: : : : : Health Report : : : : :
But the knee’s intricacy also makes it
vulnerable. An injury, even one you suf-
fered years ago and forgot about, can
render your knee slightly unstable, like
a car that’s rattled itself out of align-
ment. The tissues holding the knee
together shorten, pulling the bones out
of their ideal positioning. To imagine
what happens next, think of your mis-
aligned car’s balding, frayed tire tread.
That’s what the cartilage looks like in-
side an unstable knee. If it wears away
completely, you have bone-on-bone
arthritis, a painful condition.
Femur
Meniscus
Patella
Articular
cartilage
Tibia
SO HOW CAN YOU KEEP your knees
agile and pain-free?
;; Move more “I know it sounds
counterintuitive, especially if your
knee is sore, but the most important
thing for knee health is to be active,”
says Leigh Callahan, Ph.D., an associate
professor with the Thurston Arthritis
Research Center at the University of
North Carolina. A knee that isn’t used
stiffens; the muscles around it start to
atrophy, and because these muscles
would otherwise absorb some of the
shock that moves up the leg with every
step, a stiff knee has to take on more of
the body’s weight than a supple one.
;; Strengthen your thigh muscles
In a 2009 study of 265 men and women with knee osteoarthritis, Mayo
Clinic researchers found that those
with the strongest quadriceps (thigh
muscles) had less knee pain and better
physical function than those with the
weakest. But there’s a right way and a
wrong way to build those muscles. If
you’re an avid gym-goer, avoid the leg-extension machines, Kenny suggests.
“They put far too much stress on the
knee joint,” he says.
;; Stretch regularly Maintaining
flexibility is important, especially in
the muscles and tendons that connect
directly to the knee, such as the hamstrings and the quadriceps. If these tissues become overly taut, they can pull
the knee out of alignment.
;; Lose the weight, finally Losing
as little as 5 percent of your body weight
can dramatically reduce your chances
of developing knee arthritis, the most
common cause of knee pain, according to the authors of a study presented
last November at (CONTINUED ON PAGE 86)
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KNEE-FRIENDLY EXERCISES
Charles Kenny, M.D., a Massachusetts orthopedist,
recommends the following three exercises to
strengthen the muscles that attach to the knee.
First, be sure to complete a short, five-minute
warm-up (such as walking or jogging in place), to
get blood moving to the muscles. —G.R.
ILLUS TRATIONS BY KAGAN MCLEOD
STRAIGHT-LEG LIFT
Sit against a wall, with one leg
bent and the other straight.
Gently lift the straight leg off the
floor. (It won’t go far.) Hold for a
beat. Lower the leg gently. Repeat
a few times, then switch legs.
WALL SQUAT
Imagine you’re sitting in a chair
with your back against a wall,
only there’s no chair there. Stay
in that position for 10 seconds,
then slowly straighten up.
SIDE SHUFFLE
Just like it sounds: shuffle
quickly to one side, then stop
and shuffle to the other. This
will strengthen the muscles on
either side of your knees.
