As Spring blooms and summer quickly approaches, many of you will be heading to play some cricket, tennis, or netball with your friends for the next few months.
This is arguably the most exciting time of the year, but it’s important to take proper proportions to avoid hip and knee injuries over the coming period.
Jumping for that dunk, diving for that catch, or sliding for that backcourt winner? A hip or knee injury could end your summer fun before it has even begun.
Can you imagine the emotional strain of spending summer days stuck inside? Or even worse, having to watch your team lose a cricket tournament final, as you’re forced to watch from the sidelines.
In this article, you will discover the 3 worst hip and knee injuries to avoid this spring and 3 exercises to help you avoid them.
Let’s keep your summer active, and keep the pain away.
What Are The Worst Hip And Knee Injuries?
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tear
An ACL tear is one of the most severe injuries you can experience in sports. Want to take your children and dog on a hike this spring? Try again next year.
You can easily tear your ACL when suddenly changing direction, such as in basketball. The result? Excruciating pain, swelling, and instability in your knee joint.
Anyone can suffer an ACL tear. Those who do, often require surgery and extensive rehabilitation to regain strength and stability in their knee.
This lengthy process can prevent you from playing sports for months, if not a year.
The best solution is prevention. Ensuring you warm up properly and partake in strengthening exercises is essential to reduce your risk of this devastating injury.
Hip Labral Tear
If you’re a lover of tennis or golf, you’re prone to a hip labral tear – a significant hip injury caused by repetitive hip movements.
Your labrum is a ring of cartilage that lines the hip joint’s socket that aligns your hip joint sockets, and when this tears, it’s bad news.
You would likely be victim to persistent hip pain, limited range of motion, and extreme discomfort during physical activities.
Worse, recovery can be challenging, and rehabilitation would be needed to restore your hip function fully.
Therefore, to minimise the risk of hip labral tears, athletes should focus on maintaining hip strength and flexibility.
Meniscus Tear
An injury familiar to football or rugby players, a meniscus tear is a painful knee injury.
Your meniscus is a wedge-shaped cartilage in the knee joint that acts as a cushion for your knee. When you tear this you will suffer with sharp pain, swelling, and even difficulty straightening your knee.
Physical therapy can ease meniscus tears and without physical therapy, surgical intervention would likely be unavoidable.
Recovery can be slow, and thus it’s crucial you follow a tailored rehabilitation plan that will allow you to continue playing the sports you love.
What Exercises Can I Do To Avoid Hip And Knee Injuries?
Single-Leg Squat
The single-leg squat is a crucial exercise to help you keep ACL tears at bay. Through strengthening the muscles around your knee joint and improving knee stability, the exercise will enhance your quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus muscles.
- Step 1: Stand on one leg
- Step 2: Keep your Knees aligned with your toes
- Step 3: Slowly lower yourself into a squat while maintaining balance
Ensuring you incorporate this exercise into your routine will keep you, your children, and your dog happy.
Clamshell Exercise
You should focus on hip strength and flexibility to prevent labral tears. The Clamshell Exercise is your best friend for this purpose, By targeting your hip abductor muscles, this exercise will strengthen the muscles around your hip.
- Step 1: Lie on your side with your legs bent at a 90-degree angle
- Step 2: Ensure your feet are touching, and keep them together
- Step 3: Lift the top knee as far as you can while maintaining your pelvis’s position.
Lunging Hip Flexor Stretch
You need to focus on maintaining your knee joint health and stability. The Lunging Hip Flexor Stretch helps improve hip and quadriceps flexibility, while enhancing your hip joint function.
- Step 1: Start in a lunge position
- Step 2:Put one foot forward and the other extended behind you
- Step 3: Lower your hips toward the ground while keeping your back straight and pelvis tucked under
By maintaining good hip and knee alignment, you substantially reduce your risk of meniscus tears. Therefore, it’s essential to incorporate this stretch into your routine.
Are You Ready To Speak With An Expert And Relieve Your Hip And Knee Pain Today?
Hip and Knee pain can be excruciating for both the body and mind. Whether it’s recovery after surgery or watching your teammates from the sidelines, you don’t need to accept a disappointing summer.
Our job at Walkerville Physiotherapy is to help people like you, return to a pain-free life, without pills or surgery. That’s why we are offering a free Activity Readiness Assessment until the end of September.
This test allows us to create a personalized plan of action that is tailored specifically to target your pain points.
We understand some of you will have tried these exercises before and are maybe sceptical about returning straight to a clinic. That’s why we offer a free phone consult by phoning us at 8342 5544.
Allow yourself a helping hand today.