going to put your hands on your
hips, tighten your core muscles for a little bit more support,
have very good upright posture. I'm going to start by just
mimicking the movement of stepping off a staircase. So,
I'm going to bend one knee and then I'm just going to put one
leg in front of me, tap the book, hold for a second, and
then just come back up. You want to focus on engaging the
muscles in the front part of the leg, the quadricep through
the hips and the glutes and the buttocks but I try to do this
one nice and slow for about 10 to 15 repetitions. If this
right here is not causing any pain or discomfort and it's
quite easy. You can make it more challenging by going down
but don't let your toes or foot hit the book right here. Hover
just slightly above it. You'll really feel the quadriceps
engage including the glutes in the I try to hold this for
about 5 seconds, come back up, and then just repeat this one
five to 10 times. Again, if you're able to progress into
that without any discomfort, what you can do from there is
just take one book off. The further that you go down, the
more challenging this will get. So, progress to going all the
way down towards the floor but only progress when you feel
that you're able to control this movement right here and
you're not having any pain. So, we're easily able to take our
foot to the floor, we're going to take this one to the next
level by putting some more dynamic movement in there to
help build the muscles up even more and identify more
weaknesses. Let's get back into our original upright position.
This time around though, I'm going to pivot forward through
my waist through my hips, keeping my back straight so we
don't want to round it and then I'm going to take my hips and
butt and drive them backward while leaning forward to touch
the floor. You'll notice during this variation that it activates
the glutes a lot more. This helps build stability in the
hips and pelvis while going down the stairs. So do this one
nice and slow for 10 to 15 repetitions. From there we're
going to do the opposite. We're going to lean backward while
keeping our back straight. This time around what you're going
to notice is it hits the front of the leg, the quadriceps a
lot more. So when you put this together, we're going to focus
on building hip stability and also leg strength to control
the of going down the stairs. Go through both variations. If
one feels like it's just addressing your tightness and
weakness a little bit more, throw in another set or two.
You always want to focus on the movements that feel the most
tight and weak and when you're done on one side, always switch
to the other to keep them both in balance. So, once we feel
comfortable with going down, let's switch gears and go in
reverse to hit the muscles just a little bit this is known as
the reverse step down what I'm going to do is bend one knee
have my heel up on that side, all of my weight is going to be
placed on my toes and the ball of my foot. From there, we're
just going to step up and then once we get up to the top we're
just going to lower our heels down keep them flat and then
just return into that original position. When doing this you're
going to notice a ton activate right here in the front part of
the leg, that's the quadricep controlling this movement. So I
want to do this one nice and slowly for about 10 to 15
repetitions and if you feel like you have a little bit more
energy, you can throw in another set or two. Just
remember, whatever you do on one side, switch to the other
to keep them both in balance. A commonly overlooked cause of
knee pain from going down the stairs actually comes from
below the knee with the tibialis anterior muscle. This
muscle helps stabilize that movement. So, when there's
weakness and tightness in there, it can lead to a lot of
things including pain. This exercise is very easy to do and
will help strengthen it. We just need to go next to a door
or a wall. So, I'm going to press my butt into the door,
have my feet angled out in front of me, keep my legs
straight roughly hip width apart. I'm going to put all of
my body weight on my heels. From there, I'm just going to
lift my feet and toes upward like this. The more that you go
up, the more that you're going to feel the calf muscles
activate but more importantly, you're going to feel it right
below the knee. Really focus on feeling it there. That's how we
know that we're hitting that tibialis anterior muscle. Hold
this position for about 5 seconds. From there, you're
just going to relax, take a breather, and then repeat this one
10 to 15 times. With each repetition, try to drive up
just a little bit more. Afterwards, if you feel like
you have a little bit more energy, you can throw in
another set or two. If the exercises help, please support
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please leave them below. I'll get back to you as soon as I
can. Thanks for watching!