This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/jz0L0q-CnOE Brad: This knee pain, man. Mike: Today, we're going to show you three tricks that physical therapists use to help treat your knee pain. Brad: Right, and as therapists, it's really enjoyable in the clinic to do a nice technique that relieves the pain, the person smiles, and everyone else in the clinic is happy as well. You really feel like a champ. Mike: You're not grumbling anymore. Your knee pain must be gone already. Brad: Yep. See, it works. Mike: So we're going to go over three techniques that we have tried and tested in our clinics over numerous years, and often see success with them. Now you don't have to do all three of them every day. Try them all out, see which one feels best for you, and stick to that one. Brad: Now, I personally had great success with these in the clinic, particularly with people with arthritic total knee replacement, meniscus problems, and they really have done very well. And like I said, people get relief quickly. It's a good feeling. Everyone's happy. Alright, a brief explanation of why number one works. This first technique is the joint itself, if we can decompress it or actually get a gap between the articulating or the surfaces that contact each other, that can be relaxing, reduce pain, particularly if there are arthritic problems in there. Brad: And at the same time, we're just going to allow the leg to swing back and forth like a pendulum. So hold on, we're going to show you how it works for real. Okay, for this first decompression technique, you'll need to sit in a chair that's got a firm base and also that your foot is not on the floor. When you relax, it needs to be up a little bit. Now Mike is up on our mat. You can see his feet are clearly swinging back and forth. I actually put some cushions underneath me and a pillow, and it's still touching a little bit. So I'm going to take my hands and go underneath my knee, right up to what they call the fossa or the crux of your knee. I'm going to pull up gently, and just like Sam was showing on the skeleton, we want it to swing back and forth, relaxing every muscle in your leg so it acts like a pendulum, decompressing or distracting that joint, just like we mentioned. And then you just get it swinging. You can see my hands here are allowing it or kind of forcing it to swing. I'm not kicking it, I'm relaxed and getting it going. Brad: Now, Mike's got something that's going to help some people even more to get more distraction. Go ahead, explain how you're doing that, Mike. Mike: So I just have a cuff weight on, so it's a little more weight. Putting it around your ankle distally will help distract the tibia bone from the femur bone. Again, I'm in a relaxed position. Make sure your hips are relaxed as well. My hips were engaged. You could see how tight they are. This is going to actually compact the knee joint, especially if you swing too much. So be very relaxed with this. Now I'm on a firm mat here, so I don't really have to put anything behind my knee because that's going right in that fossa area there. But you can use your hands up here as well. But yeah, just let it swing, distract, and it should feel good if you're having some pain. Brad: That's right. Now this is what we have, if you don't have an ankle weight, you can actually put a heavier shoe, or, like up where we live in the north, put one of your winter boots on, and that will be enough weight. Typically, one or two pounds is enough. As far as time, if you're doing it and it's feeling good, I would do this for about 30 seconds to a minute because I would actually hold the patient's knee like this, and then my hands would get tired, and I'd say that's a good time. Brad: I would do that two or three times. If you're doing it to yourself like this, just go as long as you feel comfortable, and you can repeat it throughout the day as much as you'd like. Alright, the second technique, you're simply going to take a towel, roll it up. It doesn't have to get too thick; it's all going to depend on your body size and how your knee is working as far as the mechanics of it. So you'll take a towel and you're going to put it right under your knee. Now you can do this in a seated position. I'll show you that. And then there's also going to be one standing next to your bed. But you put that towel right up in the crux of your knee. Again, that's the popliteal fossa. Nice term, isn't it? And then we're going to actually grab below the knee on the shin. I'm going to scoot out on the edge of my chair so I can lean back, and I'm going to pull, and that actually acts as a lever or a fulcrum, and it distracts the knee. Brad: When you do this, you feel good. Like right now, I can feel it, and it does feel good on me. I don't have a knee problem right now. But all these techniques, if they hurt, you don't do them. This is not a no-pain, no-gain technique on all three of them. Should feel good while you do it, and after you're done, get up, walk around, also should be a good response and feel better. If it makes it worse while you're doing it or afterwards, you put a red line through it, and you do not do that technique. It's not for your knee. Mike, can you show him how to do it using your bed and the towel like that? Mike: So this is a little more aggressive than the way Brad was doing it. Maybe you just have some mild knee pain. As long as it doesn't hurt to actually kneel on your knee, this should be fine. Obviously, in your bed it's softer, so don't be as aggressive as this mat table. So just place your knee up on the towel, same position. And as soon as I start leaning forward, that is mimicking Brad, pulling his knee towards his chest like that. Same concept, but you can get a little more aggressive and lean into it that way. Mike: Again, hold it for seconds or repetitions, whatever feels comfortable for you. If you really want to get aggressive, this may be for you. Brad: Well, just wait. Wait one second, Mike. I also want to emphasize leaning forward but also putting your butt down towards your heel. Mike: Flex your knee more. Brad: Yes. Mike: So if I'm leaning forward like this, I am collapsing my knee. But if you keep your butt down, you're even bending your knee even more. So you're getting more distraction in there. Brad: It's kind of hard to see on camera, but it does when that drops down. Distract only if it makes it feel better. Okay? It's very important. Mike: Now, if you're younger and you have some knee issues and you want to get your range of motion back, maybe it's back of the knee pain. You can certainly do this in a tall kneeling position as well. But you have to be comfortable kneeling. Same concept, sit my butt towards my heels and this gets a nice opening in that knee joint there. Brad: That's right. That is more aggressive again. You're going to do that if it feels good, and you're probably younger and pretty mobile. Mike: This feels pretty good for me. Brad: See? There you go. And he's younger and mobile. Alright, the third technique was actually created by Brian Mulligan. He's a therapist. He's been around for decades. And this is a nice technique if it works. It's very simple. And what we're going to do is, if your knee particularly does not flex all the way, we want to have a good range of motion that can easily be the cause of pain. Once you free it up, then things get better. So if your knee is tight flexing or extending, but particularly in flex, then this is a good technique. So the whole concept is that the knee does not want to flex further than this. But if you rotate one way or the other, the tibia, which I'm showing here, can be enough to break things free, so to speak, and get more range of motion without pain or actually feeling good. Brad: So I'll show you how you can do that on yourself because it's a little harder than this. Okay, this is the knee in question. Now you need a chair that has a firm seat pan. Okay? Not a soft, cushy one that will not work so well. And then I'm going to go lean forward to that point where it's a little painful, and we want to see if we can get to that normal range of motion. Okay? So what I'm gonna do is actually grab below the knee, and we're going to get a hold of that tibia. Now we've got a lot of soft tissue that kind of moves, so it's not as easy as it was with Sam. So I'm going to grab it tight, hold it there. And then I'm going to first assess the range of motion. Say, "Oh, it hurts there." If I rotate things to the right, I'm actually going to turn my foot to the right, rotate, and go again. See if you get more range of motion without pain. Brad: Let's say, "Eh, that doesn't seem to work so good." Then I'm going to turn my foot in, grab and rotate that tibia in. We get a little rotation, turn the foot, and then again. Brad: Now, what'll happen oftentimes is one way it won't help, the other way it does, and you're going to work the way that feels better. Less pain, more range of motion is a green light to do it. Just five to 10 times. Probably 10 would not be the one I'd go to right away. Just up to five repetitions like I'm doing here. Let it go. Walk around on it. If it feels better, then as well as while you're doing it, green light. Do that three or four times a day. Again, assess which way feels better, then only do the way that feels better. And after doing this, you'll find that it loosens up in all phases and will have good results. Follow the rules, only do it if it feels good while you're doing it, and afterwards, you'll do very well. Now we have to come up with the outro for this. Mike: We have something else to talk about, too. They could try. Brad: Ah, that's a good point. Now, if you're finding that as you do one of these techniques and motion feels better, we can progress to a little bit of weight through it and helping the muscles get stronger, then one thing you can do is sit in a chair. A firm chair works better. This one's not so good. A chair like Mike's is better, but I can demonstrate. And you put something slippery on the floor. If you have carpet, I'm just using the book with a smooth, shiny cover. I'm going to put a foot on there. If you have socks on, you can go on a shiny floor, whatever makes the resistance low, and you can simply go back and forth like this and get things moving. Go back as far as you can. It should be pain-free, particularly if the Mulligan technique was working for you. That'll be helpful and really coordinated with that technique. And do this for a few minutes, and do it throughout the day. Mike, we have something a little more designed specifically for this. Mike: So this is a Bob and Brad Knee Glide I am using right here. You can simply sit down and use it. You can also use it in bed. Just set it up to where your knee motion is, and you can bring it back more or closer. You can also change the pitch and angle on it. And this is just another way to mimic the same motion here. Brad: That's right. And that is the big advantage of this is you can change the angle, which can be really helpful, particularly after a knee surgery. You can emphasize the quadriceps, or emphasize the hamstring strength, and it actually makes it a little easier to flex, we found, particularly again after surgery. So it's been working very well for us over the past, I don't know, Bob, five, 10 years, probably closer to 10 years we've been selling these, and people have been happy with them. Not that we're making a sales pitch or anything, but they're nice devices. There you go. We gave you a number of options and information on how to get that knee working better, pain-free, and keep you moving. And we have another video if they have other concerns. Mike: Yes, watch our video " Knee Pain Gone In Seconds- Top 5 Fixes Known For Success! " - if you have knee problems still. There are just some different exercises and options in this one. Brad: Options, options, and more options. You just never know. You always have to have plan B. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/_eXEVJ4rBdE Brad: We recently made a very popular video on how to use trekking poles, and there were two big mistakes that people were asking about, according to the comments. I want to clear it up and get right to it. Mike: So, if you couldn't tell by my great walking pattern there, I was showing the two biggest mistakes, so do not copy me. So, before we get into how to actually set up your trekking poles properly, we're going to talk about two other benefits you get from using walking sticks. Brad: Number one, stability and balance. You decrease your risk of falls and feel much safer when you walk. Mike: The second benefit is that you're actually engaging your arms and shoulder muscles more. And typically when you do that, you're going to end up burning more calories. Brad: That's right. Mike: So, on our previous trekking poles video, 92% of the viewer audience was over 55 years old, and their two most common questions were "How do I adjust my trekking poles to the right height?" And "How do I actually grip this without my hand bothering me?" Brad: Right, and what this is especially important for is, if you have arthritic hands or fingers, or any problems with your particular shoulder joints, this is really going to play an important role in that. So we'll go through them very detailed, and you'll understand how to do it properly and enjoy your trekking much better. Okay, first, we're going to go over the first big mistake is how to adjust these, because these trekking sticks are easily adjustable. They actually have numbers on the better sticks that tell you where you were. So you remember it when you fold them up, and you can bring them back to the accurate and most appropriate level. So if we look at this stick, it's way too high. I'm up high. The idea is to get your forearm parallel to the floor. So this is way too high. Brad: Mike, you want to show them one that's too low? Mike: So this stick is way too low. Mike: You can see my arm is extended out more in front of me if I keep it down by my side. This is not parallel at all. You roughly want to have about a 90-degree bend in your arm. You could see this stick I have set up to roughly a 90-degree bend in my elbow joint here. Brad: So this one also is adjusted properly. So again, depending on what kind of stick you have, you simply can slide it in and out. If they have numbers, in centimeters or inches, make a mental note or write them down. That way, it's very nice for when you close them up and again, reopen them for walking next time. Okay, another big benefit of having the sticks the proper height is that it takes the stress off your hands, wrists, and forearms and puts it more into your shoulders. So, using larger muscle groups, they will fatigue less and they'll burn more calories. Good for your posture as well. Now you're going to see the way I'm holding this stick is improper. Brad: The way I have this stick strapped in is proper. You may not say, "Well, what's the difference?" We'll show you the difference in detail and why it makes a big difference on your hands, wrists, and fingers. Mike: A lot of difference there. Brad: Okay, so this stick I said is improper. My hand is through the loop, and I'm grabbing here. Now this gives you a very strong tendency to grab with your hand tightly, so you have good control of the stick. And if you let loose of that, your hand will drop down, and you do not have very good control. So it makes you even want to grab more, which really can irritate the joints and the fingers and the wrists, as well as fatigue the muscles, particularly the little muscles in the fingers. Brad: Both of those facts create hand pain. And you're saying, "Why am I using these sticks that just make my hand sore, tired? It's no fun." Mike, can you show them specifically how to do it wrong and how to do it right? Mike: So when it comes to putting the strap around your wrist, the improper way, you would be reaching down from the top through the hole and then grabbing the handle like this. Again, if you lose your grip, your hand's kind of there, and it can slide out relatively easily. Mike: So, what you want to do is once the circle is in the proper position, go up from underneath, and then you essentially grab the handle here with the wrist strap all at the same time. And there it's not going to move around when you're walking. Brad: Right, this will make a big difference. Make sure that the strap is nice and smooth around your wrist. When you come up, remember the web between your thumb and your finger is where the two straps go. And there we go. Have both of them like this, and you'll get a feel for that. Brad: And then when you walk and you're pushing down using the shoulder muscles, you can do this literally without using your hand and wrist muscles, just a little bit for control, but it really makes a nice difference, much more comfortable. Give it a try. Be patient with it, and you'll find out, "Oh yeah, this is the way it should go." Okay, quickly, the first two things, the pole adjusted right, as we mentioned, and grabbing the strap right, now, cadence. We're going to step forward with the left foot. The right hand goes forward just like when you walk without your sticks. The opposite arm and the opposite leg mirror each other. If you don't think about it, you'll probably do it right. I find that with most patients, when I teach them how to use sticks or canes. So the next thing is, don't reach out in front like this. Brad: That's not going to help you at all. Simply leave the stick drag or lift it up slightly and work it here, and then you push to get yourself to move forward. I'm pushing forward. There we go. Then you get a little propulsion from your arms, triceps, and shoulders primarily, which is going to help burn some calories. It's going to help with your posture. It's one of the big benefits of using trekking sticks properly. Mike, do you have anything to finish up? Mike: If you'd like to check out another video on how to use trekking sticks or poles for beginners, watch " Walking Sticks Or Trekking Poles - For Beginners: All You Need To Know! " That one goes much more in-depth on a lot more of the nuanced features of them. Brad: That's right. For example, going up hills or down hills, there's something important that you need to do about that, so you're stable and safe. Just an example. And anything else, Mike? Mike: No. Brad: Are you going to use these poles when you go hiking? Mike: I'm going to put these back in the cupboard, and they can sit for a few more months. Brad: Good luck with your trekking. It does help a lot. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

If you have not already done so , you may want to watch What Is Causing Your Knee Pain? Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome or Kneecap Pain? How to tell? This is a six-week program of strengthening exercises designed to help stop kneecap pain. Weeks 1 & 2: 1. Lie on your back. Straight leg raises (3 sets of 10). 2. Isometric Quadriceps with knee bent to 90 degrees (2 sets of 10- 3 second hold) 3. Mini squats to 40-degree knee bend. 4 sets of 10. 4. Hip Abduction (side lying) 2 x 15. 10-second hold. 5. Clamshell with resistance band 2 x 15 10 second hold. 6. Fire Hydrants 2 x 15 10-second hold. Weeks 3 & 4: 1. Wall Slide 0 to 60 degrees (3 sets of 10). Strengthening Exercises to Help Sore Kneecap Pain (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome) 4 2. Step up/down 8 inch (3 sets of 5) 3. Lunge to 45 degrees (3 sets of 10) 4. Pelvic Drop (2 sets of 15, 10 sec hold) (On Step) Weeks 5 & 6 1. Single leg stance (3 x 30 sec) Open/closed eyes on mat. 2. Walking- progressive increase 3. Running- progressive increase Check out the full Knee Pain Relief Program series of videos, along with downloadable guide sheets, here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/knee-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/ElhfFWVYC9g Mike: Do you suffer from hip bursitis and are not sure where to begin? Brad: Well, today we're going to cover four little-known secrets to help you recover from this as well as get back to moving better, walking straight again. Mike: So, to understand hip bursitis, we're going to go into a little bit of an anatomy lesson here. So here we have the femur bone. And this landmark, this bony area here, is known as the greater trochanter. Mike: Typically, throughout the body, on bony landmarks, we have things called a bursa. They're like a fluid-filled sac. And what they help do is reduce friction from muscles or tendons that go over these bony prominences. Brad: Right, and I'll demonstrate that with this piece of tape. It may be like the IT band ligaments that actually go over this bony prominence. And again, if while you're walking, moving, it tendencies to to glide over that. And if you don't have the bursa in there, that will definitely get inflamed, irritated, and wear out. So what the key is, is that the bursa sac actually has a lot of nerve endings, and when it gets inflamed, it becomes very tender. And as this moves over that bursa sac pain, pain, pain, we need to eliminate, get rid of the stress on this area, so the bursa is back to functioning without pain. Mike: So some of the causes of this increased friction on the area are maybe you increased how much activity you're doing, walking, running, exercising, etc. Sometimes it's just that. Other times, you are compensating with your muscles; certain muscles are engaging, and others are weak. So what we're going to do is go through some stretches and some strengthening exercises to help alleviate these issues you may be having. Brad: Now we would like to say we figured out which muscles you need to strengthen and stretch, but it's not true. It actually comes from a physical therapist named Rick Olderman . He has a whole book. He explains this and the muscle, the stretches, and the strengthening exercises, which are the four we mentioned. We'll go through them clearly and very shortly. Go ahead, Mike. Mike: So, oftentimes when it comes to hip bursitis, on most people, their hip flexor muscles often become tight and overused. These muscles help flex your hip, help with walking, running forward, and oftentimes, your glutes become weak. So first, what we want to do is stretch these hip flexors out with the stretch we're going to show you now. Brad: Yes, and then we'll go to the glute and how to counteract that. So the two exercises complement each other. Mike: So there are many ways to stretch your hip flexor muscles; however, this way works for most people. So you need to lie down on a firm surface of sorts. If your bed is firm, you can use a countertop, kitchen table, or whatever you have. And you're going to begin by bringing both your knees to your chest. The closer my buttocks are to the edge of the table, the more stretch I will feel in my hip flexors. I'm going to lower my left one down first. And once I get down here, I'm going to try to bend it to 90 degrees. If you're tight like me, you probably can't get a 90-degree bend. And then make sure to pull the opposite knee towards your chest. You can see once I do that, my hip flexor tightness will pull up a bit. Try to push it down. Hold this roughly for 30 seconds. Also, make sure your leg doesn't drift out to the side. If you're tight, try to keep it in a direct straight line. Breathe throughout it. Once you do one side, reset the back, both knees to chest, and then drop the other side. You may notice one side is much tighter than the other. Maybe spend a little bit extra time on that side. Brad: Can you go back to the first stretch? Yeah, if we're looking at this side, I just wanted to clarify if it wasn't clear. The lower the knee goes, the better the flexibility in the hip flexors. However, when the foot pulls underneath here, it actually addresses one muscle that usually doesn't get addressed, and that's the rectus femoris, which goes from the patella of the knee all the way up to the pelvis. Brad: That's important. Now, you might have the knee go down this far on one side, and when the other one goes down, we'll just look at this, and let's say it only drops to here. Obviously, this is the tighter hip flexor. Spend more time on the tight side, but still address the other side, so you get some maintenance. Mike: Try to do two to three sets on each leg for roughly 30 seconds. You could do it numerous times a day as long as it feels good. Brad: Alright, the second stretch is very nice. It actually complements the first stretch, where we stretched out the hip flexors. Now, we're going to do the posterior or the back side of the hip, as well as the SI joint and low back in the hip extensors. So nice stretch. It also helps with low back pain, SI joint sacral iliac, as well as sciatica. Go ahead, Mike. We call it the all four stretch. Mike: So this is kindly known as a child's pose in yoga as well. So what we're going to do is be on all fours, hands and knees. I'm going to keep my hands in place and I'm going to slowly sit my butt towards my heels. Now, if you're tight and you have to stop here, it's perfectly fine. Just sit here for 30 seconds or so and then come back up. Over time, try to get your buttocks to touch your heels. Mike: Notice I have my knees wider apart. This makes it easier for me to sit on my heels. Once I'm down here, I'm going to breathe and relax. Try to hold for 30 seconds. If you don't feel much of a stretch in your back and you want to go more, simply reach forward a little more. Again, breathe throughout and then come back up. You're going to do that five to 10 times, hold for 15 to 30 seconds when you're sitting down in the low position. Brad: And another benefit of the stretch, it actually helps the shoulder blade as well as the shoulder posture. So you'll feel that stretch as well. This next exercise specifically addresses the glute maximus muscle. Mike did talk about it becoming weak, which is common. This will help strengthen it and also position the hip in the right position. It complements the stretch of the hip flexor exercise we did initially. Go ahead, Mike. Mike: So to do this, you need to be on all fours on your elbows, preferably. We will show a standing version here in a minute if you can't get into this position. So if I'm strengthening my left one, I'm going to bring it up. I'm not going to go all the way up or all the way down. You are going to pick a range kind of in the middle. This will keep the glutes activated the entire time. And you're just going to do little oscillating movements. Shoot for 15 to 30 repetitions. If you're not feeling much activation of your glutes, say you're feeling it in your hamstrings more, simply turn your foot in like this, and this'll help engage the glute a little more. Again, do 15, 30 repetitions on one side. Make sure to switch it and do it on the other side. Brad: All right. And obviously, this is a good exercise to do right after the all fours stretch because you're already in that position. Makes it more efficient. Alright, if that is not very comfortable as far as getting on all fours in your hands and knees, you can do this standing. Go to a countertop, a firm surface about waist level, hands on the countertop or whichever you're using, we're going to work the right side, bend the knee at 90 degrees. It's not way up like this or down, at 90 degrees. Keep it there. And then we're going to simply do the exact same motion. We're not doing large motions. Again, it's going to be short motions, about six to 12 inches, repeatedly doing them 15 to 30 seconds or 15 to 30 repetitions. And you can do the same thing if you rotate the foot down like this and work it like this, you get a little better emphasis on that glute maximus, and you will feel it. Same repetitions over time. Mike: If that becomes easy and you want to advance it, you can use a cuff weight, but you're going to place it on your thigh since that'll be the best angle for resistance when you're performing the exercise. Brad: There you go. The fourth and final exercise is gluteal walking. This one, you're going to find a little strange, but it does work. And the whole idea of it is to get your glute maximus to actually work properly in time with your hip. So the cadence of how you walk takes stress away from that greater trochanter and the bursitis. Again, it's a little strange, but it works, and it's not hard to do. Mike: So with most walking people, if they heel strike, this will put more impact forces through your joints, from your ankle, knee, hip, and even into your lower back. So what we want to do is walk more on our forefoot, land this way, versus with the foot way out in front of us in a heel strike. Mike: For beginners, we commonly recommend just going into your house, either in slippers or barefoot. If you happen to have zero-drop minimalist-type shoes, certainly wear those. But in your house, what you're going to do to begin is actually kind of go up on your toes if you're able to, and then just take little walks around the house, maybe 10 to 20 feet in distance. This will help engage your gluten muscles. Now, to begin, walk normally, how you normally walk. Place your hands on your butts. This is why we say do it in your house, and feel how your glutes are engaging, how much they're contracting. Now try to go up on your toes, tippy-toe walking. You should notice a significant difference in how much contraction you're getting in your glute muscles. This is a good sign, meaning your glutes are kicking in and firing, taking pressure off of your hip joint. Mike: So when you start walking outside, eventually over time, start slow, maybe walk a few blocks, and then progress over time. You're going to have to shorten your step length, meaning how far you step out. It'll feel a little awkward at first because you've been walking the same way most of your life. So just take it slow, and over time it should start to feel better. Brad: Yeah, and you don't exaggerate it and walk around the block on your tiptoes. That was to start out to get that feeling. Mike: Yes. Brad: When you have that slight flexion in your knee, four-foot contact, that really helps minimize stress throughout all the joints and takes that stress through the muscles, not the joints. Alright, if you want to get a better explanation right from Rick Olderman, go to rickolderman.com, is that correct? Mike: Yes. And you can check out his online programs there or his books, and you'll get a much more in-depth explanation of all this. If you want to check out another video on how to stop hip bursitis pain, watch " STOP Hip Bursitis Pain Without Seeing A Dr or Having Injection. " This video has Bob in it, so you'll probably like it more. Brad: There you go. Have a good day. Be careful, and walk well. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/9FuTuUGOJd4 Brad: Oh man, these hips are stiff. Mike: Many people like Brad complain about stiff hips, especially after sitting for too long, and when they first get up and start walking. Brad: So you're in luck, we're going to show you one stretch and two strengthening exercises to get those hips moving, more flexible, and feeling better, so you don't have that hip pain. Alright, so first let's talk about hip movement and the benefits we get from that and association with stiffness and pain. Mike: So movement actually stimulates synovial fluid production in all your joints, but if you're moving the hip joints specifically, that can help lubricate the area and loosen things up. Brad: It also increases the circulation in the muscles in the area, which is great for that. What's the next thing, Mike? Mike: It brings in blood flow to the region, especially the muscles, and it can actually help release endorphins, which are a feel-good hormone. Brad: Yeah, didn't I mention the blood flow already? Mike: I don't know. Brad: All right, so let's talk about those stiff hips and what we can do in regards to movements to make these hips feel better. Mike: So when you actually move around a joint, what happens is synovial fluid starts producing and moving, lubricating the joint itself. So if we get the hip joint moving, lubricated, it's going to be less painful and stiff. Brad: And also the movement gets the muscles moving and increases circulation, which is a big key to feeling better and moving better. Mike: So it can actually help improve your mobility and flexibility as well, which is very important if your hips are feeling stiff, and it also releases endorphins, just moving around, a feel-good hormone, it's going to perk you up, and make your hips all loosey goosey. Brad: And the great thing about this is that a simple exercise is that you do not have to be a really active person. If you're older or you have some weakness involved, you will be able to do these. They're seated position, all of them are actually. Mike: And one's lying down too. Brad: Okay, now these exercises are going to cover the range of motion in the hip and all the planes, which in the therapy world, we make sure we cover all the motions needed to get you moving. The first one is... Mike: A hook, lying or in a seated position, simply bring your legs out to the side and then back in. In the therapy world, we call the laying down one a clamshell exercise. So I'm just letting both hips drop out to the side. Go at what range of motion is comfortable for you if you're kind of stiff? Typically, after doing more repetitions, they'll start to limber up a little bit. Brad: That's right, and in the seated position, depending on how stiff you are, you can actually use your hands to assist in getting started after a few repetitions. Do it without the assist. If it's painful and you do have arthritis, just relax, allow your arms to help work through that. Brad: We want to get it moving with repetition; it should feel better. Then we'll go to the second one. Mike: Now, when it comes to doing this in bed, if your feet are closer to your buttocks, it's going to be a little more aggressive, so if this doesn't feel as good, you can certainly put your feet a little further away. This is less aggressive. Brad: There you go. Okay, number two, before we get into it, I want to emphasize we're not trying to do aggressive strengthening. It's a more passive range of motion. So, what you can do for the hip flexion up and down, watch my feet. I'm just going to move the hip by going up on my toes. So the muscles down by my feet are actually doing the movement. This is not a significant amount of movement, but if you've got hip pain, you've got some severe arthritis; this is plenty, and you'll know it. If they're feeling way too easy and you want more, simply take your hands, grasp around right above the knee, and lift up. Let the leg relax, move that joint. Brad: Use your arms to do the work. Mike, do you have any suggestions for that position? Mike: Now, in the lying down position, going up on your toes isn't going to do a whole lot, so you're going to have to grab your leg. If you can't reach it, you can certainly grab a belt. If Brad would be so kind as to hand me one. Brad: Well, I'll think about it. I'll use a towel. Actually, I really think a towel is a little more comfortable, but a belt around your thigh will work great. Mike: So you can just grab onto the towel, belt, whatever you have, and then just pull up with your arms. Again, I'm letting my leg basically go limp and just pulling it, moving it through passive range of motion. Brad: All right. Mike: Now, the last activity here is actually a stretch. We're going to stretch the hip flexors, which are in front of the hip muscles. So when it comes to doing this in bed, this is a very passive way to do it, especially if you have stiff hips, is to just scoot towards the edge of your bed. Make sure you don't fall off, and just slowly lower your leg down. If you're really tight, you may be way up, but try to let gravity just pull your foot down to the floor, and you should feel a nice little stretch. If you feel comfortable, want to get aggressive, you can certainly bend your knee a bit, but you don't have to just do what works for you. When it comes to stretching, typically hold for 15 to 30 seconds and do each side. Brad: And it's really important that you relax when you're doing this stretch so that the muscles do stretch out and get where they want to be. It's going to help that joint as well. If you're in a seated position, this one's a little more aggressive or awkward in a way. If you're in a chair, you're gonna have to have one that probably doesn't have an armrest, because it might get in the way. You can try it, but we simply bring the leg out to the side of the leg of the chair, let it go down. Or you can turn sideways, and that's where not having an armrest is handy. And then let it go down like this. And then back as far as you want. Now, if you learn forward, you're not going to get an aggressive hip stretch. This is okay if that works for you, but you want to try to get your shoulders up tall and get that hip to stretch. The further you bring the leg back and the higher you go with your shoulders, the more aggressive the stretch. Brad: Now this is even more aggressive. Only some people will be able to do this. It's a little awkward, but if you can grab your pant leg or around your ankle and pull up here, that even stretches the rectus femoris, which is a long muscle that crosses the knee. It is important and it's helpful if you can do that, but be careful. It feels awkward, you don't feel stable, don't worry about it. This will be more than adequate. Brad: Alright, now go through all of these. If any of them create pain or they're not comfortable, do not do them. Just do the ones that feel good and allow that hip to stretch. After you're done, it should continue to feel good. Now we do have another video that relates to this that you may want to watch as well, Mike. Mike: Check out, " Everyone with Hip Pain Should Try This One Certain Thing! " Now, this video, if these seem too easy for you, maybe a little step up in advancing to try to get your hip pain fixed. Brad: Alright, have a good day and keep your hips moving. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

If you have not already done so, you may want to watch What is Causing Your Knee Pain? Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome or Kneecap Pain? How to tell? These 5 stretches are designed to help most types of patellofemoral pain: 1. Hamstring stretch. Seated or supine. 3 x 30 seconds. Tight hamstrings can place more backward force on the knee, causing pressure to increase between the kneecap and the thigh bone. 2. Iliotibial (IT) Band Stretch. 3 x 30 seconds. A tight IT band can place an outside force on the kneecap and cause the lower leg bone to turn in. Lead to the kneecap being out of position. 3. Quadricep Stretch: 3 x 30 seconds. Tight quadricep muscles can increase the pressure on the kneecap. 4. Calf Muscles: 3 x 30 seconds. Tight calf muscles can lead to compensation by the foot (foot pronation - flat), which can increase the forces on the kneecap. a. Stretch the kneecap. Do not perform if you have loose ligaments or are hypermobile. Most often, tight toward the outside direction of the knee. May use a massage gun or foam roller. Check out the full Knee Pain Relief Program series of videos, along with downloadable guide sheets, here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/knee-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/SdqG00PCl0Y Mike: Are your hands feeling stiff, achy, or not just working the way they should? Brad: Well, we're going to show you our top 10 favorite tips that are going to help your hands feel better, move better, and have a much better day. Mike: Now, these 10 tips can help if you have a recent hand injury, maybe you had surgery, or perhaps you have arthritis. You can apply one or all 10 to see if they help you. Brad: Yeah, I think, personally, I've had a little bit of everything, and I've used many of these tips. I have some favorite ones we'll share. Mike: Tip number one is to actually warm up your hands. Now, if you just acutely injured your hand yesterday and it's swollen, you probably don't want to use heat right now. But once the swelling goes down, or maybe specifically if you have arthritis, heat can really help. Something you can try is just these handheld hand warmers . You can find them online pretty much anywhere nowadays, and they work pretty well. Brad: Absolutely. You can also simply go to the kitchen and wash some dishes in some warm water. It works well, gets them moving, and you get something done. Mike: Another option, specifically if it's winter time, they do sell heated gloves now as a good option. I know personally I have some family members who really benefit from wearing those during winter for circulation reasons, as well as stiff finger joints. Brad: Now, actually this segues right into a contrast bath, which seems a little weird, but what you can do is in the kitchen sink, fill up one sink with cold water, one sink with warm water, and you put your hands in the warm water for one minute, and then you go to the cold water. And actually, some people respond very well to this. Mike: So, you alternate doing that roughly five minutes. You can go longer than you want, but sometimes just having the nice warm and the cold can help with the blood flow in the area. Circulation just limbers those joints right up. The next option is some type of topical treatment or lotion. There are tons of brands that will work for this. Typically, you want something that either has menthol in it, like what we have with the Holy Cowabunga cream , or you can also use something with capsaicin in it, which is ironically found in peppers. Brad: Yeah, capsaicin. Yeah, we were just discussing that. Now, the next thing is a mechanical thing. In your house, if you have round doorknobs and you're finding it difficult to grab and rotate without pain, simply get a doorknob that is a lever. And actually, I've done that on the house to enter. I have a lever instead of a round one. And if I got my hands full when I'm taking the groceries in. Mike: Yeah. Brad: I can simply lift up with my knee and push that lever and open it up. So, you know, use your knee instead of your hands. Mike: We'll make a video of that in the future. Brad: I do not recommend that for people, though, but that's what I do. Mike: It's a good option. Okay, the fifth option of something can try is to use a splint or a brace of sorts. This might be handy, specifically when you're sleeping. Commonly, when people sleep, their wrist might get flexed, and they might form a knuckle, and then they struggle to open it up in the morning, and it's stiff. Just having some type of brace like this will keep your hand in a nice neutral position when you're sleeping. Brad: Right. And conversely, you may want to brace your hand when you're doing some work that takes a lot of labor with your hands to support. This tape I'm using is really nice. It's called Coban . It does not stick to your skin. But as you can see, I'm bracing my wrist. It does stick to itself really well, and you can simply pull it like that. Brad: And there, I have a nice wrist brace. We can go up into the hand or the individual fingers with this product. Mike: You have numerous color options with this stuff. Brad: Yeah, it's a six-pack. Mike: Now, tip number six is to take advantage of electric appliances. We're not talking about a washing machine and stove here. We're talking about things like can openers or even scissors. Getting electronic forms can really take the strain off your hands and joints, relieving pressure and issues you may be having. Brad: Right? Scissors, that's a real big one on my thumb. It just bothers me. So, if you can just grab, push a button, much easier, and they work really well. Mike: Now, these last four tips are actually going to be exercises and stretches. You may have some limitations, but just do what you can with them. Brad: Right, the first one is flexion, or bringing your hands into a fist. Now, you may find that you cannot do a full fist. This is me in the morning when I'm stiff, which I've been doing pretty good in the last year. And actually squeeze that hand together and make a complete fist if tolerated. If you get severe pain with it, don't go so hard. Make sure you do it as tolerated. Be gentle. Take your time. Brad: And then full extension. Mike: The opposite direction. So, this is tip number eight. So, opening your hand up. Some people can make a fist, but they can't extend back. Simply go as far as you comfortably can. Take your other hand, if possible, and try to push it open more. With arthritis, you may have it in both hands. But obviously, if you just had an injury to one hand, use your good hand to help out. Brad: That's right. I call this the mirror stretch because it's like your hand is on a mirror and you just push, and you can stretch both hands and wrists at the same time. That brings us right into the tabletop exercise. Mike: Tip number nine is going to be a handful of exercises here. I actually watched Bob and Brad's video and did all these for my own hand recovery after I broke it once I had surgery. Brad: Yep, this works very well. This is the tabletop, just moving the joints right at the big knuckles there. Brad: Okay, the next one is the claw. Mike: So, it's not a full closed fist, it's just making a claw like this, like you're doing a bear claw or something. Not the donut, but a claw, open and extending. You can do five to 10 repetitions. Mike: The next two go together. It's called abduction and adduction. Adduction is bringing all your fingers together. Abduction is fingers apart. You simply open up and close. Do 10 of those. Brad: That's right. Yeah, five to 10 of all these is typically good. Use good judgment on it. Don't do it for half an hour. A few minutes at the most. Then we can go to the individual joints of each finger, depending on which joint is stiff. Because sometimes, it is just one joint on a finger or a few different fingers, and you simply work each joint individually. Works quite well. Mike: Now, the last tip is technically called a joint mobilization. We're going to just focus on the wrist here for this one. Brad, do you want to show how to do this? Brad: Yeah, it works very well. This is a hand I'm going to mobilize. Relax it. Completely relax. If you rest it on the table or a pillow on your lap, and is actually a little better, simply grab with this hand here. Now, can we get a close-up of the wrist? Now, I'm going to pull, and you can actually see if we get close enough that I'm distracting or pulling apart the joint just a little bit. And then watch what happens when I stabilize the hand, but rotate my wrist. Then you get some nice wrist mobilization. Brad: After you do that, work some circles on that wrist. You can go up and down. Ah, there we go. After this, my hands are feeling much better. Yeah, let's go. Mike: Now, if you're still having some hand pain or discomfort and want to find some more stretches or exercises, you can check out our video,  " Pain Relief For Wrist, Hand & Fingers, 7 Exercises/Treatments ." Brad: There you go. It's us again. So, enjoy the day, and I'm sure you're going to find at least two or three of these helpful for your fingers, hands, and or wrist. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/kv1XytFlMro Brad: Oh, oh, cramp, cramp, cramp! What do I do? Mike: We're going to show you how to resolve night cramps so they don't terrorize your sleep. Brad: It's a problem, and a lot of people have them, and they are painful. Mike: So, we're going to show you how to stop these night cramps pretty quickly. Brad: That's right, it's really not that hard, we're going to show you and you're going to be able to do them at home as soon as we get done. Mike: And we have two non-traditional ways at the end that Brad would like to talk about. Brad: Why do you say it like that? They're actually legitimate, at least one of them is; we'll talk about that at the end. All right, a little brief explanation about a cramp and what happens, and why they hurt so much. We're looking at Mike's calf muscle. Can you actually flex it? Brad: Now you can see it's all tightened up. This is maximal flexion of this muscle, actually of the joint, but the muscle's tightening up, it's going into tetany. In other words, it's cramping as tightly as it can go. That is the painful part, and you really need to know how to loosen it, and it's simple. What we need to do is stretch that muscle out. Then the cramp will go away. So that's what we're going to show you for leg cramps because they're the most common cramps in bed, and the most common muscles are the calf muscle and the hamstring. We will cover those in detail. First, we're going to address hamstring cramps. They're very common, and Mike is lying as if he's in bed. Now, if you do experience hamstring cramps at night, I strongly encourage you to practice this and do it before you go to bed. Number one, you're going to know what to do when you wake up with a cramp, to eliminate it. And if you stretch these muscles before you go to sleep, practicing it, the chances of getting a cramp are a little bit less. That's my experience in the clinic anyway. Go ahead, Mike. What we're going to do, this muscle is cramping, it's pulling, and flexing the knee joint. So he's gonna grab underneath the knee with both hands, and he's going to push or bring this leg up that stretches the hamstring group of muscles. There are three muscles there. It stretches them out, and once they get stretched out, the cramp goes away. Brad: Now, if you're doing this and you're having a hard time, it's cramping hard. You might be able to use this leg and help push up. There you go, how are you feeling, Mike? Mike: I'm feeling crampy. Brad: This is a good thing, and it's a good muscle group to stretch regardless. So make sure you practice this before you go to sleep, so you know how to do it when it happens in the middle of the night. You know if there is someone, a family member, anybody available, actually what I've done with patients when they cramp, I'll just actually help them out and stretch, and that really makes a big difference. Brad: That pain will go right down once the muscle is stretched. Now, if you have been to jump out of the bed and your hammie's all tight and there's a chair to sit on, it's a little easier. Sometimes you push your leg out in front of you, maybe with your hand or your foot, and then you stretch here, you lean forward, and that will stretch that hamstring out and make it go away. Brad: You could stretch before you go to bed as well. If you happen to have an ottoman or a stool or another chair, you could stretch like this as well. Brad: Stretch those hamstrings. Don't try to bend your back too much. Keep the back straight. It's not a big deal for this situation, there we go. Nice stretch, feels good one way or the other. Alright, should we go on to the next? Calfs, calf cramps, oh, you can practice the stretch lying down to alleviate the cramp, or we're going to show you an option that actually works better, a little easier if you're able to get up and stand on the floor and use body weight to get it off. So, Mike, do you want to show them how they can get? Now, if you get a cramp in your calf, what's going to happen? Your toes are going to point down as a result of the calf muscle tightening. So the goal is to get the ankle to go up like that. Brad: That will stretch the calf muscle and eliminate the cramp. Mike, take it away. Mike: Now, there are many options depending upon the amount of mobility you have in your legs. Some people can possibly get their other foot down there and try to help push up, bringing the toes towards your face a little bit. Mike: This'll stretch the calf muscle out. Other people maybe can't do that. What you can try to do is possibly heel slide. As you go up more, your foot will go into more of a neutral or slightly dorsiflexed position. Mike: Sometimes this can help. Other people, if you have mobile enough hips, maybe you just have to get your foot up here and then use your hands to help pull. Basically, you just want to get the foot from a planter flex position down into a neutral or up position like this to stretch that calf out Brad: Right? Put your leg back down. I just want to mention, if you're able to just pull your ankle up without assistance, that's the easiest way, and that can be all you need to do. But even if you do, you wake up with a cramp and you stretch it out like this, it might be a good idea to actually stand up and do the weight grain stretch just to make sure you don't have the potential to have another one later in the night. Mike: Oftentimes when I experience a cramp, me being younger, I get relief by simply getting out of bed. Normally, I'm trying not to yell too loudly to wake up my girlfriend. Brad: What's she doing there? Mike: She's sleeping. But once you stand up here, then you want to get up, once you're up, and you start to bear weight through it. See, like here, once I start going down, I'm going to start getting a stretch. It might feel a little tight, but oftentimes once I get up, put weight on it, I might limp a little bit for a bit, but after a while it calms down. This is typically the quickest relief for me personally. Brad: Do you ever add more stretch, like a stretch by the wall? Mike: Usually not afterwards because I'm tired and I want to go back to bed. But this is a good option to do during the daytime. Brad: Right, or before you go to bed, use the wall for support, and I'm stretching my left calf. If that's the one that normally cramps up at night, I'm going to push my heel to the floor. Can you point that out, Mike? Mike: Right there. Brad: There we go, that's why I'm wearing my red and blue socks. So it's very clear that we have that, and if your foot goes turned to the side, it's not doing anything. Point it this way, stretch it for 15, at probably 15 minimal, up to 30 seconds would be good to help that potential of eliminating the problem. Wow, do you feel better now, Mike? Mike: I feel great. Brad: How often do you get cramps at night? Mike: Not too often right now, but in the summer, a little more. I'm very active. Brad: Maybe when you're running, training longer distances for your marathon? Mike: Yeah, or when I'm running around in cleats a little bit more. Brad: We won't want cleats. What do you run around in cleats for? Mike: Playing Frisbee. Brad: Oh yeah, that's right, okay. Okay, two controversial methods, let's get to them. Now, we mentioned two controversial methods to eliminate night cramps. The first one, apple cider vinegar. Now you just don't take a bottle and you know, drink out of it. There's actually a formula for mixing it with water. This is something that we found evidence and studies, and some information on why it does work, but it's not confirmed that it's a cure at all. It's one of those things; it is controversial. We have a video, " Apple Cider Vinegar: Use For Leg Cramp, and More (Updated). " The video explains the studies and why it may work. And there's some nice anecdotal evidence of this actually working. Mike: Now, the other method Brad had learned from some clientele we used to see in the past is when they're sleeping, they put a bar of soap under their sheets, and they claim it helps. I do not know the science behind this at all, but it's an option some people swear by. Brad: I don't think there is any science, but I've had a number of patients. Typically, they're older and they swear by it, put the bar of soap in their sheets, and they don't get cramps. I don't know, I'm not going to promote it, but it's interesting what you hear. Mike: What we do know is often times there are mineral deficiencies, typically in potassium and magnesium. So maybe you can get those levels checked out if you have chronic cramps in your calves. Brad: That's right. Good luck with your night cramps, and please, good luck with them. We know they're not fun. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

Patellofemoral pain or patellofemoral pain syndrome is an umbrella term for pain arising from your kneecap. The pain is generally felt around the kneecap or at the front of the knee. It is more common in people who participate in running and jumping sports. Kneecap pain can be caused by trauma, but often it is caused by poor positioning of the kneecap. The kneecap is positioned within a groove on the end of your thigh bone. If the kneecap is deviated or tilted to one side, it can result in overuse or overload on the part of the thigh bone, resulting in pain, discomfort, and irritation. The poor positioning of the kneecap can be caused by muscle weakness, imbalances, or tightness. The poor positioning of the kneecap can also be caused by issues with your hip or your foot. We will address these issues in the treatment video for kneecap pain. Common Signs of Patellofemoral Pain (Kneecap Pain) a. Pain when sitting prolonged period with the knee bent (cinema sign). b. Pain with tight clothing that puts pressure on your kneecap when you bend your knee (skinny jeans). c. Pain going into or coming up from a squat. d. Pain going up or down stairs or hills. e. Pain when wearing high heels or standing with knees hyper-extended. Three Tests for Patellofemoral Pain (Kneecap Pain) 1. If you have “loose ligaments” or are “double-jointed jointed” you may want to skip this test. Push your kneecap back and forth and up and down. Look for tightness. Be careful not to dislocate. It may be tight in all four directions. 2. Push down on the kneecap and move back and forth. Increased pain and possible crepitus (crunchy noise) may be a sign of patellofemoral pain. 3. Squat down till thighs are level (if possible). Increased knee pain could be a sign of patellofemoral pain. Check out the full Knee Pain Relief Program series of videos, along with downloadable guide sheets, here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/knee-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/tN4UK8PuJro Brad: All right, this is a subject today, heel pain, particularly for people 50 and over. The big question is, how to get rid of it. We're going to help you out with that today. Mike: So we're going to cover the three most common heel pain issues, what's causing them, and then we'll get into detail on how to make your pain less drastic. Brad: Now, there is one thing I do want to mention is that there is a relatively common heel pain that younger kids have between the ages of eight and 14. It's called Sever's disease. It's typically associated with growth plates and growing. It usually only lasts for a few months and resolves without any problems. So, in case your children are having that or grandchildren, that is really not a big deal in most cases. Now let's get on with the big three we're going to talk about. First, we're going to go through each diagnosis and typical symptoms, and then we're going to give you some common treatments you can do at home to help reduce the pain quickly and long-term fixes. Let's go to the first one. Mike: It is Plantar fascitis. Brad: That's right. So, for plantar fascitis, very common symptoms are the pain is typically on the heel, right at this point where the plantar fascia, which comes down from the forefoot, connects to the heel right there. Brad: Another thing that's very common is when you get up in the morning, you get out of bed and stand, "whoa, is it painful,' makes you limps a little, and within a few minutes of walking, it'll stretch out and get, okay, that's very common. Mike, you have some more on this. Mike: So with plantar fascitis, typically you might notice a little bit of pain initially, maybe just when you're walking, but it can linger for months, and it can start radiating. So maybe it's just one spot, and then before you know it, it's the whole bottom of your foot just aches and pains. So that's a common symptom that it is plantar fascitis. Brad: That's right, let's go on to Achilles tendonitis. Mike: So with Achilles tendonitis, typically it's not located directly on your heel, it's more your Achilles tendon, which is located in the back of the foot above the heel region. You can have tenderness or pain here, it can radiate down into the foot a bit, or it can even go up into the calf. Brad: Right now, the Achilles tendon is responsible for holding and moving most of the weight of your body with every step. So naturally, that is when the pain gets worse. When you're walking on particularly uneven terrain or going uphill, particularly will irritate, flare up, and cause you more pain. Mike: Oftentimes, doing steps can make it more aggravated as well because you are really kind of stretching that Achilles tendon area. Brad: That's right. Okay, the third one is probably the least common amongst these three, and that's a stress fracture to the calcaneus or the heel bone. It's quite a large bone. Now what happens is the bone does not actually fracture like you think a complete fracture, very small cracks can form in there, and it's typically as a result of repetitive motion or something new, some activity that's new to a person. And this can cause a lot of pain, and it's typically throughout the calcaneus. It may be more in one area than the other, which is different than plantar fasciitis, where it's in that one spot. Mike: Sometimes, a sudden jar or impact that is hard and sudden can cause a calcaneal fracture as well. And typically with these, you want to stop walking or running, whatever you're doing, jumping, maybe. You want to avoid any impact or stress on it. Oftentimes, you're going to go see the doctor, they may give you some type of splint or walking boot or even crutches just to get off it. Because with bones, it just takes time to heal. Brad: That's right. Actually, with stress fractures in the calcaneus, they recommend three months, or 12 weeks, to get things to heal up properly with modified behavior, which is pretty tough for a lot of people. Anyways, with all of these, all three of these, it's very common, a change in activity, repetitive motion, or different footwear can cause these, and it's very difficult to specify in any three what exactly is the cause. A lot of people will have plantar fascitis, no apparent reason, but they have it, and they know they have it. Now we're going to go through treatments that are consistent with all three diagnoses, which can be very helpful and make things a little easier for you. All right, again, with all of these, you want to keep the calf muscles loose, and that's going to reduce stress on the tendon, the plantar fascia, as well as the calcaneal stress fracture. So you can either do it. A good thing to do is before you get out of bed, Mike is lying as if he's in bed, or before you get up and walk around. So I'm going to be doing it in a chair if I get out of bed, and I'm sitting down in the bedroom yet, stretch that calcaneus and stretch that tendon and get that whole unit stretch, Mike, show them a good way to do it. Mike: So I'd be stretching my right foot here. If you're comfortable in this type of position, we call this a figure-four cross-leg position. You can easily reach your foot this way. Simply grab the top of the foot and the toes and bring them up towards your shin. This is going to stretch. You can see my plantar fascia right here. Mike: It can also get into my Achilles tendon and calf. They're actually all connected, so you get a good stretch here. Mike: You can do repetitions with it. You can hold it for 10 to 30 seconds, whatever feels comfortable. Obviously, if you have really touchy plantar fascitis, don't be too aggressive, just kind of warm it up a little bit. Brad: Another thing you can do if you have a cane, that's not a hook cane, but one that's flat, while you're seated, this works best with a shoe on, you put that on the forefoot and it'll kind of grip to the sole of the shoe and you can simply pull back and get a nice stretch using those arms, leaning back into it as such. Brad: Again, you know, five or six repetitions or so, or hold for 15 to 30 seconds to get that stretched out. Mike's going to show you how you can use a strap or a belt, where you have a loop, and put it around the forefoot in the chair or lying down. Mike: You can also use a bed sheet if that works for you. Whatever you have handy. It's the same concept. You can just stretch up with a band. I like it because it has a little give, so I can actually push down against it. Just get some motion and some calf planter flexion going on. This can kind of strengthen the muscle, move it, and get through some range of motion. Just feels good for me. You don't have to do this, but it's just an option. Brad: Alright, now we're going to go to the other part of the day. At the end of the day, if you've had plantar fasciitis or one of these diagnoses and your foot is just worn out, it's painful. This is a really good time to take a cold pack . This is what I use, one that's soft and gel. When you pull it out of the freezer, put it on the floor, and just put your heel right into it so that it conforms around the calcaneus. Sit there for 10 to 20 minutes. A really nice way to get that heel to feel better at the end of the day. Mike: Now, another thing to think about with heel pain is how you walk. Typically, most people nowadays walk with a heel strike pattern. If your heel already hurts, this is going to put more impact forces on it, aggravating your problems even more. It can also cause issues in other joints, such as the ankle, knee, hip, and even the lower back. So what we want to do is try to do soft knee walking, we can call it, or walking on your forefoot. So when you take a step forward, try to land on the ball of your foot or the front of your foot, not your heel. Mike: When you do this, typically it'll take that pressure and load off of your calcaneus, allowing that plantar fascia to settle down more or even heel up. You don't necessarily always have to walk around on your tippy toes like this. This is just a good way to begin, see how it feels. Over time, you can just try taking shorter steps and not landing directly on your heel out in front of you. If you just think about, "hey, I'm just going to keep my knees bent as I'm walking, not have them straight out in front of me," it typically will lead to the correct form of walking. Brad: This is one of those things that, when you change your walking pattern like that, you immediately feel less stress and pain in the problem area. So you'll know it, take your time with it, and I like to do it. If I train myself to do this, I like to do it, and on my concrete driveway, I'll go barefoot, and I can very clearly take care of my heel pain, which I'm dealing with right now. Now this next one's common sense, at least in my mind, and a lot of people think, well, I need to work through the pain. You do not do that. If you do an activity that irritates your heel, makes it worse while you're doing it, or as a result of it. For example, my heel pain, if I went running, it didn't hurt while I ran, but the next hour afterwards, I was limping. So, I had to stop running for a month. Now things are much better. So avoid things that irritate it, no matter what it is. Let the body heal, and then work with these stretches, and the walking and things will improve. Okay, another thing you can do to help improve circulation, which always improves healing, is massage. You can simply use your hands and do a manual massage. For plantar fascitis, specifically, you're going to massage the bottom of your foot. Using your thumbs, at least for me, is the easiest. You can work in, and you can do circles deep into that plantar fascia. You're not just working superficially, but you want to get in deep and splain where you push in and pull that apart, and you do that all the way up to the calcaneus, that heel where that heel pain is. If it's really tender there, stay away from it. Brad: Now we can do the same thing. Remember that this tissue is connected via the calcaneus or the heel to the calf muscles. If those muscles get tight, it will affect the heel pain. So we massage the big muscle here, the calf, what are the muscles there, the soleus, and the? Mike: And the gastrocnemius. Brad: So we're going to work on that. Now, the big disadvantage of massaging your muscles is that your fingers will get tired and sore, particularly if you have any arthritis in there. If you do happen to have a massage gun, they really do shine when it comes to this. For the muscle up here, I'm going to show we've got the C2 Pro . Now this new head, this is new technology, actually heats up and it heats up very well up to 113 degrees, and I might work that on the muscles. When you find a tight spot, it'll be a little more painful, and you can work around that area, and I'll just continue for three to five minutes. Mike, you want to show how you can do the bottom of the foot for plantar fasciitis. Mike: So you're going to have to be able to reach the bottom of your foot. If you're using a massage gun, typically, just work the bottom area. I have this nice soft cushioned ball head on here, or an airhead would work well. Sometimes, the trigger point massage gun heads are going to be a little too aggressive early on. Just go around it. You don't necessarily have to go push directly hard force in. That feels good, you certainly can. You can certainly do the side aspect. Mike: Again, if your heel is more tender, work around that region. Don't go directly on it. Over time, if it becomes better, you can massage over it later, but this is a less aggressive massage head, just kind of how to dig in there. Now, if you don't have a massage gun or you can't reach your feet, and it's the bottom of your foot being problematic, you can definitely use a foot massager option as well. There are many varieties of these. We have two different options you can use. They're nice, you just plug them in, put your feet inside, and let the massager do the work. Brad: Right, that's a really nice option for 20 minutes, you can watch TV, fall asleep, read a book, whatever it may be. So, we hope you find these tips helpful. You'll find at least one or two of these options helpful in reducing pain and speeding up your recovery. What have we got? Another video that can help these people out? Mike: If you want to check out a video on how to stop foot pain with walking, whether it hits the heel, arch, or even the forefoot, check out our video, " Stop Foot Pain While Walking; Heel, Arch, Or Forefeet ," and I'm just going to keep massaging this because it feels nice. Brad: It really does. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/_ENSGw0g7VU Brad: So, balance is today's topic, and there are a lot of videos that have a lot of good exercises on balance and how to improve it. I wanted to get the best of the best, and we've got three of them that, in my opinion, are the best of the best. Mike? Mike: These can be done in less than two minutes, this whole routine, so it won't waste a lot of your time. Brad: To get the best of the best, I looked at it from a therapist's perspective, and we're going to tell you why they're the best of the best. It's going to make sense. And as you do them, you're going to improve day to day, perhaps week to week, and have better balance. Follow us and we'll show you how. Mike: So we're going to cover the three areas of balance. First are dynamic challenges. So these are functional movements you may be doing at home, and people often commonly fall down during these movements. Brad: You're right. In this case, we're going to do some sidestepping, which is a very common way to lose, catch, or lose your balance and fall. The next is challenges when your vision becomes poor, which almost everybody, once you get above 50, your vision does decrease. Vision is a critical aspect of balance, and you'll understand that when we show you and you actually do it. Mike: The third component is called proprioception. It's a fancy word for knowing where your feet are in space, so if you're able to walk and move around without staring at your feet, and know what they are doing. Brad: That's right. This is something that you're really not aware of when you're younger, but as you get older, and we demonstrate it, you're going to say, "Oh, this makes so much sense," and you'll understand it. Let's go, Mike, one, two, three. Balance away. Mike: L-M-N-O-P. Brad: Okay, we're going to go through each of them. We're going to instruct on how to do them. We're going to do a beginner version and an advanced version of each one. And then at the end, we're just going to go through them without any explanation, so you can see how it's going to look once you have them memorized and you're comfortable with them. So number one is... Mike: Sidestepping for beginners. So hold onto something for support, whether you're at a countertop, use a railing or a cane of sorts, and you're simply gonna step sideways. The shorter your steps, the easier it'll be. The wider the steps, the more challenging it'll become. Brad's doing it at the wall there. So just go back and forth, whatever room you have in your house, maybe it's 5 feet, maybe it's 10 feet, go back and forth a few times. Now, if this is easy, you can advance to the next thing, which Brad will show. Brad: What do we call this? Mike: Carioca, grapevine, it has a hundred names. Brad: Yeah, we don't know what you really should call it, but you'll recognize it right away. And for this, I definitely want you to hold onto a wall, a cupboard, or a stick, especially when you get started. It's a little confusing, but where you cross your feet, and then you go over, and then you cross behind. So the leg that's moving alternates in front and then behind. I'll go the other direction. Brad: Now, I would advise you to look at what you're doing, so you feel comfortable with it. And you know, if you get mixed up, it doesn't matter. The whole idea is you get that motion and you can control it. If you do have to catch your balance and cross your legs, it's not unusual. You've been practicing it, and you're going to have a much lower risk of falling when something like that happens. So again, cross and back. If you use a wall at first, then go to the cupboard, and that's maybe where you will stay. If you want to use a stick, because you feel confident, do that, but use good judgment and do not do it unless you really feel solid. All right, let's go to number two. Now, on this, we're going to talk about vision, and you'll find out how important seeing things around you really is to your balance. So Mike's going to do it, and he's going to do it in the corner, back to the corner like this. Highly recommend it, without you don't want to do it, without being in the corner is what I'm trying to say. Go ahead, Mike. Mike: So you can use a cane, walker, or a chair for support if needed in front of you. The corner's nice because if you lose your balance, you can just tip into the wall and it'll catch you. So, for beginners, start with a wide base of support, feet shoulder width apart roughly. Hold onto something if you need to. Just stand here. If you can try not to hold onto whatever you normally use, that's a beginner position to start in. After that seems easy, try closing your eyes in this position. Just start with 5 to 10 seconds, eventually work up to 15 to 30 seconds. Once that feels easy, try narrowing your base of support, so bring your feet together, touch your feet. Again, start with eyes open. That seems easy. Progress to eyes closed. Mike: If you feel wobbly or shaky here, stay there for a while. Make sure you have support around you, so you don't actually fall down. Now, once that becomes easy, you can do this for 30 seconds, no issues, try progressing to one leg. Just lift one slightly off the ground. The higher the leg up, the more challenging it'll become. But you could see for me, once I close my eyes and do this, my ankles start to move a little bit more, it becomes more challenging even at a younger age. Woo! Brad: Now, three points I want to bring up with this one are that you may never get to the single-leg stance. That's quite advanced, and you know, Mike, are you 20 years old, 30 years old, and he's having a hard time with it. So you may only get to both feet, and maybe touching. Be careful, have good judgment. Number two is footwear, or doing it with your socks or without, barefoot. Whatever you feel comfortable with. I'd probably use the footwear that you normally wear, use, so you're used to it. And thirdly, make sure you're relaxed and you breathe with this. If you're kind of nervous, your breathing will get shallow. It's going to make your balance off a little bit. It'll make a big difference when you learn to relax, breathe. Your balance always feels better when you're in a relaxed state. All right, anything else, Mike? Mike: No, let's go on proprioception. Brad: Number three. All right, proprioception, it's a big word, and to really understand it, I'm going to demonstrate it. So it means your mind, your brain, knows where your feet and legs are without looking down at them, just through the sensation and the feedback to your brain. In other words, when you take a step forward, you know where things are down there. Now, people, a good example, have difficulty with are people with neuropathy. They may be diabetic. You cannot feel; there's numbness in your feet. Those people really need to practice this. So the way I always do this with patients is I have them what I call walk the line. So imagine there's a line on the floor, or you could, maybe you have a line on your floor, just by the way it's made with the decoration, or the tiling. So you can do this with shoes on or without. Now, we go heel to toe. Heel to toe. Now, I know my heel is touching my toe because I can see it and I can feel it. Now, some people with neuropathy may not be able to feel it or may not feel it so well. So we want to get really sensitive and really monitor what's going on down there. And we're going to look at it. I'm using the table for balance. You can use a cupboard or a wall. And then you go backwards where your toe literally touches your heel, toe literally touches your heel. Brad: Now, when you can do it and you can feel it and you understand that, the next step is to look straight ahead, and again, make sure you feel it. Now, some people, you'll be kind of like, where's that toe? Oh, there it is. And then it'll be a little practice, but eventually, with practice, you'll get better. Going backwards is more difficult. When you go backwards, things are like, where are they? And feel that toe, touch the heel. Get it right, there we go. And you may end up needing to feel around a little, and that's okay, that's why we're practicing. You could use a cane in one hand, the wall, and a cupboard, whatever it is, to be stable. Brad: After you do this for a while, it'll become very simple, and you'll get used to it. You'll relax more. When you relax, like I mentioned earlier, things go better, and your balance is better. It's a wonderful tool for proprioception and balance. Mike, do you have anything to add? Mike: As it becomes easier, try to become less dependent upon your hands for support and put more weight on your feet. Early on, you may have to heavily depend upon your cane, countertop, or whatever to feel safe. Later, just touch it in case you lose your balance, but don't heavily lean on it. Brad: Now, we covered a lot of information here, and it took a few minutes, but once you do this and you get used to each technique, it becomes easy, and quite quickly, you'll have it done in less than two minutes. We're going to give an example of it after you feel comfortable with it. Okay, here we go. We're going to start with the sidestepping, and we're just going to take our time. Look down, then we're going to look up at the wall, go back and forth, and we're going to do this two or three times. You can do more of that if you want, or you can go longer distances, right to left, if you have it available. Advance to karaoke or the grapevine if you feel like you want to challenge. Only do it if you feel comfortable with it. It does take practice. There we go. And that's enough for that one. Now we're going to go to the next one. In the corner, Mike will demonstrate. I'll babble on. Mike: So again, start with the basic feet wide apart. This is where you need to begin. Close your eyes, 5, 10 seconds. Work up to 30 seconds. This is pretty easy for me. I'm going to bring my feet together, close my eyes, and say I hit 30 seconds now. Pretty easy. I'm going to go on one leg, standing. When you do one leg, make sure to do both sides. Build up over time to 15 to 30 seconds, and to make that added challenge, you can close your eyes. Brad: And just remember, you may only get to the point where your feet are wide apart. Maybe you'll be challenged once you close your eyes. Don't advance to a higher level than you're ready for. And finally, we're going to do, again, the proprioception. Look down as you need. Ah, I'm getting the hang of that now. Make sure you go backwards. There we go. Look straight ahead. Don't look down and see how it goes. Breathe and relax. Oh, that makes a big difference. "Oh, he's right," you're going to say. I'm just, you know, talking to myself. Mike: Yes, you are. Brad: I do that. You should see my wife when she wonders, "What's going on? Who are you talking to down in the basement?" Anyways, it works very well, and that's it. And you can do that, that took about what? 72 seconds. Mike: Were you timing exactly? Brad: No, I wasn't, but it'll be about two minutes once you get used to it. Do it daily. If you want to do it in the morning after you've been up for a while, and then later in the afternoon, twice a day. It'll take four minutes of your day, and you will notice a difference. You're going to become more confident, and you're going to know where those feet are and feel much more comfortable. There you go. There's another video, isn't there? Mike: If you want to check out another video on how to improve your balance, watch " Balance Exercises for Seniors, Beginners to Advanced ." Brad: There you go. Just some more options for you. Always looking for something new. Mike, do you have anything else to say, whether it's intelligent or not? Mike: He does talk to himself quite a bit. Brad: There you go. Thank you. Have a good day. 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If you have not watched the other video on Osgood-Schlatter Disease in our series entitled: " What is Causing Your Knee Pain? Osgood-Schlatter Disease? How to Tell ." You may want to do so. It will help with your understanding of treatment. Osgood-Schlatter disease will eventually go away on its own, generally after the involved person’s growth spurt stops. Although it may be uncomfortable to participate in sports, it generally is not dangerous to do so. Try the following suggestions. 1. Perform warm-up exercises before playing sports. Specifically, quadricep, hamstring, and calf stretches. These stretches can also be performed throughout the day. 2. Avoid specialization in one sport. 3. Avoid high-intensity workouts or practices in a sport. 4. Try cross-fiber massage over the patellar tendon a. especially prior to playing sports (2-3 minutes). The massage can also be performed throughout the day. 5. Use shock-absorber insoles in both shoes. 6. Use a heating pad for 15 minutes prior to a sporting activity and use a cold pack for 20 minutes after. The cold pack may also be used throughout the day. 7. Wear a protective pad to cushion the top of your shin bone. 8. Try the use of an over-the-counter medicine such as Ibuprofen, Advil, or Motrin to fight pain and inflammation (if approved by your doctor). 9. Strengthen your quadriceps muscles. See a demonstration of an isometric quad set with a pillow. Check out the full Knee Pain Relief Program series of videos, along with downloadable guide sheets, here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/knee-pain-relief-program