Research has discovered that in the last five years, the number of people under the age of 55 receiving knee and hip replacement surgery has grown significantly. In fact, 40% more men, and 20% more women have found that they are no longer able to avoid replacement surgery, and turn to the knife in an effort to banish knee pain.

Fortunately, invasive surgical procedures might not be your only option if you're suffering the constant pop and crack of painful knees. In fact, most chronic knee pain is actually avoidable through physical therapy and exercise, and new solutions for strengthening the ligaments and cartilage around the knee are emerging every day - from yoga to aquatic resistance training.

Learning how to stretch and strengthen key muscles around the knees, while using your knee compression sleeve for structure maintenance and support, could be just as effective as surgery at combatting chronic discomfort. That's why ActiveGear are here to help you banish knee pain, avoid replacement surgery, and prolong the health of a vital body part.

Watch Your Step: Why Knee Pain Happens

If you want to avoid replacement surgery, then the first thing you need to do is understand where your pain is coming from. Poor form during exercise, from climbing the stairs at work to hitting the treadmill, is one of the prime causes of knee pain. One of the main points to think about when addressing your form and ensuring that you're caring for your joints, is where and how you use your feet.

For example, while three-inch stilettos might look great - they're not going to help you banish knee pain. In fact, high-heeled shoes increase the compressive force in the knee joint by 23%. While high-heels may not be a problem for men, wearing the wrong shoes during exercise and placing your feet incorrectly when you walk, or run, could be doing a similar amount of damage. For instance, if your heel is always hitting the ground first, then you're putting extra strain on the calf, which pulls the foot inwards and causes the lower leg to move backwards, placing stress on your knee and ankle.

Embrace the benefits of a good running shoe, stretch out your calves, and use your knee compression sleeve to keep your knee joint in place during a run. The more care you show towards your posture, the more likely you will be able to avoid replacement surgery.

Strengthen Your Backside and Stretch Your Knees

When it comes to learning how to banish knee pain, a lot of people forget about the importance of their butt. We've learned from research that many knee injuries, including the common anterior cruciate ligament tears, occur when the larger muscles around your hips aren't strong enough. Unfortunately, ACL tears can actually lead to further cartilage tears and correlate with a higher risk of knee arthritis in later life when left untreated.

If your backside muscles aren't particularly strong - you're not alone. In fact, most of us have weak butt muscles, because we forget about that part of the body when we hit the gym. However, when the gluteus maximus is weak, the thigh bone falls forward and places a painful imbalance of downward stress on the knee, hip, and ankle. A quick way to address the problem and banish knee pain, is to engage in regular workouts that include standing, and prone-position hip extensions. You'll find that the stronger your gluteus becomes, the better your knees feel.

At the same time, while knee compression sleeves can be a great way to reduce pain around an achy knee joint, they're not an excuse to avoid stretching the muscles and ligaments around your knees. In a world where we all spend too much time sitting in front of the computer, it's important to stop our muscles from falling into atrophy as a result of underuse. By stretching out the supporting muscles around your knee, you can banish knee pain, and reduce your chances of suffering from tightness and imbalance.

Tone Your Core

If you've been thinking about buying that waist cincher belt, it might help to learn that a toned core is more than just a great way to get yourself beach-ready this summer. Abdominal weakness is another factor that causes your pelvis to tilt forwards as you walk, which creates excessive curvature in the lower back, and shifts the leg bones inwards. Strengthening the muscles in your core allows you to focus on keeping your spine in a straight and neutral position, placing the knees at the best angle for supporting movement without joint compression.

If you're looking to banish knee pain and avoid replacement surgery, don't just work on improving the strength of your legs and hips, try out a variety of core-strengthening exercises designed to help improve your overall strength too. Some options include:

• Crunches
• Planks
• Yoga
• Ball Exercises
• Dance
• Kickboxing
• Pilates

Maintain A Healthy Weight

Finally, being overweight makes women four times more likely, and men five times more likely, to develop osteoarthritis in the knee. Research has shown that something as small as a 10% decrease in your overall weight can be enough to provide a 28% increase in knee function, which means that you banish knee pain, and have less trouble climbing the stairs! Another study has also found that for every 11 pounds a woman loses, there's a 50% decrease in her risk of arthritis in the knee.

To start burning extra calories and shedding the pounds that could be damaging your joints, try some low-impact cardio sports such as water aerobics, elliptical training, or cycling. As soon as you start to lose weight, you'll begin to notice the difference in the way your joints feel, and the comfort you experience as you move.

Enjoy Healthier Knees

Let's work towards reducing the number of people who have knee replacement surgery together. Using the above tips, and Active Gear accessories, you can banish knee pain, and get more out of your daily life.