Help me unlock my knees, please.

October 21, 2009 1:19 PM

Help me unlock my knees, please.

I've been having knee pain off and on for the last 6 months. It gets much worse during seasonal changes, like right now. Yes, I am overweight and losing that weight and exercise will certainly help that, but I need some help right now.

I find that due to the pain, combined with my general klutziness, I tend to walk and stand with my knee locked. If I concentrate, say, while walking the dogs, I can manage to remember to unlock my knee, during my stride, when I walk, but I'm having a hard time remembering to unlock it while I stand and perform other tasks, like cooking, laundry, etc.

Any suggestions? Yes, of course, I know YANMD.

posted by sarajane to health & fitness (4 comments total)

When I was in junior high, there was this thing where if a kid was standing with locked knees, another kid would sneak up from behind and lightly kick one of them. The person with the locked knees would immediately lose balance, and from that moment on would be on guard for future attacks. In other words, they'd be cured of the habit out of sheer paranoia.

So there's that.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:25 PM on October 21

Tai chi was what helped me realise to begin with that I was locking my knees, and helped me to bring my awareness to my knees much more during day-to-day life. I've been doing it for 3 years now and have found it has done wonders for my posture and stance. If you go to a beginners class they will be able to ease you in gently and avoid any stances which put too much pressure on the knees, while still giving you a chance to focus on relaxing your knee joints.
posted by greycap at 1:28 PM on October 21

The only thing that works for me is to exaggerate the movement of bending my knees. So while walking, do a silly walk and REALLY bend your knees. (It worked for volleyball also to have my dad constantly throw shit at me if I was locking my knees, but that's not helpful in the long term.)
posted by sperose at 1:58 PM on October 21

I have learned to do basic things like sit, stand, and walk properly from doing some private sessions with a Pilates trainer. 60 bucks an hour but totally worth it. I have also had knee trouble in the past but am almost completely untroubled by it now, in part (large part, even) because of learning to get in and out of chairs, and up and down stairs, and stand without creating strain.
posted by not that girl at 9:01 PM on October 21