Frequent knee pain affects approximately 25% of adults,
Patients who visit our chiropractic office for knee pain usually have the following problems
- Swelling and stiffness
- Redness and warmth to the touch
- Weakness or instability
- Popping or crunching noises
- Inability to fully straighten the knee
- Can't put weight on your knee
- Locking and catching pain
- Meniscus tears
- Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tears
- Lateral Collateral (LCL) and Medial Collateral (MCL) Ligament Tears
- Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
- IT (Iliotibial) Band Syndrome
When you lack the abilty to have pain-free knee movements it can completely alter your life
Q: What life hacks do you have for knee pain?
A: Foam roll the back and front of your thighs and your calves, place a towel under your knee and perform quad setting exercises, lay on your back and slide your heel towards your body, wear a compression sleeve, warm-up or stretch before exercising or physical activities, try working out in the water and biking if regular activity is too painful to take some of the impact off your joints, and do not be ashamed to get support like a cane or crutches until you feel confident in your freedom of movement, put a pillow between your knees at night.
Q: What kind of injuries can cause knee pain?
A: Twisting, falling, an impact in sports or an unexpected hit during everyday life can cause injuries to the knee. Truama injuries usually affect the ACL, LCL, and meniscus.
Q: Can my hip pain cause my knee pain?
A: Yes a common condition called IT (illiotiobal) band syndrome can cause frustrating lateral knee pain, especially in cyclists and runners
Q: What is arthritis?
A: The two forms of arthritis are inflammatory and osteoarthritis, aka wear, and tear arthritis. Osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis in the hip, is a chronic condition in which the cushioning material of the joints breaks down and the bones rub against each other. This causes pain, stiffness, and loss of joint movement.
Q: Is surgery my only option for a meniscus tear?
A: Small tears found at the outer edge of the meniscus have high success rates of healing with exercise and conservative treatment
Not traditionally labeled as an impingement. Any activity that causes you to forcefully twist or rotate your knee, especially when putting your full weight on it, can lead to the meniscus being torn by impingement of the femur and tibia.
Each of your knees has two C-shaped pieces of cartilage that act like a cushion between your shinbone and your thighbone (menisci). A torn meniscus causes pain, swelling, and stiffness. You also might feel a block to knee motion and have trouble extending your knee fully.
If you've torn your meniscus, you might have the following signs and symptoms in your knee:
- A popping sensation
- Swelling or stiffness
- Pain, especially when twisting or rotating your knee
- Difficulty straightening your knee fully
- Feeling as though your knee is locked in place when you try to move it
- The feeling of your knee giving way
Conservative treatment (such as rest, ice and medication) is sometimes enough to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus and give the injury time to heal on its own.
An ACL injury is a tear or sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament, which is one of the major ligaments in your knee. ACL injuries most commonly occur during sports that involve sudden stops or changes in direction, jumping and landing.
Many people hear or feel a "pop" in the knee when an ACL injury occurs. Your knee may swell, feel unstable, and become too painful to bear weight.
Depending on the severity of your ACL injury, treatment may include rest and rehabilitation exercises to help you regain strength and stability or surgery to replace the torn ligament followed by rehabilitation. A proper training program may help reduce the risk of an ACL injury
- Signs and symptoms of an ACL injury usually include:
- A loud "pop" or a "popping" sensation in the knee
- Severe pain and inability to continue the activity
- Rapid swelling
- Loss of range of motion
- A feeling of instability or "giving way" with weight-bearing
An LCL injury is a strain or tear to the lateral collateral ligament (LCL). The LCL is a band of tissue that runs along the outer side of your knee. It helps to hold the bones together so that your knee joint remains stable when you move.
If your LCL is stretched or torn, how you feel and what type of treatment you’ll need depends on how badly you’ve been hurt. If it’s just a minor sprain, you may get better with self-care at home. But if it’s a bad tear, you will need physical therapy or surgery
You will feel
- Knee sore, or tender along the outer edge.
- Your knee may feel like it could give out when you’re walking or standing.
- Your knee may lock in place or catch when you walk, instead of moving smoothly.
- You may not have your normal range of motion.
- Your foot may feel numb or weak, along with your knee pain, if it’s a severe tear.
- You may have bruising on or around the knee.
The medial collateral ligament (MCL) is a wide, thick band of tissue that runs down the inner part of the knee from the thighbone (femur) to a point on the shinbone (tibia). The MCL's main function is to prevent the leg from extending too far inward, but it also helps keep the knee stable.
Injuries to the medial collateral ligament most often happen when the knee is hit on the outside or collapses inward. This stretches the ligaments on the inside of the knee too far can tear them. The ligament also can be injured through repeated stress. This causes the ligament to lose its normal stretch and elasticity similar to a worn-out rubber band.
If the medial collateral ligament has been damaged or torn, you will usually have:
- Pain, which can range from mild to severe
- Stiffness
- Swelling
- Tenderness along the inside of the knee
- A feeling that the injured knee may give way under stress or may lock or catch
The medial collateral ligament has a good blood supply and usually responds well to nonsurgical treatment.
Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury happens far less often. The posterior cruciate ligament and ACL connect your thighbone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia). If the PCL ligament is torn, it might cause pain, swelling, and a feeling of instability. Although a posterior cruciate ligament injury generally causes less pain, disability, and knee instability than does an ACL tear, it can still sideline you for several weeks or months.
- Mild to moderate pain in the knee
- A slight limp or difficulty walking
- Knee swelling occurs rapidly, within hours of the injury
- Instability where your knee might feel loose as if it's going to give way
- Weak thigh muscles
- Tendons, ligaments, or muscles in the leg that are too tight or too loose
- Activities that stress the knee again and again, especially those with twisting motions
- A traumatic injury to the knee, such as a blow that pushes the kneecap toward the outer side of the leg
- Problems with the structure of the knee bones or how they are aligned
Is a common knee injury that usually presents with pain and/or tenderness on palpation of the lateral aspect of the knee, superior to the joint line, and inferior to the lateral femoral epicondyle. It is considered a non-traumatic overuse injury and is often concomitant with the underlying weakness of muscles. Overuse is thought to be caused by repetitive knee flexion and extension movements frequently seen in cyclists and runners. This repetitive motion causes excessive friction between the lateral femoral epicondyle and the iliotibial tract.
The iliotibial tract is a thick band of fascia that runs on the lateral side of the thigh from the iliac crest and inserts at the knee. It is composed of dense fibrous connective tissue that appears from the tensor fascia latae and gluteus maximus. It descends along the lateral aspect of the thigh, between the layers of the superficial fascia, and inserts onto the lateral tibial plateau at a projection known as Gerdy’s tubercle. In its distal portion, the iliotibial tract covers the lateral femoral epicondyle and gives an expansion to the lateral border of the patella. While the iliotibial band does not have any boney attachments as it courses between the Gerdy tubercle and the lateral femoral epicondyle, this absence of attachment allows it to move anteriorly and posteriorly with knee flexion and extension.
The main symptoms of ITBS are:
- Sharp pain on the outer aspect of the knee, particularly when the heel strikes the floor, that can radiate into the outer thigh or calf
- Pain that tends to worsen when running or coming downstairs
- Audible snapping sensations when the knee bends
- Swelling on the outer side of the knee
- Exercise-related tenderness over the lateral femoral epicondyle
- An acute, burning pain when pressure is applied on the lateral femoral epicondyle with the knee in flexion and in extension
The treatment of ITBS is usually non-operative, and physiotherapy should be considered the first and best line of treatment. Due to the variety of potential causes of IT band syndrome, it is necessary to consider areas that may be contributing to abnormal body mechanics. Especially with knee conditions, the joints above (hip) and below (ankle/foot) should be assessed to determine if they are contributing to the problem.
Everything you need to decrease annoying pain, stiffness, swelling and increase healing so you can get back to proper movement
- Myofascial release and many other manual therapy techniques
- Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization
- Cupping
- Rehabilitation exercises
- Corrective and pre-rehabilitation exercises
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