ADAPTING EXERCISE for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

By Susie Black - get free updates of new articles here

This article series is designed to offer hints and tips for adapting your Pilates moves to suit common aches and pains. To be clear, this is a series on making long term issues more bearable so you can continue to stay fit - not a series on causes, prevention or treatment.

Today we'll look at knee pain. For most of my clientele, knee pain will stem from osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. OA is a condition where the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones breaks down, causing pain, swelling and problems moving the joint. Bony growths can develop, and the area can become swollen and red. (Redness can be harder to see on brown and black skin.)

Pain Points and how to adapt

1. Kneeling: OA of the knee can cause pain when on all fours, in side or upright kneeling positions, especially when closing the knee joint by sitting back onto the heels. Try using cushions under the knee joints to increase the padding. A squishy ball behind the knee will prevent a tight knee bend from creating pain. In class we've also been known to use a larger pad under the shin to take the pressure from the knee joint. itself.

2. Squatting and knee bends with body weight: Any kind of knee bend can feel uncontrolled and painful with OA. Technique counts for a lot here (push through the heels, stick your bottom out behind as if siting into a chair) but additional physical support may be the best solution. Smaller ranges of movement plus using a chairback or counter top to help share the workload out to the arms will reduce the body weight going onto the knee joints while they're under the strain of the bend.

3. Twisting: the knee is designed to withstand a little twist - think of the torment that footballers but their knees through! Twisting a knee with OA isn't funny so we can add support and padding for mermaid positions to reduce the twisting action, reduce the range of movement and use the arms to assist with support.