Beautiful and straight knees are the pride of every girl. However, not all girls have such natural characteristics. Curvature by nature is not a disaster, but it can be a reason for the development of a complex in a girl. And as you know, external beauty is the main weapon of every woman. Many girls have a complex about a slight curvature and exaggerate their defect, however, they want to change even these slightest flaws. They are concerned about the question: how to straighten their knees.
Crooked legs bring suffering to a woman and lead to a refusal to wear dresses and skirts. It is possible to save the situation and it is not a difficult task. With sufficient determination and perseverance of a girl suffering from crooked legs, the desired result can be achieved. Initially, it is necessary to find out the cause of the curvature.
Experts say that crooked knees do not affect a person’s well-being and health. However, this can significantly affect the girl’s psychological state. Complexes and self-doubt arise. If this complex persists for a long time, the girl may fall into a state of depression, after which she will need specialized help. Curvature of the legs can affect a girl’s personal life, so it is necessary to pay attention to this problem and solve it.
What is the cause of crooked knees?
Curvatures of the legs and knees in particular are usually divided into two large groups:
- False curvature
- True curvature
In this case, the bones of the lower extremities themselves are quite smooth and have the correct shape. And the outlines of the legs are distorted due to excess or, conversely, insufficient volume of soft tissue on the hips and/or legs.
A more serious case. Here the bones themselves, which form the knee joint, have a distorted shape. Such deformities can be of two types: varus (O-shaped), when the right and left knees do not close at all, and valgus (X-shaped), when they converge excessively with each other.
The reason why the knees look in different directions or, conversely, fit too tightly to each other, with true curvature, is the genetic characteristics of the skeleton. Such disorders can also be a consequence of certain pathologies, for example, rickets. At the same time, we must not forget that in young children, divergence of the knee joints is a physiological norm. Before the age of 1 year, almost every child experiences varus curvature. By about 3 years it turns into a hallux valgus deformity, and by 5–6 years the legs are straightened.
Strengthening the thigh muscles
For the third type of curvature, which involves the femur, exercises to strengthen the inner thigh muscles can help. Their action is aimed at closing the femur defect. The exercise involves using a rubber ball. To do this, you need to take a ball, sit on a chair and hold it between your knees. The ball should be compressed and decompressed for 5 minutes. This exercise helps train the inner thigh muscles. It should be performed daily for 3 months.
Exercise with a ball
Crooked knees are an aesthetic problem for every girl. Since women pay special attention to appearance, having a defect in it means being unattractive to men. And this, as we know, is a disaster not only for the girl’s personal life, but also for the woman’s mental health.
There are three types of curvature of the legs, each of which has its own specific approach to correcting the curvature. In order to understand what type of defect your defect belongs to, you need to carefully examine and palpate your knees. Working on yourself is the key to success and beauty. Therefore, even with crooked knees, you can find a way out.
Doing special exercises will help you achieve the desired result and straighten your legs below the knees. However, it should be remembered that the exercises should be performed daily over a long period. Only regular training can help you in the fight for slender and beautiful legs. If the exercises are ineffective, you can contact a specialist, namely a surgeon. In this case, aesthetic plastic surgeries are performed to model the knees. However, it is worth remembering that this type of operation is expensive and not every girl can afford it.
How to determine the type of curvature?
The most reliable method to distinguish between false and true curvature is radiographic examination of the lower extremities. This technique will allow you to visualize bone and joint structures and give an answer: are the leg bones actually curved or not. This is important, because false curvature is primarily an aesthetic drawback and does not affect a person’s health. But the true one is capable of changing gait and posture, which in older age can provoke the appearance of joint pathologies.
Leg contouring with silicone implants
The operation involves inserting silicone implants of various sizes and shapes under the fascia of the gastrocnemius muscle. During the three to four weeks of the recovery period, it is necessary to wear compression garments.
The advantages of the operation are the relative ease of execution, low invasiveness (small incision, absence of massive damage to soft tissue, preservation of bone integrity), short recovery period. However, contouring is effective only in the case of soft tissue defects, that is, when the legs have false curvature. With true curvature, contour plastic surgery is not very effective.
False curvature of the legs is sometimes corrected with lipofilling. This method is cheaper and simpler than others. Fat cells taken from another area of the patient's body are implanted into the defect area. However, the injected adipose tissue is absorbed over time and the appearance of the legs deteriorates again.
How to fix the violation?
First of all, you should find out whether this curvature is false or true. The first is due to improper distribution of soft tissues. This means that it can be corrected with dosed and well-chosen physical activity. That is, simply pump up certain muscles so that they give smooth outlines to the hips, knee joints and shins.
But in case of true deformation, sports exercises or massage techniques are useless. After all, none of them can affect the geometric shape of solid and durable bone structures. Therefore, in this case, the only effective way to get rid of “terrible knees” is surgery. It is worth considering that not every operation will help here. For example, you can often see advertisements for clinics that promise to solve the problem with cruroplasty. This intervention involves installing silicone implants into the soft tissues of the lower leg or transplanting the patient’s own fat tissue there. However, this can only change the volume of the legs, but not correct the curvature of the bones. In fact, cruroplasty simply masks an existing deficiency.
The operation to truly straighten the knee joints is performed using the Ilizarov apparatus. It is performed under general anesthesia, fixing the system on the bones of the lower extremities. And then they are gradually leveled by applying a precisely calculated force to the spokes of the device. Straightening is quite slow, and the entire treatment lasts 2–4 months.
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Lower leg exercises
Lunge exercise
If the cause of the curvature is the shins, then such exercises are absolutely useless. Bowed knees may be due to abnormal growth of the ankle. In this case, you can only help with exercises that strengthen the muscles of the lower leg, especially those located in the ankle area.
To straighten your knees, the following exercises will help:
- Perform lunges alternately with your right and then with your left foot.
- Squats 15 times (2 sets).
- Jumping on two legs (20 times - 2 sets).
- Every day you need to stand on your toes, performing springy movements up and down. Repeat 20 times (3 sets).
You can try another method for this type of curvature. As you know, muscles can be activated to grow with the help of slight damage. For example, you can use similar effleurage exercises as for the second type.
The effect of this procedure is to increase metabolism in muscle tissue, thereby causing its growth. And as a result of this growth, the curvature defect closes. Even just one centimeter can change the silhouette of the leg and the leg will appear slender and straight. This tapping should be performed daily for 3 months for 1 minute.
Recovery period
It is important to remain in bed for 2–3 days after surgery, and then gradually increase activity. After a week, the patient is discharged home, where he continues treatment with periodic follow-up visits to the doctor. When the Ilizarov apparatus is removed, it is useful to go to the pool for several weeks - this will speed up the functional rehabilitation of the muscles and joints of the legs. The final result will become obvious in six months - the knees will become smooth and beautiful.
If your own knees seem unattractive and unaesthetic to you, sign up for a consultation with the doctors at SM-Plastic by phone: +7 . A specialist will answer all questions and, if necessary, provide the necessary assistance.
Correction of the shape of the legs without surgery
At an early age, it is possible to radically correct the shape of the legs with the help of physical exercises, special fixation devices, and massage. To do this, you need to contact a pediatric orthopedist or surgeon as soon as possible.
After the completion of the formation of the skeleton in adults, the effect of exercises can only be with a slight false deformation of the lower extremities. For this purpose, special physical therapy complexes have been developed. Useful exercises include jogging, cycling, swimming, jumping rope, and climbing stairs.
Expert: Natalya Dolgopolova, general practitioner Author: Tatyana Uzonina
The material uses photographs belonging to shutterstock.com
How to straighten crooked legs?
— How can you straighten legs that are crooked from birth?
— If the legs have a pronounced O-shaped or X-shaped shape, then they can only be corrected through surgery. Science has not yet invented other methods.
The bone can be straightened in one way - by making an artificial fracture above or below the knee joint. Then fix it so that it grows together at the desired angle.
An orthopedic surgeon has a whole arsenal of different tools for this. From plaster to the most complex modern devices, including the famous Ilizarov apparatus.
— How is it possible to take and break a completely healthy leg, even under anesthesia?
- But we often do this not only for the sake of beauty. If the angle of curvature is too large, then it becomes dangerous to the woman’s health. Uneven one-sided load on the joints leads to:
- their deformations,
- salt deposition,
- arthritis,
- and then to arthrosis.
Of course, this does not happen immediately and not to everyone. But the probability is still very high. After all, women have to:
- and give birth,
- and carry heavy bags,
- gain weight with age.
The bone can be straightened in one way - by making an artificial fracture above or below the knee joint
Therefore, as they say, you need to choose the lesser of two evils - surgery now or possible troubles in the future. I believe it is better to fix serious problems right away.
— How long does rehabilitation take?
— After the operation, the woman is forced to endure some inconveniences. For the first six weeks, her leg is in a cast, and she can only move with the help of crutches.
If the operation is performed on both legs at once, then she will have to spend all this time at home, in bed. But after three months she will be able to walk freely without limping. A total of six months is required for complete recovery.
— Are there any restrictions on the age of patients?
- In principle, the operation can be performed at any age - both at twenty and at forty. But still, young women and teenage girls come to us more often. Moreover, which is typical, it is we, pediatric orthopedic surgeons, who can help them.
— But it’s probably better to operate at an earlier age?
“The sooner the mother takes the girl to the doctor, the easier the recovery period will be.”
This operation can be performed from the age of three, although this also has its difficulties. At a young age, you should never damage the bone growth zones.
— Is it possible to correct bowed legs caused by rickets in childhood?
— Yes, but in these cases, in addition to surgery, additional treatment is also prescribed. But first, an examination of what kind of rickets she suffered from in childhood. After all, there are several varieties of this disease. Each of them has its own treatment method.
— How fair is the opinion that you can achieve the desired slimness of your legs with special exercises?
- It is only partly true. If a bone has an irregular shape, then no amount of training will make it straight. It’s another matter when there is underdevelopment of individual muscles. Such a woman is given away not only by her legs, but also by:
- heavy clumsy gait,
- stooped back.
If the angle of curvature is too great, then it becomes dangerous to the woman’s health
In this case, regular exercise in the gym will help cope with muscle imbalance. It is better to study under the guidance of an experienced instructor. After all, you don’t just need:
- pump up muscles,
- and develop them harmoniously.
The body has incredible plasticity. And if we add to this property perseverance, which pushes a woman to perform feats in the name of beauty, then the desired results can be achieved.
Women are given beautiful and slender legs either by nature or by persistent sports training. But sometimes the help of a surgeon is required.