How To Treat Knee Pain

Knee pain is a common condition that can be extremely painful and can considerably affect your lifestyle. It can arise gradually over time due to muscle imbalances, repeated loading, or even conditions we are born with. It can also be onset through a direct injury, such as twisting your knee during sport or physical activity. Knee pain can occur across a wide variety of people, and knowing how to treat it properly can improve your lifestyle and wellbeing significantly.

What are the symptoms of knee pain?

Often with knee pain comes a stiff or swollen knee, causing pain or immobility. There may also be weakness around the muscles of your knee. If there is nerve involvement, you may experience numbness, a burning or a tingling sensation around the knee joint. For some, you may even hear a clicking or crunching sound in your knee, or in some circumstances, you may even feel your knee dislocating.

Causes

Knee pain can be caused by injuries, mechanical problems, types of arthritis and other problems.

Injuries

Knee injuries can affect many of the parts surrounding the knee joint as well as the parts that make up the knee.  These include the ligaments, tendons or the fluid-filled sacs called bursae that surround the knee joint and the bones, cartilage and ligaments of the knee itself.

Some of the more common knee injuries include:

An ACL injury is a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — one of four ligaments that connect your shinbone to your thighbone. People who play Australian rules football, basketball, soccer or other sports that require sudden changes in direction, in particular, will be more likely to obtain an ACL injury.

Fractures can occur in the bones of the knee, including the kneecap (patella); this can occur during falls or auto accidents. Also, people whose bones have been weakened by osteoporosis through old age or underuse can sometimes sustain a knee fracture simply by stepping incorrectly due to the weakened density of the bones.

A torn meniscus occurs at times when you suddenly twist your knee while weight-bearing on it.  It is the tough, rubbery cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between your shinbone and thighbone

Knee bursitis happens when the small sacs of fluid that cushion the outside of your knee joint so that tendons and ligaments glide smoothly over the joint get inflamed.

Patellar tendinitis can happen when there’s an injury to the patellar tendon, causing inflammation and irritation of one or more of the tendons — the thick, fibrous tissues that attach muscles to bones. The patellar tendon runs from the kneecap (patella) to the shinbone and allows you to kick, run and jump. Anyone involved in sports such as running, skiing, cycling or any sport or activity including jumping may develop patellar tendinitis.

Sometimes, you may have symptoms in the knee, but the condition is actually related to the biomechanics in other areas of your body. For example, your spine, hips, pelvis, ankle and foot all affect the knee, if you have tightness, imbalances or injuries at one point on the chain, then anything can be affected. 

At City Physio, we are highly skilled in diagnosing and treating such conditions and will help you understand where your pain comes from, alleviate your pain, and give you the confidence to get back on your feet again.

We commonly treat:

Here at City Physiotherapy, we can assist you with all forms of knee and joint pain.

• Post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears
• Patellofemoral (kneecap pain) syndrome
• ITB syndrome (runner’s knee)
• Tendinopathies
• Acute ligament sprains
• Muscle strains
• Meniscus injuries
• Post fracture or post-surgical rehabilitation
• Many different types of arthritis
• Osteoarthritis of the knee

Our physios use a variety of hands-on treatment techniques including soft tissue therapy, knee joint mobilisation, dry needling, taping, muscle stretching, and exercise rehabilitation. Getting the right treatment early plays a significant role in alleviating your immediate pain or symptoms to prevent future knee pain. We can also assist in providing you with strategies to alleviate and prevent recurrences.

When should you seek physiotherapy for knee pain?

When you experience pain in your knee, this is a sign that something is wrong, it may be something small, but getting it checked out right away stops it from degrading further. Seeking physiotherapy for knee treatment at the onset of your pain is the best course of action for pain relief. Your knee pain can vary from being aching, dull, widespread, sharp, shooting or quite specific. Our physical therapists are experienced with treating common knee injuries to chronic knee pain.

Knee problems can arise from a sudden injury or it may be a gradual onset of pain, with no specific injury or incident. Your knee pain may be aggravated by your normal everyday movements, including walking, climbing stairs, bending over, or kneeling. Alternatively, it may be triggered by specific sporting activities, such as jumping, landing, twisting or changing direction rapidly.

Contact us to book an appointment with City Physio in Adelaide for an assessment on your knee from one of our qualified physios and start your journey to recovery with our qualified and highly experienced physiotherapists.

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