Sebastian Brosche · 16 min · 1,437 words
Previously titled: Video 3 - LCL Knee Pain
Hi everyone, welcome back. It's day three of our rehab program for the lateral collateral ligament of the knee, that's this outside ligament here. Today we're going to use a bit of TheraBand, so I've chosen a green one which is a medium strength and a massage ball, that's just a lacrosse ball. You can also use a foam roller if you don't have a massage ball, but I find that this is particularly useful for some of the things we're going to target today.
So I'm going to start with the massage ball, I'm just going to place it in front of my hip, so this is my affected leg on the bottom here, I'm just going to roll my hip over onto the massage ball. So it's going into that small muscle right at the front of my hip, tensor fascia latae, so this is the muscle that attaches to your IT band, it very often gets tender points and pain from this muscle can actually radiate all the way down the leg. So just getting a massage ball into some of those trigger points can help to make everything feel freer and more comfortable, which is going to help when we get onto some of the later exercises in the programme. So again I'm finding those slightly tender points, I want to hang out there, I don't want to use so much pressure that it's really painful, I want to find that point of good pain where it feels relieving.
And then I can move that around, so this time I'm going to come slightly further back into the gluteal muscles, and again there's very often some tender points around here, and just roll the ball around until I find the slightly sore spots and just hang out there for a few seconds at a time. And what you'll find is as you hold those tender points you should feel them start to relax. So once again we're coaxing that muscle into relaxing, and very often this can make that whole lateral side of the leg feel more relaxed and more comfortable. So you'll get to know exactly where those tender points are for you, you'll be able to focus on those.
And when we've done that, put the ball to one side, we're going to come up to standing, and from here we're going to do some mini lunges. So I'm just going to take a small step forwards, put some weight onto that leg, I'm going to come out to the side, small knee bend, and then I'm going to step back. And again each time just putting some weight onto that affected leg, and I can make those steps as big or as small as I need to. So I'm going to start by being quite conservative with a small step, and then gradually increase that as I get more confident.
I can also increase the size of the knee bend so I'm going further each time. Final time through. And coming up to standing. I'm going to grab my theraband, again I want to loop, I'm just going to put round my ankles.
Again I'm going to have adjusted the leg, the amount of tension to an appropriate level based on how sore the knee is and what stage we're at after injury. I'm just going to take my hips back slightly, slight hip hinge, leaning forwards, I'm just going to do a small side shuffle, feet out, and then back together again. I just go back each direction. So I want to keep tension on the band all the way throughout and I'm controlling that movement as I go out and then bring the foot back in again.
And rest there. Drop the band to one side. And then we're going to go back, we're going to do some more of those lunges. And then we're going to go back, we're going to do some more of those lunges.
And with all of these, we're not working into pain, so it's important to do the exercises at a level where you may be able to feel a little bit of discomfort, but it should never be more than that. So if anything is more painful, then either back up and do a slightly easier version of the exercise, or in the worst case, leave that exercise out for the time being and consult a sports injury professional. One final time. And come back up.
From there, we're going to go to lying on our back. And this time, we're going to do a similar exercise to the hip bridge that we've done before, but we're going to do a single leg version. So if I can, I'm going to lift my opposite knee to the leg that I'm working. I'm going to push up with a single leg.
I'm going to try and keep my knee facing the ceiling, so I'm not going to let the knee drop out to the side as I push. If it feels like this is too much at this stage, I can go back to the two leg hip bridge. That's no problem. And we're going to switch over.
We're going to do this one on both legs. This is a great exercise for our hamstrings and the glute muscles. And coming up, grab my band again. Still tied into a loop.
I'm just going to put that around my ankles. What I'm going to do here is take the ankles slightly apart, and I'm going to roll the knees out and back, mobilizing the hips. You may feel this one a little bit at the knee, again, depending on what stage of recovery you're at. Just work on the edge of that discomfort.
Roll onto my front. I want to push out slightly on the band, a little bit of tension between my ankles, and then I'm just going to bend and straighten from the knee. You may be starting to get a little bit of a burn around the hip. That's quite normal.
And rest there. I'm going to go through that little sequence one more time, starting with the single leg hip bridge. Push up. And I want to get as much height with that hip as I can.
It is a more difficult movement, this one, than the two leg hip bridge. You might feel like it's difficult to get the same amount of height. That's okay. Just take it as far as you can.
And then I'm going to go through that little sequence one more time. I'm going to go through that little sequence one more time. I'm going to go through that little sequence one more time. And switch legs.
And rest there. Come up to sitting, bound around the ankles, again, feet slightly apart, rolling the knees out and in. And then I'm going to go through that little sequence one more time. I'm going to go through that little sequence one more time.
Roll over onto your front. Once again, a little bit of tension between the ankles, so it's all the work is coming from the hips here. And then you're just going to bend and straighten from the knee. And rest.
Drop the band to one side. And we're just going to finish off with a couple of sets of full squats. So if you're still not confident with the knee yet, I would recommend doing this down to a chair or a bench and back up again, because it takes out that bottom part of the movement. So you don't have to worry about that so much.
If you are feeling confident, then we can go unsupported. But once again, controlling the movement, only going as far as is comfortable. And come up to standing. Get the legs to shake out.
And we're going to go for one more set. So as much as possible when I'm doing these squats, I want to keep the knees pointing over the toes. So I don't want to be pointing them in or pointing them out. Where my toes face can depend on how my hips are built.
So I can go anything from facing forwards to side. But usually for most people, about a 10 to 2 position works well. And stop there. Once again, just give the legs a little bit of a shake out.
And that brings us to the end of day three. So once you're ready, we'll see you back here for day four and some more advanced exercises.
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