✓ Written & medically reviewed by Dr. Molly McDonald, PT, DPT, LMT · Updated December 1, 2023
I was shopping at the mall I needed to sit down for a few minutes to feed the kids before going to the car. We sat at one of those little sitting areas in the mall. Naturally, there were other people sitting in that same area. One lady in particular was sitting in a chair rubbing her knees like she wanted to have a genie come out of them.
After a few minutes the kids were settled and eating a snack but this lady is still rubbing her knees. She looked to be in her early 40s and average health so I couldn’t resist asking if she was okay.
She goes on to pour out an emotional story about how her knees hurt every time she bends and straighten them. Some days are a little better but nothing seems to make them feel better. She was hoping that if she just got started shopping that the pain would go away but it is just hurts every time she bends and straightens her knee. Apparently, she has started and exercise program to get “healthy”, but must’ve done something wrong because now her knees are worse than before.
She talked for a little while about all the things she wanted to do that she was missing out on. In fact, today she was at the mall for just a few holiday items. And now she is debating if she can even make it through the mall or if she should just go back to her car.
After asking her a few things about her workout program and her day. I suggested we just stand and stretch for a minute. She looked at me like I had two heads...stand and stretch in the middle of the mall?!
She did a few of the stretches and with really wide eyes she told me her knees felt better. She looked so relieved. I asked did the pain level really drop that much? She said, ‘No, but I was convinced I was going to knee surgery. But if I can do things to help my knee pain without surgery that is what I want.”
We set her up with an evaluation later that week to create a specialized plan to get her back to working out feeling healthy, and to shop to her heart’s content.
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“Dr. Molly has done an outstanding job restoring my leg/hip strength levels to pre-2020 levels in less than a year. I am a competitive powerlifter and am back to deadlifting over 400 lbs.”
“I’m a 39-year-old runner who reached out to Dr. Molly with a nagging knee issue. She gave me several exercises to help alleviate my pain — and once I followed her plan, things turned around.”
About the author
Owner & Physical Therapist, Your Goals Physical Therapy — Cypress, TX
Molly helps active adults end nagging aches and pain and get back to the activities they love — without medication, injections, or surgery. She treats the root cause, not just the symptom, because you shouldn’t be told you can’t do something; you should be shown how.
