Do your knees hurt?

Or even just feel the need to constantly roll your outside thigh out on a foam roller?

A common cause of knee pain is a muscle imbalance surrounding the knee cap and joint. The outer quad and other hip flexors can become overly dominant and throw off the normal mechanics.

This muscle imbalance typically occurs due to a pelvis that is stuck in a forward tipped position causing the glutes, hamstrings and inner thigh muscles to work inefficiently. The outside quad muscle and hip flexors can become very tight, overworked and can pull the knee cap out of position.

If this pattern of movement is not corrected, the knee joint can degenerate over time and develop meniscus tears and arthritis.

Tips on how to decrease and prevent knee pain:

1. Avoid locking your knees out. Hyperextending your knees will over-stretch your ligaments causing excess shifting in the joint and degeneration over time.

2. Work on strengthening your lower abdominals, glutes as well as inner thigh muscles to improve pelvic, hip and knee mechanics.

3. Stretch your hip flexors and quads to take the stress off of your knee cap.

4. When standing, make sure you feel 3 points of contact under your foot - heel, outside, and under ball of foot.

For guidance in preventing further knee injury or to decrease current knee pain, reach out to Dr. Greer Mackie at physioDENinfo@gmail.com or call 314-629-7403.