Can Knock Knees Be Corrected In Adults By Exercise

What Causes Knock Knee

Knock knee can be caused by an underlying congenital or developmental disease or arise after an infection or a traumatic knee injury. Common causes of knock knees include:

• metabolic disease

• progressive knee arthritis in adults
• patients or parents may be unhappy with aesthetics

A person may also have other symptoms from an underlying condition that is causing the knock-knee syndrome. In people of all age groups who have knock knees, one or both knees is abnormally overloaded. This excessive force can lead to pain, further bone deformity, knee instability and progressive degeneration of the knee joint. In particular, adult patients who have been knock-kneed for many years often overload the outside of the knee, and stretch the inside . These forces can cause pain, knee instability and arthritis.

Exercises To Help Knock Knees

To help fix the knock knees muscle imbalance, it’s important to strengthen the gluteal and quad muscles and stretch your IT band. These exercises can all help your patella move in a more normal pattern, says Kaiser Permanente.

Perform the following exercises to help knock knees twice a day. If any exercise increases your pain, stop and talk to your doctor.

âMove 1: Bridgesâ

âMove 2: Clamshellsâ

âMove 3: Wall Squatâ

âMove 4: IT Band Stretchâ

âMove 5: Toe Towel Scrunchingâ

Surgical Correction Of Knock Knees

• Guided Growth: In this procedure, small metal plates are placed inside the knees to control and guide bone growth in correct direction. These can be removed after the deformity is corrected. The whole process takes around one year.

• Osteotomy: In this procedure, a small wedge of bone is excised and the knee is aligned correctly. Then the bone is fixed with plates and screws.

Both of them are major surgical procedures and are performed under general anesthesia. For children the guided growth option is more suitable because the bones are still in growing stage. The surgery is only recommended when the condition is extremely severe and persistent. For adults an osteotomy is preferred.

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Is Knock Knee Surgery Possible For Someone In Their Late Twenties

There is no fixed age limit for corrective surgery for knock knees. The surgical technique used may vary depending on age. Children can take advantage of their remaining growth to guide the bones straighter with minor surgery. Adults can benefit from osteotomy surgery on the knee to obtain a correction. Patients over sixty years of age may receive a different type of osteotomy than younger patients to ensure timely healing. Older patients with arthritis will often receive a knee replacement to treat both problems. It is important to consult with a physician to determine the best course of treatment.

A Improving Dorsiflexion Of The Ankle

Having full range of motion in your ankle is essential in any form of leg movement.

Without proper ankle mobility, the arch of your foot will likely collapse which can lead to the knees caving inwards.

Test for ankle mobility:

Instructions:

• Face a wall.
• Whilst keeping your knee in contact with the wall, aim to get the front of your toes as far away from the wall.
• Keep your heel in contact with the floor.
• Maintain your foot arch.

How much ankle flexibility should you aim for? At bare minimum Aim to get your toe more than 4 inches from the wall with your knee still in contact with the wall.

If you are lacking Ankle Dorsiflexion, I strongly encourage you to check out my complete guide on how to fix this issue:

Here are some simple exercise to get you started:

a) Release the Calf muscle

Instructions:

• Place your calf muscle on top of a foam roller/ball.
• Put your other leg on top and apply a downward pressure towards the foam roller.
• Whilst keeping the leg at the bottom relaxed, roll your leg from side to side.
• Make sure to cover the entire muscle.
• Do this for 2 minutes.

b) Stretch the Calf muscle

Instructions:

• Place the top of your foot against a wall.
• Keep your heel planted on the floor.
• Keep your knee completely straight through this stretch.
• Learn forward into your ankle.
• Aim to feel a deep stretch sensation at the back of the calf.
• Hold for 1-2 minutes.

For more calf stretches: Gastrocnemius Stretches.

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What Are Knock Knees

Knock knee is a condition that causes the knees to bend inward. Visually, when you stand, your knees touch, but your ankles dont.

You may hear the condition referred to as genu valgum, knock-knee deformity, or knock-knee syndrome.

The condition is relatively common in children. Most children are bow-legged until they begin to walk, and by the time theyre 2 or 3, their legs start to angle inward, straightening by the age of 7 or 8.

In some cases, the legs may never straighten and can even worsen over time.

About Knock Knees

Knock knees can affect your gait, leading to painful and disruptive symptoms, including knee pain, limping, stiff joints, and reduced balance. You might also have pain in your feet, ankles, or hips.

More On Treating Knock Knee

Generally, most children with knock knee become fine without any treatment as they grow. But a little care and precaution taken when they are young helps a lot.

1. Vitamins

At times, knock knees may be caused by issues like scurvy or rickets, so the first job is to treat the underlying condition. Rickets is caused by lack of vitamin D. A daily dose of vitamin D should be taken. At times, a vitamin D injection is administered once a year. Also eat a diet rich in vitamin D and calcium.

2. Surgery

When nothing works, surgery can be performed for knock knee correction. But surgery is only recommended if:

• The gap between the boy’s or girl’s ankles is more than 10 cm.
• The child has difficulty in walking.
• The lower legs of the child are curved, which can cause a lot of knee pain.

The surgery may be of 2 types:

• Guided growth: With this method, a small plate is placed inside the knee. It gradually corrects the growth of the knee over a period of 6 months to 1 year. This surgery is generally preferred for rapidly growing children up to the ages 14-16.

• Osteotomy: Osteotomy is a type of knock knee correction procedure where the leg bone is cut and realigned to correct the angle of the knee. The surgery is performed on one leg at a time under general anesthesia. Just above the knee joint, the lower portion of femur is cut and a small portion of bone is removed. Then the leg is realigned to create a straighter position. The bone is fixed in its new position by a plate and screws.

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Knock Knee I Straighten My Knock Knee

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Benefits Of Exercise For Bow Legs

Exercise is an important part of maintaining your overall health. Having bow legs shouldn’t prevent you from exercising. Many people who have bow legs are able to function and exercise without pain or problems.

Exercise can help you manage your weight, which can help prevent joint problems. Being obese is an additional risk factor for knee osteoarthritis. If you are obese and have bow legs, your risk is five times higher than for obese people who don’t have bow legs.

People with bow legs may need to focus some of their exercise sessions on improving balance and proprioception, which is sensing your body’s movements. This may improve your function in your daily activities and possibly help prevent falls.

Some research has found that corrective exercise can decrease the amount of space between your knees when you have bow legs. You may wish to add these corrective exercises to your routine, as discussed below.

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How To Fix Knock Knees Without Surgery Best Exercises To Correct Knock Knees

Learning how to fix knock knees without surgery is something many people struggle with. This condition, which is also sometimes called genu valgum or knee valgus, occurs when the legs bend inwards and start to knock against each other while you walk or stand up straight.

This alignment problem in the knee will keep your knees knocking against each other until a knock knee correction occurs.

Even though it isnt life threatening, the constant knocking of the knees can eventually cause a lot of pain, damage, and degeneration around the joints.

Knock Knee Correction With Exercises

Knock knees happen because of weak abductor muscles found on the outside of hips and thighs. They can be corrected with certain exercises mentioned below.

1. Side Lunges

Stand with feet hip-width apart and arms in front of your chest, and take a big step sideways to your left. Bend your knee as your foot comes to the ground and push your hip backward. As you feel a strong contraction on your hip and other thigh, stand up and bring your feet back to the original position. Repeat 10-12 times then switch. Hold a medicine ball in front of your chest for more resistance. This helps your abductors, hamstrings and quadriceps.

3. Cable Abduction

This exercise for knock knee correction helps your outer thighs and hips with one side of a cable machine. Fasten an ankle cuff around your lower-right leg and keep the setting low. Stand with the stack of weight facing your left shoulder. In an arcing motion, lift your leg sideways to your right as high as possible then lower slowly. Repeat 10-12 times then switch.

4. Lying Abduction

Lie on your left side with your legs one over the other. Lift your right leg at an angle of 45 degrees, hold for a second, and then lower your leg. Repeat 10-12 times then switch. Hold a dumbbell against your thigh for extra resistance.

2. Side Step-ups

5. Wall Abductor Squeeze

6. Straight Leg Lift

7. Wall Squats

9. Knee Press

8. Hamstring Curls

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What Things To Keep In Mind While Performing Exercises For Knock Knees

People with knocked knees should consider following things before starting their knocked knees workout:

E Strengthen The Popliteus

The Popliteus is a muscle that is located behind the knee. It is responsible for correcting the out turning of the lower leg bone .

Popliteus Exercise

• Sit down on a chair with your hip/knees bent at 90 degrees.
• Keep your knee pointing straight at all times.
• Turn your lower leg inwards.

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Can Knock Knees Be Corrected Without Surgery

Is knock knee a disability?

Genu valgum, commonly called knock-knee, is a condition in which the knees angle in and touch each other when the legs are straightened. Individuals with severe valgus deformities are typically unable to touch their feet together while simultaneously straightening the legs.

How long does knock knee surgery take?

Another option is to cut the shinbone or thighbone, then remove a wedge of bone. The cut edges of the bone are brought together and held in place with metal hardware. This is called a closing wedge osteotomy. The surgery typically takes one to two hours.

Does sleeping with a pillow between your legs help knock knees?

Place a pillow between your legs when you rest that way your knees wont knock together uncomfortably. It will also prevent that downward pull on your hips keeping it aligned with your knees and ankles.

What Is The Fastest Way To Fix Knock Knees

Treatment for mild cases of knock knee in children or adolescents may include braces to help bones grow in the correct position. If a gradual correction does not occur, surgery may be recommended. In the growing child, guided-growth minimal-incision surgery may be used to encourage the leg to gradually grow straight.

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Knock Knees Exercises 8 Of The Best Stretches & Exercises To Correct Genu Valgum

June 20, 2021 by mykkf

There are more than a few knock knees exercises you can do to fix mild-moderate cases of knock-knees.

Exercises for genu valgum work by strengthening your hip muscles and outer thighs. In addition to strengthening weak muscles, the best exercises to correct knock knees also help stretch muscles in your hips and thighs that are too tight.

How Is It Diagnosed

When genu valgum is present in an older child or adult, its important to find out if theres an underlying cause. A bone disease or arthritis will need to be treated.

Your doctor will ask questions about family medical history, as well as whether youre in any pain. If you are, theyll want to know where the pain youre feeling is located.

During a physical exam, your doctor will observe how you stand and walk.

Theyll also look to assess:

• inequality in your leg length
• your knee alignment angle
• uneven wear on the soles of your shoes

In some cases, your doctor may order an X-ray or MRI scan to look at your bone structure.

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Can Squats Fix Knock Knees

Sumo squats

If you observe carefully, then you will figure that doing sumo squats will move your knees outward. This movement helps in pushing the kneecap and the other muscles to their right location, and thats why this exercise is considered to be one of the best, when it comes to rectifying knock knees.

How To Fix Knock Knees Without Surgery By Treating The Underlying Condition

Finally, if you want to know how to correct knock knees in adults without surgery you may need to treat the underlying condition causing the genu valgum. As mentioned above, there are a number of different conditions that can cause knock knees indirectly.

Once you identify the underlying cause and treat it appropriately your knock knee leg will correct itself without the need for surgical procedures.

Some common underlying conditions that may need to be treated first in order to correct knock knees include:

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Cstrengthening Of The Quadriceps

If the thigh muscles are weak, they will have a difficult time stabilizing the knee in the neutral position.

Straight Leg Raise

• Lie down on your back.
• Lock your knee by flattening it onto the floor.
• Make sure you can feel your quadriceps muscles engaging.
• Lift your locked leg up/down.
• Repeat 30 times.

How Much Does Knock

Your knock knee surgery cost will depend on which procedure you have performed. For guided growth surgery the price can be anywhere from $4k to $10k depending on whether or not your insurance covers it.

The knock knee correction surgery cost for osteotomy will depend the severity of your deformity and the orthopedic surgeon you enlist to go through with the procedure.

In general, the price of knee osteotomy surgery to correct knocked knees will cost you at least $5,000.

Since each procedure is tailored and personalized differently for each patient the price can vary.

The price will be based on various factors such as:

• Consultation
• Physiotherapy
• Aftercare

The recovery time for each surgery will also vary from person to person. For example, how much of a curvature existed before the straightening plays a huge role in how quickly it takes you to recover.

Both of these surgical realignment procedures are carried out under general anesthetic.

Check out this quick video animation of a knock-knee surgery showing what you can expect if you undergo a knock-knee realignment surgical procedure:

If these surgical procedures dont position your knees better then the surgeon may suggest knee replacement surgery. However, undergoing knee replacement surgery to correct genu valgum should be your last option, especially if you have mild genu valgum.

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What Is The Long

The vast majority of children with knock knees get better without treatment and have a very positive long-term outlook. For children who have surgery for severe forms of the condition, the outlook is also excellent. The surgical and non-surgical procedures are quite safe and children’s bones usually heal faster and more reliably than adults.

Some children with severe knock knees that doesnt improve or is due to an underlying condition , and who do not receive treatment, may over time develop knee pain, meniscal tears, patellar dislocation, or cartilage damage .