Do you know the what the main cause is for knee and hip replacements? Advanced Osteoarthritis. Poor muscle strength and control leads to degeneration of your joint capsule, causing pain and eventually leading to advanced osteoarthritis when the condition worsens. This is a common issue we see in our Senior clients who have been active all their life, but over the last couple of years has really been held back by achy and painful joints. They’ve seen their GP for years who has prescribed them every medication under the sun to relieve the pain. But it just doesn’t fix the problem. Here are the top 3 tips from our Senior Physio at Dural, Lawrence, to help you stay strong and keep your joints healthy: >> Click here to enquire about our services <<#1 Lower back stretchThis is a classic stretch and is well known – but so many people do it wrong!! Lay on your back and twist your pelvis to one side WHILE keeping your upper back flat. This is very important to make sure the lower back/pelvis is getting a good stretch! #2 Hip/glute strengtheningThis exercise is to target the glutes, the major muscles that control your hips. Without good glute muscles, your hip can be “out of whack” or “out of alignment” which causes your hip and knee joint to suffer. Place a band around your knees. Sit back into your hips and stay nice and low – you should feel a burn in your buttock muscles. From there, slowly slide one hip outwards to stretch the band – you should feel the glutes on BOTH legs start to work hard. Enjoy the burn. ![]() ![]() #3 Reverse lungeThis is the best way to work the quads, hamstrings and glutes together at once. Keep your weight over the front leg as you step back into a lunge. Your chest should be directly vertical to your foot. Don’t go too low, just as far as you can control. A common mistake with this exercise is lunging too deeply and taking tension off the muscles and placing too much load into the hip and knee joint. If you found this useful, send Lawrence an email at lawrencek@activtherapy.com.au and let him know what else you would like to learn about! You can find also him at Activ Therapy Dural (located at Round Corner), just opposite from Petbarn and the newly built Duke of Dural. If you’re simply fed up with your pain, aching and stiffness and want to fast track your recovery, click on the link below to make a booking. >> Click here to enquire about our services <<
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