Knee Pain

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The knee is the most complex joint in the body. It has to bear the weight of the body while moving through an incredible range of 130 degrees or more. When running the knee absorbs up to 6 times the weight of your body in force! In a lifetime, it is estimated that the average person will take over 216 million steps and walk 108,000 miles. With this amount of use, at times things can go wrong and lead to knee pain.

 

Most knee pain stems from the loss of what is called "accessory motions". Accessory motions are the knee's smaller movements that are sliding side-to-side, back and forth as well as spinning and rotating. Without consistent stretching and especially without being very active, the tissues around the knee become tight. In addition, if the muscles in the front or back of the knee become weaker, that can lead to more abnormal forces on the knee joint.

 

All of these problems lead to increased friction and wear on the knee. The normal response is one of inflammation that can be felt as pain in and around the knee. A good rule of thumb is that if your pain is achy, a lack of normal joint fluid flow is occurring as well as possible decreased circulation around the knee to the muscles and tissues. However, with sharp pain during movement, an area in the knee is being severely pressed upon and the movement of the joint is not normal.

 

How physical therapy helps

Physical therapy is one of the most important treatments for knee pain. Whether it is from a sports injury, tight musculature, altered joint mechanics or arthritis, we can help!

 

The first step is to pinpoint the exact mechanism of why your knee pain is occurring. We perform a thorough evaluation of your posture, knee motion, knee and hip strength, walking analysis and joint mobility. From this we can discover the main reason for your knee pain and formulate a treatment plan that will alleviate it quickly.

 

Our physical therapists perform hands-on therapy to improve your knee joint mobility, reducing pain quickly. Modalities such as ultrasound may be used to reduce swelling and pain. Specific exercises will be performed to enhance your leg strength and address any unbalanced muscles that are contributing to your knee pain.