Knee Pain
Although the knee joint is relatively stable, it involves a complex series of muscles, ligaments, tendons, and “floating bones” all working together to help you move.
If any of this isn’t working in sync, the knee is another common area for both acute and chronic pain.
Many times you remember a sporting injury, or that time you twisted your knee having it swell up after. Others cannot recall a specific incident, with pain starting one day out of nowhere. But everyone with knee pain knows the end result of pain during everyday life.
The most common issues that occur with knee pain include:
Walking
Standing
Going up and down steps
Squatting/getting in and out of chairs
Running
Jumping
Getting on and off the floor
Common Diagnosis We Treat:
Osteoarthritis
Meniscus Tear
Total Knee Replacement
Jumper’s Knee (Patellar Tendonitis)
Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome)
ACL Reconstruction
MCL/LCL Sprain
IT Band Syndrome
Quad Tendon Repair
Don’t let knee pain keep you from getting on the trail. Talk to one of our Physical Therapists to help you get on the road to recovery.
FAQ’s for Knee Pain
Do I Need Surgery For A Meniscus Tear?
For most people, all available evidence would suggest no. Numerous studies have now shown that there is no difference between physical therapy and surgery on outcomes with patient function. Surgery has also been shown to increase the risk and speed of arthritis development over PT. There are specific indications of when surgery might be indicated, and all of our PTs are well trained to identify these early and refer you to the correct provider when necessary.
What Does The Hip Have To Do With The Knee?
Patellofemoral pain, a very common type of knee pain, often has its origins related to hip strength. For a number of reasons hip strength has been shown to help with knee pain both related to patellofemoral pain and other types of knee pain. We use a full body approach to address all the areas contributing to your pain, not just the painful area. Treating you as a whole moving body, and not just a knee or a hip leads to improved pain relief and longer term success.
How Do I Know If I Am Ready To Return to My Activity?
That’s a great question. This is highly dependent on each individual person and their specific injury or surgery. However, a combination of experience and objective testing is used to make this determination. The key is making testing objective. A great example of this is after ACL surgery, where quadriceps strength is one of the biggest factors related to returning to sport. The best way to determine if this strength has returned is with testing on an isotonic dynamometer. We are the only PT practice in the area to have one on site to ensure your recovery is complete, whether you’ve had an ACL repair or other surgery, we have all the necessary equipment to help.
Injections And Surgery For Knee Osteoarthritis
These are the only things that can help for arthritis right? Wrong. Physical Therapy can be even more effective than injections in reducing pain and delaying knee replacement. Something else to consider, steroid injections have a degenerative effect on cartilage and can actually speed up arthritis progression. Even better, the stronger you are, the better and more quickly you can recover from surgery if and when it’s needed.