Answer
When climbing steps, lead with the healthy knee; when descending stairs, first put down the leg with the painful knee.
The Science
- When you have knee pain, bending the joint is more painful than putting weight or pressure on it.
- When going up the staircase, place the leg with the better knee on the step above. Lift the painful leg after that without bending the knee and avoiding pain.
- So when stepping down, it is better to put the bad leg down on the step below as it does not need to bend. Bring the good knee down afterwards.
- If you are using a walking stick for support, use it last when stepping up and first when climbing down. So the sequence becomes:
- Going up: Good knee—bad knee—walking stick
- Going down: Walking stick—bad knee—good knee
The walking stick stays with the bad knee.
- If you are using two crutches, use both crutches together in place of the walking stick. The sequence will be:
- Going up: Good knee—bad knee—both crutches together
- Going down: Both crutches together—bad knee—good knee
To Read More
- Knee Pain Explained: Beat Knee Pain On Stairs
- Creakyjoints.org: Navigating Stairs with Arthritis Knee Pain: 6 Tips to Make It Easier and Safer
- On this Website: Weight loss for knee arthritis: Is more better?
First Published on: 9th May 2023
Image Credit: katemangostar on Freepik