Foam Rolling for Knee and Hip Pain


Hey everyone! I get many questions regarding knee pain at the clinic and wanted to share with you a common stretching tool I use myself and recommend too many of my patients. Foam rollers can be a great way to help alleviate tension in a muscle, stretch surrounding fascia, and increase blood flow. You may use any type of foam roller but I prefer using a longer roller with a firm density. The reason foam rolling works so well is that it addresses muscle and facial tension as well as increasing blood flow to the area. Often times the Illiotibial Band will become overly tightened and begin pulling on the knees joint capsule. When this happens, tracking issues and irritation or a form of tendonitis may develop. Chronic knee or hip pain may be a result as well as Illiotibial band syndrome.
Keeping your quadriceps and Illiotibial band healthy and loose can help eliminate minor knee pain. If foam rolling and stretching do not help your chronic hip or knee pain please seek a local Neurosomatic therapist in your area for a postural assessment to determine if you have other underlying issues that may be keeping your pain from being eliminated 100%.

Quads!!!

1. Now, to begin rolling start in the prone or downward position with both quadriceps’s touching the roller (see below).
2. You will use your arms to not only support your upper body but to help push your legs back and forth over the roller working the entire length of the quadriceps.
3. Stop, Pause and breath on any area that feels painful or tight. Move slowly across the roller to ensure you get the muscle and fascia to release. *Do not rush this!*





To get more out of your foam rolling try this!

4. Crossing your non-working leg/foot over the leg you are rolling shifts your body weight and helps increase pressure, this is a great way to get to deeper muscle fibers!

*This can be considered an advanced foam rolling technique, be cautious if your legs are not conditioned to rolling.





IT Band!!!

1. Start by lying parallel with the floor on top of your roller.
2. Support your upper body with your forearm and non-weight barring arm (see below).
3. Using your weight barring arm, push yourself back and forth rolling from the bottom of the hip to the top of the knee. Again, move slowly across the roller to ensure you get the IT Band and underlying muscle to release. *Do not rush this!*




To get more out of your foam rolling try this!

4. Cross your feet, using your top non-working foot to leverage your working leg up. This greatly increases tension on the IT Band.

* This can be considered an advanced foam rolling technique, be cautious if your IT bands are not conditioned to rolling.


After rolling your Illiotibial band for 5-10 min I recommend doing additional stretching of your choice for either the hamstrings or hips.


A great foam rolling routine can greatly reduce leg tension and minor knee and hip pain. This would be great for those of you siting at a desk all day, runners, cyclist, and anyone else who carries excess tension in their legs. This wraps it up for SPTC tip of the week. I’d like to thank my friend Ben Russell for helping me shoot this. Ben is a personal trainer at crunch fitness on Bee Ridge road in Sarasota, FL specializing in. Stay tuned for our weekly stretches, exercises, and recommendations to help make your life pain free! 

Please visit our website and Like and Share us on Facebook! www.PainfreeSRQ.com

You can find Ben on his facebook page at www.facebook.com/ben.russell.372661?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Runners! Is Achilles Tendinitis Limiting Your Performance?

Image
                         Runners! Runners! Runners! Achilles tendinitis is a condition that has not only plagued runners but many other athletes. Often this may sound worse than it is, so let me explain. The large tendon in the back of the ankle (your Achilles) can become irritated and inflamed. Achilles tendinitis is common with many recreati onal athletes and overuse of the Achilles tendon can cause damaging inflammation leading to pain and swelling in the ankle. This is onset by overuse of calf muscles, reduced flexibility and over pronation of the feet. Other factors attributing to your Achilles tendinitis are recent changes in footwear, and changes in exercise training schedules. Many times long distance runners will have symptoms of Achilles tendinitis after increasing mileage or hill training. Age plays a factor in this as well, as we get older tendons, like other tissues in the body, become less flexible, more rig...
Read more

Got Weak Grip???

Image
We often have patients coming into the office complaining of a weak grip or even pain while gripping. As you can imagine this can easily make daily activities that we take for granted everyday seem very difficult. Symptoms such as a weak grip, pain near the elbow, and pain on either side of the forearm can be a result of hypertonicity in the muscles and soft tissue. Overuse and/or miss use of both the flexors and extensors in your forearm can lead to symptoms like these.  We don't normally think that the small repetitive movements we do everyday affect us but I assure you, they do. Office workers clicking a mouse, mechanics wrenching on cars, and even massage therapist using their hands constantly day after day takes it's toll. A weakened grip can not only stem from hypertonicity in the tissue but can  also be a result of nerve entrapment in the forearm. You have three common impingement areas in your forearm from three common muscles. The Supinator, Flexor Digitorum Superfici...
Read more