Previously, you had to visit your physical therapist and have them use a tool called a goniometer to measure your knee range of motion. Using the Curovate Physical Therapy App, it is now possible to measure your knee range of motion at home in less than one minute. Curovate was first released in 2016 but has just been updated and enhanced to make the knee measurements even easier! In additon to measuring your knee range of motion with the app you can also be guided through your daily recovery exercises. If you need additonal support while recovering at home you can schedule a virtual physical therapy sessions with a licensed physical therapist. Along with being an evidence-based physical therapy app, Curovate's enhanced features make it possible for you to recover at home after injury or surgery. Check out the NEW Curovate App for iOS and Android by selecting one of the download links below!
What is knee range of motion?
Knee range of motion refers to how far you can straighten and bend your knee. Straightening your knee is called extension and bending your knee is called flexion.
Why should I measure my knee range of motion?
After a knee injury or surgery your knee range of motion is the best early indicator of recovery. There are weekly and monthly goals for knee range of motion for all injuries and surgeries. For example, if you are recovering from a knee replacement at 3 weeks you should be able to bend your knee to 90 degrees and straighten you knee to 0 degrees. If you can measure your knee range of motion at home, which is now possible with the Curovate App, you will know if you are meeting your weekly range of mtoion goals. In the Curovate app each week, or stage of recovery, has a list of knee range of motion goals as well as activity and exercise goals to help you stay on track.
Follow these steps to measure your knee range of motion using Curovate:
- Open the Curovate app.
- From the home screen, select “Profile” from the dashboard at the bottom of the screen. Then select "Measure Knee." The on-screen instructions in the app will help guide you; the next steps will summarize this process.
- To measure knee straightening, start with your leg straight with a firm towel roll underneath your ankle. Place the phone flat on your thigh just above your knee, then select “measure.” Next, place the phone just below your knee and then select “measure” again. In each position hold the phone steady for 3 seconds.
- To measure knee bending, bend your knee as far as you can. Then, place your phone flat just above your knee and press “measure.” Next, place your phone below your knee and select “measure” again.
- The app will now provide you with a summary of your knee bending and straightening measurements. Select “view” on the screen to save your knee measurments. This allows you to save and track your knee measurements over time and ensure that you are making progress in your recovery. If however you have made a mistake in your measurements simple select "delete and retry" and the app will not save your most recent knee measurement and you can start again from step 3 above.
For a step by step guide, with a screen recording taken directly from the app, watch the video below to learn how to measure your knee range of motion using the newly improved Curovate Physiotherapy App.
Now that you know how to measure your knee range of motion at home using Curovate, you may be wondering how accurate is this measurment? We have reviewed the research and it turns out that measuring your knee range of motion with your phone is very accurate! We also conducted our own research study to test how closely Curovate's knee measurements correlated to measurements taken by a licensed physical therapist. We found that a licensed physical therapist and the Curovate app measuremnet had a correlation of 0.998 or higher comparing 80 seperate knee positions. This means that Curovate's app measurement correlates very highly with a physical therapist measuring knee range of motion.
If you have injured your ACL, or have an upcoming ACL surgery, knee replacement, or hip replacement, you can start a personalized recovery plan using Curovate today. The app provides you with guided exercises, rehab reminders, progress tracking, and can even measure your range of motion all with your phone. To get started, simply download the Curovate App for iOS or Android using one of the links below.
If you need further customized assistance during your surgery or injury recovery check out our Virtual Physical Therapy page to book your 1-on-1 video session with a physical therapist.
Other recommended blogs
- How can I accurately measure my knee range of motion with Curovate?
- How does measuring my knee range of motion with the Curovate app compare to a physical therapist measuring my knee?
- Should I Measure My Knee Bending and Straightening With My Phone
- How to do your exercises for rehabilitation using home equipment
