What are the 6 habits that leads to knee pain?

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1. Sitting cross legged

This behaviour has become a habit for many of us, whether it is in the office, sitting at a waiting room or relaxing at home. How is this related to knee pain?

When we cross legs, the knees are bend and when it remains in the position for a long period of time, this will cause stiffness to knee joint. It will also stretches one side of the ligaments which will lead to imbalance and instability of knee. These would makes the knee joint susceptible to injury.

Sitting with our legs crossed leaves our hips uneven and forces our pelvic to rotate. When our hip is uneven, weight-bearing will be uneven causing one side of our knee to hold more of our body weight. Therefore, more pressure is placed on our knee, increasing the likelihood of developing into a long-term issue.

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2. Wearing the wrong shoes.

One of the main contribution is instability. A good support especially for your ankle is important during physical activity. When your shoes don’t have enough support, neither do your ankles and knees. Without good ankle stability, most of the weight bearing load or pressure are concentrated onto your knee. As time pass, this continuous pressure will lead to knee pain.
 
For knees to function properly, they have to be in good alignment with your hips and feet. Wearing high heels change the angle of your feet, forces you to lean forward and hence putting more pressure onto your knees.
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3. Lazy Standing

One of the posture that many people adopt when they have to stand for a long period of time. Either slouching or leaning towards one side of the body. This way of standing puts alot of loads on your hip and knee joint. This in turn causes wear and tear in the long run.

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4. Exercise without warm up and cool down

Warm up helps to increase blood flow to your muscles and raising your body temperature, preparing your muscles for activities or exercises that your are about to do. Cool down helps to bring down your heart rate and maintain flexibility of your muscles.

Exercise without warm up and cool down increases risk of injury and may cause you knee pain.

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5. Carry load on one side

Some of us likes to carry bag on one side of our shoulder or hold heavy items with one hand, especially on our dominant side. By doing this may cause hip misalignment and increase pressure on the knee joint as well.

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6. Sitting for long periods of time.

Sitting for a certain length of time can cause your muscles and joints to stiffen if you stay in the same position, leading to pain and discomfort. Together with poor posture, there is a higher risk of knee pain as your core muscles get weaker and hence, putting alot of pressure to your knee.

Read our article on “Is there a Right or Perfect Posture for Sitting?” and “Easy Exercises to do at Home” to learn more on what you can do if you are required to sit for long hours.

 

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