The effect of stair climbing on the knee

Now go out with a car, upstairs with an elevator, so walking and climbing stairs have become a method of exercise, but there are many people think that climbing stairs will affect the knee, in fact, climbing stairs in the end will not hurt the knee?

Does climbing stairs hurt your knees?

Now there are elevators everywhere in shopping malls and neighborhoods. This change has made people's lives easier, but it has also reduced the amount of exercise we do. Many people feel that climbing stairs is tiring and bad for the knees, so they enjoy the convenience. In fact, as long as it is not excessive, climbing stairs is good for your health and does not hurt your knees.

Scientific stair climbing has little impact on the knee joint

Stair climbing can exercise the lower limbs and Achilles tendon strength, but also improve lung capacity, as long as the amount of exercise is controlled, the impact on the knee joint is very small. However, it is generally recommended to climb the stairs up and take the elevator down. Because when you go down the stairs, there will be an acceleration when you lift your foot to the ground, and the pressure on your knee will be much greater than climbing up the stairs.

Inappropriate stair climbing is harmful to the knee

The knee joint consists of three joints: the patellofemoral joint and the medial and lateral tibiofemoral joints. The patellofemoral joint is the most clinically problematic. Studies have shown that the pressure on the patellofemoral joint surface is half of your body weight when walking on flat ground, and up to 3.3 times your body weight when walking up and down stairs, which means that every time you walk up and down stairs, you are carrying 6.6 of yourself on flat ground. You can imagine the pressure and wear on the knee joint is huge, so going up and down the stairs has an impact on the knee joint. If you climb the stairs for a long time overload, you will do more damage to your knees.

How to avoid knee injury by climbing stairs

Warm up before climbing stairs

Before climbing the stairs, you have to move your knee joints, you can do knee exercises, ankle exercises, then do squatting and jumping, generally warming up for 10-15 minutes, feel the body slightly sweating on the line.

Wear knee pads

You may not wear a knee brace for general exercise, but wearing a knee brace when climbing stairs can protect the patellofemoral joint surface from excessive pressure and chronic wear.

Leverage stair railings

When climbing stairs, in addition to using the strength of your legs, you can also use the escalator to go up, which can reduce the burden on your legs and knees.

Who should not climb the stairs

1, pregnant women or overweight people, because any excess weight is doubly burdensome to the knees. 2, people with degenerative arthritis, because the soft tissues of the knee are already excessively worn, and continued improper use will exacerbate the symptoms. 3, people with habitual patellar dislocation or instability problems, because the patella is inherently unstable, often climbing stairs or hills will make the problem of exostosis dislocation instability more serious. 4, people with O-shaped legs have more wear and tear on the medial knee joint, excessive stair climbing or mountain climbing will accelerate the wear and tear of the soft tissues on the medial side of the knee and degeneration, making the symptoms of O-shaped legs more obvious. 5, people with cardiovascular disease should also be careful when climbing stairs or hills, because the heart's demand for oxygen will increase. If there is not enough oxygen at once, it may lead to myocardial infarction, and if there is no timely medical treatment, it may even die suddenly.