Golfers Knee: Preventions and Treatments

A golfer’s knee occurs when you get a knee injury while playing golf. It is the second most common injury a golfer can get after the lower back. When you shot a Golf swing it exerts a great amount of pressure on your knees.  

A little carelessness can cost you a golfer knee even if you are a pro. There are two phases during a swing shot, upswing, and downswing. The upswing phase exerts lower stress on the body. 

While the downswing has much strong impact on the body. As it requires much deeper body coordination. If your upper and lower body motion is not properly coordinated, then it will result in injuries.  

Why and How Can you Get Golfer's Knee? 

There can be many reasons that can result in a Golfers knee. We will discuss each of those causes below. 

-         Damaged tissues 

Extreme pressure and stress on knees can result in torn ligaments and cartilage. If your soft tissues are damaged, then you will feel pain while playing golf.  

-         Prior Knee Injuries 

If you have already some knee injuries or any other knee conditions, then playing golf can add extra stress to your knees. 

 

-         Knee Overuse 

If you are overusing your knees without adding balanced rest to your routine. This will leave you prone to knee injuries. 

 

-         Golf Shoes 

A typical golf shoe has cleats in it, this helps a golfer to make a strong grip on the ground. This helps to play a powerful shot, but it also increases rotational stress on your knees. This can increase the risk of a knee injury. To minimize the risk, you can use shoes with shorter cleats. 

 

-         Clubs Length 

The length and flexibility of clubs can impact your knees. No matter whether you are using wooden or metal clubs. If the length is not according to your stature you will feel more stress on your lower back and even shoulders. Similarly, the flexibility of clubs also impacts your body. I will recommend consulting a professional to get the best fit according to your playing style and height. 

How You Can Prevent Golfers’ Knee? 

To prevent a golfer’s knee, you can simply adopt a few habits.  

- Warm up your joints before playing a golf game 

- Always follow the body mechanics while swinging, picking balls, or any other golfing activity.  

- Add squats and lunges exercise to your daily routine. This will strengthen your knee muscles and as a result, they can bear more stress 

- Knee braces can also help some golfers to relieve the pain in the knees.  

- Food supplements can also help to prevent the degeneration of tissues and joints.   

Treatments for Golfers Knee 

At first, you have to opt for resting. As in most cases, the body can heal itself without any external medications. While on the other side, if the injury is severe, you have to take anti-inflammatory medicine like ibuprofen. 

Some golfers have shared that wearing orthotics can help a lot when having knee pain during golfing. Orthotics can help you play longer in a golf club with proper weight distribution on your feet. 

Ice therapy is also helpful to lower inflammation and swelling. First, you have to warm up your body by doing any exercise. Next, use cold therapy at and around your knee to help relieve the pain and swelling. Do not use ice therapy for more than 20 minutes and thrice a day. 

If you have tried all the above recommendations and still facing a golfers’ knee, then you must see a doctor. They will first examine it with the naked eye and may suggest an X-ray. An X-ray can clearly report a fracture or osteoarthritis problem in your knee. On the other side, an MRI can scan damage in soft tissues and ligaments. 

After a proper assessment, you may get a knee replacement recommendation. But most often natural healing is at first priority in any case. Nowadays 3D printed knees are available to help rapid recovery and better body function.  

We recommend that you must use the right gears to mitigate the risk of injury. Always rest after any sports activity, this helps your body regenerate for the next activity. If your symptoms persist, then be sure to visit a doctor, otherwise, the damage can get deeper.