“You have to wait until you’re over sixty to have surgery,” the doctor said while I was there for yet another shot in my knees. At the time, I was just over fifty and had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, which is a long name for having the cartilage in your knees (or any joint) busted out, leaving you have no cushion in your joints. You end up with bone-on-bone contact.
Today, the pain is gone.
So, where are you in your knee pain? A “5”? An “8”? Have you been diagnosed with osteoarthritis? If it’s something else, I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. You’re not one either. Here’s what worked for me:
- Lose weight so there’s less riding on those bones.
- Do the following exercise. With practice you can complete the exercises in 10 minutes a day.
You will not regrow cartilage, but you will build up the muscles that support the knee, so that the entire joint will be stronger. You have to decide that living without pain is what you want, because the only way this will work is if you do it, and don’t cheat it. Don’t stop either.
Step 1. Take these three pills
- Faith (that it will work)
- Discipline (to keep you working on it every day)
- Honesty (to register your activity and progress)
Step 2. Buy a set of ankle weights
- The ankle weights should total 5 pounds for each leg.
- They must have removable bar weights.
- They can be any color.
Step 3. Make a spreadsheet like this and print a few copies
Step 4. Take all the bars out of the ankle weights except one and wrap one ankle weight around each ankle.
Step 5. Sit down on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you
- With your legs straight, lift one leg, just a little. Lift 10 times (reps) on each leg.
- Do not do more than ten reps to start, you could end up hurting yourself.
- Log in the sheet how many you did.
- Make a note of any pain.
- Have faith in the process.
- Stay with ten until it does not hurt to do them.
Step 6. Lay down on one side. With your leg straight, lift the top leg a little for 10 reps
Lay down on the other side. With your leg straight, lift the top leg a little. 10 reps
Step 7. Lay down on your stomach. With your legs straight, lift the right leg a little for 10 reps.
Now, switch legs to another 10 reps.
Step 8. Log your progress on Day 1.
Step 9. When you can, increase the number of repetitions in each position to 15 or 20 with one bar.
Step 10. Put the next bar in each ankle weight.
- Go back to ten reps on each leg.
- Monitor your progress and your pain/comments on the sheet.
- Stay with ten or go to twenty reps
- Smile
Step 11. Do not stop doing the exercises!
Add more reps and more weights as you are able. Push yourself a little every day, but don’t push too hard. Gradually add weights and reps as you increase your strength.Once you have the exercises and weights figured out, you will be able to do this in 10 minutes a day. While you are working out these muscles, listen to music, watch a YouTube video or get pumped up with a cool Podcast. Don’t get discouraged if it takes a long time for results. It took me a full nine months but it worked! It’s been seven years since I cured myself and I have no pain today.
One final point: I highly recommend staying under a doctor’s care before, during, and after your exercise routine starts working for you. A doctor will also be able to make further recommendations for you concerning relieving knee pain through simple exercise.
Featured photo credit: Knee pain via static.pexels.com