How to Do Physical Therapy Exercises for the Knees

Transcript Hi, my name is Eric Sampson and I want to talk a little bit about how to do a split squat. Split squats are a very high level exercise used in the exercise population, as well as the rehab population and physical therapy clinic. It’s considered a closed chain exercise, just like your traditional …

Transcript Knee replacement surgery is a very common surgery now. I started working in the field a number of years ago. In fact, my first job was working on patients that had total knee and total hip replacements and even then, it was coming a long way in terms of the protocol and the technology …

Transcript Osteoarthritis is one of the most common problems in our facility. It’s very common in the older population, and the reason why is because, in order to get to osteoarthritis you have to have a number of factors happening first. Osteoarthritis is basically going to be inflammation of the joints and in this case …

Transcript Dislocated kneecap or dislocated patella is not that common. It can occur of course, but it isn’t very common. What you have is a situation where the quadriceps tendon, which is basically the end of your quadriceps muscle, forms a tendon and it attaches to your patella or your kneecap. Then from there you …

Transcript So if you’re having a knee problem and you’re involved in a physical therapy program, the physical therapist will likely provide you with a home exercise program which will be modified almost every time they’re in the clinic, the patient’s in the clinic. But if you’re going to try to deal with your knee …

Transcript A lot of people ask me when I’m at the office in my own clinic, “Why does my knee hurt when I’m sitting at my own office? I’m just sitting, getting my work done, but it’s really hard to concentrate when my knee is aching and hurting.” They’re not sure why that is. Usually, …

Transcript The cause of ligament tears is pretty simple. It’s almost always going to involve some sort of a traumatic event. The ligaments in your knee are fairly strong by nature. They’re thick. There are two ligaments that run on the outside of your knee called your medial collateral ligament and your lateral collateral ligament. …

Transcript By nature, cardiovascular exercises are going to be repetitive exercises. We’re doing the same thing over and over and over again and this can really be damaging for our knees. It can create or accelerate the wear and tear process. Now some of your cardiovascular options are a little less strenuous, towards this wear …

Transcript If you’re having some knee pain and it’s fairly acute or sub-acute in origin there’s only one way to go. You’re going to want to use ice to help you with this pain for a couple of reasons. The ice first of all is what’s called a vasoconstrictor, meaning it’s going to constrict the …

Transcript Jumper’s knee is more of a generic term for what’s called patella tendonitis and patella is your formal word for your kneecap, so it’s an overuse injury, because of the word tendonitis. That’s an inflammation injury. The pain is usually experienced just below the kneecap, at the level just below the kneecap or as …

Transcript There are a number of injuries that can result from overuse. Typically, if you have the -itis suffix at the end of the word, your bursitises, your tendonitises, your arthritises, these are your overuse injuries. There’s a lot of warning signs that go on, in this case the knee level, that often get missed …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about how to properly do a hamstring stretch. The hamstring muscle is really a generic term to describe a group of muscles in the back of your leg running from your ischial tuberosity, it’s called, in your pelvis …

Transcript ITB syndrome is a common thing we find in the clinic. It’s a very sharp and painful type of injury, although it does get better with some rehab in the clinic. ITB syndrome stands for your iliotibial band and that is your tissue that runs along the lateral side of your leg, stemming from …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a little bit about some exercise options for the knee with using a resistance band or a stretch band. What’s interesting about a stretch band or a resistance band is it has a unique quality to it. As you are pulling the band, …

Transcript There are a number of causes to a meniscus tear. The two most common ones would be your traumatic knee injuries or your traumatic versus your insidious onset or degenerative, it’s called. They’re two very different causes. The degenerative issue is more of a wear and tear process. The cartilage inside your knee, the …

Transcript Hi, my name is Eric Sampson and I want to talk a little bit about what patients can do, what people can do at the office in the presence of knee pain. A lot of people are suffering at the office with their knees and it’s usually not just the sitting that is causing …

Transcript There are a couple of things we can do to help our knees and protect them from injury. Obviously, most of us know at least one or more people that have suffered from a knee injury. We know that they exist, certainly. And even if you’re not having any problems, but you’re very active …

Transcript Anterior knee pain is the word that we use to describe pain in the front of your knee. Anterior means front of so we’re talking about pain at the front of your knee, maybe just below the kneecap. But by and large, it’s not the back of your knee, i’s going to be the …

Transcript Relieving knee pain in bed is a common problem that patients have. They’re finally trying to get home and get some sleep or some rest and they’re having trouble getting comfortable. They may have an ongoing knee problem and it’s really rearing its ugly head when they’re in bed and they’re not sure why. …

Transcript There’s a couple of exercises and a couple of things you’ll want to consider if you just had surgery on your knee. First of all, most of the surgeries for the knee are going to be serious enough where the doctor is going to encourage you to do some physical therapy and get involved …

Transcript There are a number of options for physical therapy, when we’re having a meniscus patient, if it’s torn, if the meniscus is torn, the likelihood of them having it repaired is pretty strong, so the doctor will often provide a protocol-based therapy program after surgery, in the case of surgery. But if it’s a …

Transcript Bursitis is a very common problem we have in the clinic, and it really is referring to an inflammation of the bursa, and what the bursa is, is these almost like fat pads right along the joint line and right inside the joint of all your joints, not just your knees. They are there …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about some knee strengthening options for the running population. Very often runners have a set schedule during the day or during the week with regards to how many miles they want to run and how they want to …

Transcript Tendonitis is your most common type of overuse injury. Just by definition it’s going to be an inflammatory problem of the tendon, and what the tendon is, is basically the end of the muscle. So there’s a little confusion with that, but as a muscle starts to narrow and head towards a bony prominence …

Transcript I get asked a lot from patients whether or not they should be using the bike at the gym, and specifically, whether they should use the recumbent bike, which is the bike that has the back rest and you’re kind of in a long sitting position versus the upright bike. The more stationary bikes …

Transcript Hi, my name is Eric Sampson and I want to spend a little bit of time talking about good knee stretches for the running population. There’s a little bit of research going on saying that about 20 minutes of stretching for every one hour of running or exercise is very important. Most people are …

Transcript Hi, my name is Eric Sampson, and I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about some exercises to try to avoid in the presence of knee pain. Now obviously, there’s a lot different kind of problems, different pathology’s, injuries, ligament tears, miniscule tears, tendonitises, but in general there are a few things to …

Transcript Sit to stand lifts are a great exercise in the clinic. It really masks the functional activity that we do all day long, sitting and standing from our chairs in the office as well as home, and in the presence of knee pain, it really is a great exercise to work on, because you’re …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a little bit about partial squats and full squats for your knee and basically the differences between the two. Partial squats and full squats are both considered our ankle, knee, and hip all have to work together to complete the exercise. This is …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I’d like to spend a few minutes talking about how to properly train your VMO. The VMO is short for your vastus medialis oblique. It’s the inner portion of your quadriceps muscle, which is basically the front of your thigh. The VMO is very important to train …

Transcript Hi, my name is Eric Sampson and I want to talk a little bit about how to stretch out your calf muscle. The calf muscle is really a generic term for two muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus. They’re very similar in that they attach to your Achilles tendon at the ankle, but as …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a little bit about how to do a heel raise on a step. Doing it on a step is basically a progression from doing it from the floor, and the reason why it is a progression is that when you’re on the step, …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a little bit about how to do a forward step-up for you knee. It is a great exercise to work during on your functional part of the recovery for many knee injuries, such as meniscus injuries or tendonitis. It’s a great exercise because …

Transcript Hi my name is Eric Sampson, and I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about how to do a very high level exercise called the Heel Raised Squat. It’s basically taking two exercises, two great exercises for your knees and combining it into one. Now obviously, if it’s your first time doing …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to speak a few minutes about doing a side leg raise and why it is so important for not only your hip and your back, but also for your knee. First of all, your knee, you have muscles on all four sides of your knee. …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a few minutes about how to do a lateral step-up. A lateral step-up is very similar to a forward step-up or an anterior step-up. It works great in combination with the anterior step-up. The one big difference is that you’re going to be …

Transcript Hi, my name is name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a little bit about how to do an inner thigh lift in side lying. It’s a great exercise, and it is often not done in the clinic as well as in the general population enough. It is a very important exercise …

Transcript Hi, my name is Eric Sampson and I want to talk a few minutes about how to do an ITB release using the foam roller. An ITB is short for your iliotibial band and this is your piece of tissue that runs along the lateral side of your leg, stemming from your hip all …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a little bit about how to do a quadriceps stretch. Quadriceps is probably your most important muscle for your knee. It is the large muscle in the front of your knee. It is made up of four parts. That’s why it’s called a …

Transcript Hi. My name is Eric Sampson, and I want to talk a few minutes about how to do a wall squat using an exercise ball. It’s a great exercise to use as an intermediate step, transitioning to a traditional squat in free space. Using the ball or the using the wall will provide a …