Do you have pain around your knee cap? Does the pain come on by the end of the day or is it aggravated by activity? You may have patellofemoral syndrome (PFS). PFS happens when the knee cap doesn’t track correctly in the groove it sits in which tends to irritate the soft tissue around the patella. A lot of times, weakness in the hips contributes to PFS. Your glutes (muscles in your hips) work to keep the hips level and prevent the knee from collapsing in (picture A), but when they are weak the hips start to collapse which lets the knee dive in (picture B) and causes the patella to not sit correctly in its groove. This can cause pain usually on the inside of the knee but can also be all around the patella.
A simple exercise can help you strengthen your glutes and hopefully decrease your knee pain. Pictured below is an exercise called “clams” that specifically target the glutes to help prevent your knee from diving in.
1. Start by laying on your side with your hips as forward as they can be.
2. Keep your heels together and open up your knees
3. Only go to the point before you feel your hips want to roll backwards.
4. You should feel this exercise in your glutes (butt).
5. Do as many as you can until you FEEL THE BURN in your glutes and can’t do anymore.
6. Take a 1 minute break and then do another set until fatigue.
7. If you want to challenge yourself more, add an elastic band above the knees.
Making a muscle stronger takes 6-8 weeks but you should notice a difference in about half that time.
