Great guest post on knee pain!

                

A year ago I had an accident on the racquetball court that tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and left me with an injured knee. The surgery that followed required a six-month rehabilitation period where I had to slowly work on regaining range of movement and flexibility in my knee and developing my thigh muscles; only then would my doctor allow me to get back on court to resume playing. My routine consisted of squats, leg lifts, lunges and other exercises that would strengthen my quads and hamstrings, and of jogging and cycling to improve my movement and get rid of my limp.

Today, I am back to playing normally again, with only a slight twinge now and then to remind me of the injury and surgery, but I still continue to work on maintaining strength in my thighs, because, according to my doctor, I must continue to work on exercises that help develop and maintain my thigh muscles, that is, my quadriceps and hamstrings. In his words, "The stronger your thighs are, the less your chances of injuring yourself again, and the smaller the probability of your knee paining as you play."

A recent study conducted at the University of Iowa determined that women who had strong thigh muscles were less likely to suffer from arthritis than those whose thigh muscles were not as well developed. In fact, your chances of arthritis go down by 50 percent if your thigh muscles are strong. Reason enough for women to focus on strength training, wouldn't you say?

Most women are hesitant to work out with weights or with any form of exercise that involves developing muscles because they think it will make them look and feel masculine. But the truth is that working out with weights helps strengthen your muscles and bones and thus prevents injuries and accidents. Now add to this the fact that you're less likely to be affected by arthritis when you grow older and it becomes all the more important to strengthen your thigh muscles when you're young.

Strong thigh muscles determine how easily you walk and how comfortably you're able to get out of a chair or from any sitting position. The more you use your thigh muscles, the stronger they become. The study also reports that women with strong thigh muscles are often free of pain even though they are afflicted with arthritis. However, the results were not conclusive when the study was performed on men.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of physical therapy assistant schools. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com