How do you stretch the vastus medialis

This exercise isolates your vastus medialis. Sitting tall with proper posture is very important with this exercise. If you feel yourself rounding forward, try sitting with your back, shoulders, and buttocks against a wall.

You should, however, feel a contraction above your knee. Put your right hand on your right thigh just above the knee and a bit to the left. As you flex the quadriceps, you should feel the vastus medialis muscle contracting. This move helps strengthen muscles in the front and back of your legs and your lower back, which helps you lunge and squat properly without knee pain.

Both legs will be strengthened at the same time in this exercise. One leg will always be pushing off the step, while the muscles of the other will be contracted and controlling the descent during this exercise. Start with a low step to ensure comfort in the knee joint. You can always progress to a higher step, as shown, when you feel more comfortable and your muscles get stronger. As with the previous exercise, this move will strengthen both knees at the same time.

You can perform this exercise at home with a chair and a resistance band or on a leg extension machine. This exercise takes the first exercise, the floor extension, to the next level, with added weight. Most people experience knee pain at some point in their lives.

Strengthening the muscles and ligaments around your knees can help stabilize and protect your knee. The telltale symptoms of sciatic nerve pain are severe pain in your back, buttocks, and legs.

A soft tissue occupational therapist may employ or recommend a number of treatment techniques to help relieve your TFL pain, these may include:. Trigger point therapy involves the application of firm pressure to a hyperirritable spot or taut band, known as a trigger point. This pressure works to release tension in the muscle, by decreasing the blood flow to the area, and decrease the pressure felt.

As the pressure is removed, blood flows back to the area and flushes any toxins released by the muscle. These points and can often refer pain to other parts of the body, lasting a few seconds. Dry needling is a technique that can be used to reduce muscle restriction by releasing trigger points see above with acupuncture needles.

Myofascial release is a manipulative treatment that attempts to release tension in the fascia due to trauma, posture, or inflammation. Connective tissues called fascia surround the muscles, bones, nerves, and organs of the body. Points of restriction in the fascia can place a great deal of pressure on nerves and muscles causing chronic pain.

A soft tissue occupational therapist will employ long stretching strokes meant to balance tissue and muscle mechanics and improve joint range of motion in order to relieve pain. Applying heat to your painful VMO muscles through the use of a heat pack may help to alleviate the pain.

Heat is an inexpensive, effective form of pain relief that works by increases blood flow to the area, relaxing muscles and increasing range of movement and flexibility. By increasing the circulation and blood flow throughout the area, injury healing properties are delivered to the muscles, aiding in repair, and reducing the symptoms of VMO pain. Initially the best form of relief from VMO pain includes resting from aggravating activities. Gentle exercise, stretching and strengthening is important in assist to relieve pain and can help speed up your recovery.

Gentle stretching may decrease the pain associated with VMO pain by encouraging circulation and blood flow to tissues, reducing muscle stiffness and spasm. Secondly, correcting muscle imbalances and building strength in the quadriceps and knee region is important in helping to reduce the demands and stress on the VMO, and subsequently reducing VMO pain.

Your Soft Tissue Occupational Therapist may recommend a stretching and strengthening regime, which you will be able to do at home. It is best to consult your Soft Tissue Occupational Therapist before engaging in this program to avoid further aggravating your VMO pain.

The best quad stretches are those that address not just the quadriceps, but all aspects of your leg, from the hip to the thigh, to the foot. These stretches can help to relieve VMO pain. A slightly different form of quad stretch, this position will help to loosen the muscles just above the knee joint, increasing mobility and preventing knee pain. It will also help to stretch your arms, chest, and shoulder blades.

At Infused Health our highly trained Soft Tissue Occupational Therapists will use a hands on approach to help treat your injuries, conditions or any concerns you may have.

You can make an appointment today by calling The main bulk of vastus medialis is found just above the knee cap on the inner medial side of the knee. If you clench your thigh muscles, vastus medialis forms a bulge on the inner thigh, often referred to as the tear drop muscle. This part of the muscle is known as vastus medialis oblique, aka VMO or vastus medialis obliquus, as the muscle fibres here pass obliquely into the kneecap.

The vastus medialis muscle as a whole works with the other quadriceps muscles to straighten the knee and thus extend the leg. Vastus medialis is particularly important in the final stages of knee extension where it helps with the locking mechanism of the knee joint.

The vastus medialis oblique VMO portion on the muscle has an extra function of helping to control how the kneecap moves and provides stability. The shape of the knee means that naturally the kneecap would glide slightly over to the outer side of the knee when bending the leg.

This would place excessive friction through the cartilage lining the back of the kneecap as well as increasing the risk of patella dislocation.

However, the positioning and direction of the VMO muscle fibres help to counteract this by drawing the kneecap inwards, or medially. This ensures that as the knee bends and straightens, the kneecap glides smoothly up and down the groove on the thigh bone so there is no friction on the back of the kneecap. But, you do want to make sure that VMO is activating properly. Clenching a squashy ball between your knees as you do vastus medialis exercises really helps to make sure the VMO is switching on.

Test both sides together, particularly if you have knee pain or swelling, as you may well notice a difference between sides.

Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times. For more top tips on stretching, visit the knee stretches section.