When it comes to an orthopedic knee doctor, Fox Valley residents need to know when it is time to see one. Since knee injuries are common, it is important to know how to best prevent the injuries from happening. Knowing how to protect your knees is critical so that you can avoid potentially debilitating injuries.
Balance Out Your Cardiovascular Exercise
You know that cardio is important, but it can also be very hard on your knees, especially high-impact cardio. You want to do a mixture of low-impact and high-impact cardio so that you are reaping the full benefits of this type of exercise for your whole body while also helping to give your knees a break. Swimming, for example, is a type of low-impact cardio that is perfect for protecting your joints.
Make Sure to Do Flexibility Exercises
You need to improve your flexibility to protect your knees and other joints. When you are more limber, you are less prone to injury. You want to do flexibility workouts about three days a week to help promote flexibility and to maintain the flexibility that you already have. It is a good idea to engage in flexibility exercises after you complete a cardio workout so that your body is fully warmed up and ready for extended stretching. Never stretch “cold” muscles because this puts you at risk for injury.
Check Your Nutrition
Your joints need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy, so ensuring a varied and balanced diet can be very beneficial. Go for foods with a more alkaline nature, such as berries, ginger, dates, spinach, avocados, apples, kale and papaya, which are all more alkaline in nature and are also packed with the nutrients that your knees need to be healthy.
Look at Your Shoes
You need to wear shoes that are supportive so that your knees have the stability they need. This is especially important when you are active. You want to replace your shoes approximately every six months so that you can be confident that they are constantly providing the right level of stability and support.
Brace Your Knees
If you have a history of knee injury, do not be shy about wearing a brace on that knee. This helps to keep your knee more stable so that it is less prone to injury. Something as simple as a slide-on Ace wrap will get the job done and help to keep your knees in good shape.
As you can see, protecting your knees is very important. If you do experience a knee injury, it is critical that you speak to an orthopedic knee doctor as soon as possible to get started with the proper treatment.
Get Started
Request a consultation with one of the knee specialists at the Orthopedic & Sports Institute. Call (920) 560-1000 or request an appointment online.
OSI has convenient locations to serve you. The campus in Appleton includes clinics, a surgery center, MRI, physical therapy, and a skilled nursing facility, as well as a walk-in clinic that provides care for new orthopedic injuries.
OSI has outreach clinics in New London, Ripon, Shawano, Waupaca, and the newest location serving the Green Bay area, inside the NOVO Health Clinic in De Pere.
OSI is a proud member of NOVO Health.