Knee pain is one of the most common ailments we see every day in our practice. The pain can be caused by an injury, or an underlying condition, such as arthritis. Keep reading for insight into the causes, treatment options and preventative measures you can take for knee pain.
What causes knee pain?
Knee pain can be caused by a combination of injury to ligaments, cartilage, tendons and muscular imbalances. It’s vital that we identify any structural damage (e.g. sub chondral fracture, meniscal displacement, ligament ruptures) prior to treatment.
Pain is your body’s way of telling you to pay attention. The longer you suffer with your pain, the longer it could take to recover. The sooner you seek treatment to correct imbalances that cause pain, muscle weakness and tightness, the easier it is to address the problem.
Contributing factors to knee pain
With a range of possible causes and contributing factors, knee pain is not the same for everyone. It's our job as Physios to identify what causes and factors are influencing your specific pain or discomfort to provide optimal treatment and advice. Some common factors include:
- Trauma or overuse
- Underactivity of the VMO muscle (vastus medialis obliquus)
- Tightening of the lateral knee muscles
- Poor patellar tracking
- Hip stability
- Foot mechanics
- Exercise technique
- Age related degeneration
- Bodyweight
How can a physio help with knee pain?
- Manual therapy (soft-tissue massage, joint mobilisations, trigger point therapy and myofascial release)
- Motor control re-training - specifically VMO
- Improving Gluteus Medius (buttock) activation and strength
- ITB release
- Dry needling
- Orthotic prescription
- Quad, hamstring and calf strengthening