No matter your age, suffering from the impact of knee pain can make the simplest of tasks unbearable. Sadly, there’s a plethora of ways knee pain can come into your life, often quickly.
Yet, eliminating knee pain and getting yourself and your movement back to normal is rarely a quick process.
Sometimes knee pain is significant enough that you can’t just wait it out. Instead, seeking sports physio care is required to get back to normal.
You might be wondering if it’s time for you to seek some professional care for your knees and what sports physio care could do for you.
Read on to learn about the benefits of getting pain relief from sports physiotherapy.
Knee Joint
Once you understand more about the knee joint, it becomes easier to see how it can be a source of various pain.
The knee joint is the largest joint in the human body. The knee is made up of bone, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. Each of these works together to help the knee function properly.
The knee bends, as you know, as a hinged joint. But the knee also rotates and twists for movement. Because the knee helps support the body’s weight along with the ankles and the hips, there are many opportunities for something to go wrong.
Causes of Knee Pain
Sometimes you wake up in the morning, step out of bed and think why is my knee hurting? Other times the cause of your knee pain is more obvious.
Knee pain can come from an injury like an accident or a fall. You can also have knee pain from a sports injury.
Millions of people also suffer from chronic knee pain associated with a previous injury or disease. Some knee pain sufferers will experience pain following surgery from an injury or a side effect of a different injury.
Common Types of Knee Pain
Because knee pain comes from various sources, getting a solid treatment plan will involve identifying the type of knee pain.
One type of pain is acute pain. Often this is the most severe type of pain, occurring immediately following an accident or injury.
Sub-acute pain follows acute pain. It’s a lingering pain after an injury.
Chronic pain is long-term pain. This type of pain often comes from an illness like osteoarthritis.
Identifying Knee Pain for Treatment
When you meet with your physical therapists for treatment, your goal will surely be pain relief. Your provider will want to identify specifically where your knee pain is located.
Knowing where your pain is located will help the physiotherapist create the right treatment plan for your care.
If you have pain in the front of the knee, you might have a problem with tracking and positioning the kneecap.
When you experience pain inside the knee, the culprit might be an injury to the medial meniscus or medial collateral ligament.
Pain on the outside of the knee could come from various culprits. One cause might be the iliotibial band (ITB, a thick bank of tissue that runs across the front of the knee, outside the knee, and up to the hip.
Back of the knee pain is the least common but could be caused by a hamstring tendon injury.
Sports Physiotherapy
When you are treated for knee pain, there are a variety of things the physiotherapist will work on as part of your care.
Sometimes the treatment is intended to reduce swelling, improve balance, and strengthen the knee and leg.
Let’s take a closer look at some common treatment focus areas.
Gait
If you’re weight-bearing and mobile, the PT will consider your gait. They want to watch you walk and see how you move the knee.
Your pain level and knee strength will be a factor in your gait.
Palpation
A physiotherapist is very hands-on with treatment. They will ask you to lie down and let them feel all around the areas of your knee.
They will notice how a good knee and a bad knee compare. They will see where you have pain and possible swelling. They will consider how your knee moves when they attempt to move it around and how you react to those movements.
Range of Motion
One important consideration for knees is the range of motion. This is how well your knee does at bending and straightening.
Your PT will measure your range of motion. Depending on what’s causing a range of motion issues, they will work to address that and then provide exercise as part of your treatment to increase the knee’s mobility and range of motion.
Strength
Sometimes following an injury or surgery, when you’re off your knee for some time, the strength in the knee really diminishes.
Part of PT treatment often involves movement and exercise that helps the knee to build strength, making it stronger and more secure.
Balance
If you’re having balance issues, you may put too much stress on one knee or the other, causing pain.
Keeping your balance evenly distributed between both knees takes away excess pressure on one knee over the other.
As a PT works on strength and range of motion, balance often also improves.
Swelling
Swelling is often a sign of trauma to the knee. The physiotherapist will measure swelling and use it as a gauge in treatment.
There are a variety of treatments they can also use to reduce swelling, which is sure to help with pain, too.
Getting Physiotherapy in Langford
While knee pain is quite common in all ages of people. Sports physio treatments can address the pain and help the knees back to a healthier and more functional state.
If you’re looking for treatment options for your knees, we can help. Set up an appointment with Physio HQ today.
