Posts From June, 2021

If you have injured your knee, you may find that doing anything other than sitting down can be very painful. Knee injuries can make it hard to walk, climb stairs, or even stand for any period of time. Doing basic physical therapy exercises to help strengthen your knee can help you heal faster and get back to your regular activities. Here are a few of these basic exercises.

Make Sure It’s Safe to Exercise First

However, before you start doing any of these exercises, you want to make certain that they won’t cause even more damage. Talk to your physical therapist about your exercise plan. They will advise you on what exercises will help, what ones you need to avoid, and how much you should exercise in the beginning. If you don’t follow this advice, you could hurt your knee even more.

Leg Raises

One of the simplest exercises to do early on when your knee is still on the weak side is a straight leg raise. This helps to build up the muscles around the knee without putting a lot of strain on it. Simply lie down on the floor, bend your good knee, and put your foot flat on the ground. Left the other leg up, keeping it as straight as you can, until it’s about the same height as your bend leg.

You can also do the prone version of this exercise by lying on your stomach instead of your back. Now left the leg with the injured knee up behind you, again keeping the leg as straight as you can. Hold it in the air for a few seconds, then lower it before repeating. As your leg and knee get stronger, you can start wearing a light ankle weight while doing these exercises.

Calf Raise

Stand behind a chair, sofa, or other support. Raise up on your toes as high as you can, using the support to keep your balance if you need to. Hold the pose for a second or two, then lower yourself back down. Once you’ve reached the point that your knee can take some weight, you can lift one foot off the ground while raising up on your toes.

These are just a few basic exercises for your knees. If you’d like to learn more, the team at Maximum Orthopedics can help you out.

• Posted on: Jun 24 2021
• By: admin

Have you done something to your should that has caused it to hurt? If you have and the pain doesn’t seem to be going away, you need to see a doctor as soon as you can. However, in the meantime, there are a few things you can do to deal with this pain and prevent it from getting worse.

Rest Your Shoulder

First, it’s important that you don’t do anything to further injure your shoulder. Rest your shoulder as much as you can. Try to avoid stretching up to reach for items or lifting anything really heavy. If the pain increases while doing an activity, stop immediately. When the pain has decreased, go slow when you begin resuming your normal activities so you don’t re-injure the shoulder.

Use Ice

Icing your shoulder will reduce inflammation and can help with pain. You’ll want to wrap ice in a towel or other cloth—do not place ice on your skin without some kind of barrier in between. Ice your shoulder for 15 minutes at a time, with at least 15 minutes in between applications. You can use ice on your shoulder three to four times within a 24-hour period. If after three days you aren’t seeing any improvement, you need to see a doctor.

Use Heat for Tense Muscles

If your shoulder is stiff and the muscle hurts, you can try heat. This will help relax the muscle and relieve some of the pain. If you know you have arthritis in your shoulder, heat is a good option. A heating pad or a heated gel pack can be used regularly.

Use Over-the-Counter Medication

Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are two over-the-counter medications that will help you with the pain and with inflammation. Take them as directed, and be certain that you aren’t mixing medications in any dangerous way. If you already take medication for chronic pain or are on a number of medications that may not mix well with pain pills, talk to your doctor before you use anything.

If you continue to have pain or if the pain gets worse, you need to see an expert. The team here at Maximum Orthopedics can help you with any type of shoulder pain. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

• Posted on: Jun 15 2021
• By: admin