Knee Joint Pain Relief
The Knee
Your knees are essential for everyday life, and they’ll let you know when something isn’t right. The knee joint is complex. There are four bones connecting at the knee, along with muscles, tendons, ligaments, and menisci. With so many parts in a relatively small space, it’s not surprising that the knee can malfunction and cause pain.
The femur (thigh bone), tibia (shin bone), and fibula (the second bone in your shin, tucked in behind the tibia), and the patella (knee cap), which protects the joint, are connected to the muscles of your upper and lower legs by tendons. Ligaments connect to the bones to keep them moving in line. The two menisci (cartilage) buffer the joint, and there are several bursae (sacs of fluid) that keep everything moving smoothly.
Common Causes of Chronic Knee Pain
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, and it most often occurs in the knee joint. The knee takes a lot of wear and tear over the years through bending, straightening, lifting, twisting, and so on. As the cartilage breaks down, the knee can become painful and stiff.
Tears in the menisci and ligaments cause the joint to work differently to avoid the pain, which leads to further knee pain and compensation injuries in other parts of the body.
Overuse conditions, like tendonitis and bursitis (inflammation of the tendons and bursae, respectively), are painful and require immediate treatment to prevent further damage. Inflammation pain worsens over time, and it’s easy to ignore mild aches in the beginning, but it’s better to get treatment if symptoms persist more than a few weeks.
Athletes can experience injuries by not warming the joint up before engaging in activity. Athletes should always warm up their joints before activities like running, cycling, swimming, and skiing. Failure to warm up the joint can also cause or worsen traumatic injuries. Traumatic injury to the knee can result in chronic knee pain, long after the knee appears to have healed. By warming up, the joint will be more flexible when twisted or shocked.
Knee pain can also be the result of compensation for other injuries. For example, you might limp to relieve pressure on the injured knee. The limp will, in turn, put pressure on other parts of your body like the hip, back, or other knee. Rather than only treating the knee, we treat the entire body to ensure any other compromised areas are taken care of.
The most common cause of chronic knee pain, though, is lack of treatment. If your knee lets you know something is wrong (pain, swelling, or stiffness), don’t wait until the pain is unbearable. By this point, you might have already strained other parts of your body compensating for your knees. Contact Olympic Spine and Sports Therapy right away for a free consultation and evaluation.
Our Approach to Comprehensive Conservative Treatment
At Olympic Spine and Sports Therapy, we use functional neurologic orthopedic rehabilitation (“FNOR”) to treat chronic knee pain. Our goal is to return your entire physical state to optimal performance. Our treatment plans do not include narcotics or surgery. If compensation injuries are the cause of your knee pain, FNOR will help treat the source of the knee problem,, as well as the knee pain itself.
We use a combination of treatments and therapies to care for your knee. From laser therapy to reduce inflammation and encourage regeneration to infrared light to improve circulation, we call upon the most advanced technologies available.
Your doctor may also prescribe non-surgical decompression therapy. Joint decompression is a type of traction therapy. It regulates the flow of water and nutrients in joints by easing compression. Chiropractic adjustments improve mobility of joints and balance nerve activity. Functional rehabilitation exercises restore strength and stability so your knee can function correctly again.
We offer a free consultation to prospective patients. Our doctor will examine you to determine whether you’re a candidate for our customized treatments. If we can help, the staff will tell you what to expect throughout the process.
Start the road to recovery today. Call now to schedule your consultation.