Knee Pain

Knee Arthritis

Osteoarthritis has become a very common disease, especially affecting people as they grow old. Although it’s a degenerative disease, it’s not similar to the natural wear and tear of your bones. In case of arthritis, the cartilages in the cartilaginous joints break down. In case it happens to the joints of your knees, hips, hands, etc. can cause the bones to rub against one another and cause severe pain. It is found equally among men and women and gets severe with increasing age.

Symptoms and Causes

The condition often shows no early signs. Aching joints, stiffness in the morning or after some rest (lying, sitting, etc), swollen joints and reduction in pain on resting are some common symptoms. The causes of such a condition can be a regular stress on joints due to work, over exercise, etc. It may be triggered by faulty gait, postural imbalance or injury. However, bad posture, excessive bodyweight, aging, injury, etc. increase the risks of knee pain due to arthritis. Added to that is genetic factors, hormonal conditions, etc. that increase the likelihood of having knee arthritis.

Treatment

Treatment requires a proper assessment of the condition which is done by us. Our chiropractors will conduct you through a process of analyzing your injury or genetics that triggered your knee pain using answers to simple questions about the location of the pain, actions that relieve the pain, type of pain, family history, etc. An in-depth physical examination will provide a proper picture of your condition. Examinations include checking posture, flexibility, muscle-tightness around joints, range of motion, X-ray of joints, orthopaedic tests, etc.

After assessing the condition, our experienced chiropractors prescribe solutions. If the pain accompanies swelling, then the primary objective is to reduce that. The swelling can subside with use of ice and the pain can be dealt with prescription medicine. Relative rest is a very popular and effective way to provide rest to the affected joint while keeping all the others active and doing daily activities. This not only provides rest for healing the muscle trauma, but keeps the body ready for further treatment.

Chiropractic adjustments like joint mobilization, combined with exercise is very effective. Podiatry is another line of treatment. Since posture and gait are crucial to the condition, our podiatrists asses the gait of the patients, creates custom built arches to supports the medial arch and improve tracking in the patelloformal mechanism. The patient is also advised to do regular stretching and exercise to strengthen the quadriceps, hip, hamstring and calf muscles.

Preventive Measures

Our experts suggest the following to reduce the risk of developing arthritis:

• Improving posture.
• Protecting injured joints from further damage.
• Exercise.
• Weight loss.
• Avoid repetitive motion.

Runners Knee Pain

Pain in the knees is most commonly caused due to a condition medically known as the patelloformal syndrome or the runners Knee. This is caused by an abnormal functioning of the thigh muscles called the quadriceps. The kneecap moves up and down while running or walking due to the quadriceps, but on malfunctioning of these muscles, the kneecap may stretch on farther than usual and cause pain.

Causes

Although the exact causes of the misalignment of the quadriceps is not known, but two common scenarios that have increased likelihood of patelloformal pain are-

• Flat foot: Some people don’t have the medial arch, which causes their femur and tibia to internally rotate during walking. This is a cause of the disturbed patelloformal activity and causes pain in the knees.
• High arched foot provides less cushioning to the foot when it hits the ground. This causes additional stress to the quadriceps and causes dysfunctioning in the patelloformal mechanism producing knee pain.
• Sprain or strain on the ligaments of the knee joint.
• Torn ligament or meniscus around the knee.
• Fracture of the knee cap.
• Inflammation of the tendons or sacs of fluid that lubricate the knee.

Treatment

In Spinewise, we take special care to analyze the extent of damage and the cause of the pain to provide the best possible treatment. Our chiropractors conduct tests to locate the exact source of pain, actions that relieve the pain, find the nature of the pain, family history, etc. Physical examinations are also conducted to look into the posture, gait, and flexibility of the patient. Muscle tests determine stiffness, weak muscles while x-rays show a clearer picture of the joint.

With a complete review of the present condition of the patient and the chiropractors at Spinewise first relieve all swelling and pain with ice, relative rest and drugs. When the swelling and pain subside, stretching and exercise is prescribed. The main chiropractic treatment involves mobilization of the knee with massage and exercise that specifically target the quadriceps, thighs, hip, calf, etc. For the people with flat foot or high arched foot, podiatrists in Spinewise design custom built arches to support their medial arch. Together, the podiatrists, chiropractors and physiotherapist in Spinewise provide you the best care possible to tend to your knee and rid you of excruciating pain.

Using the ProAdjuster to treat Knee pain

Modern approach to treatment has been adapted by our chiropractors for solving the problems of the knee. With the use of ProAdjuster, you now have the state of the art facility to see the problems in your knee first hand. This allows the practitioners to pinpoint the cause of the pain. In case the pain is caused by a dislocated knee joint, it is immediately identified with the use of the ProAdjuster. Furthermore, the practitioner can put the dislocated joint back in place with the same ProAdjuster. The adjuster puts pressure on the dislocated bones to put them back into place, relieving tension of nerves, ligaments and muscles, thereby easing the pain.

Conclusion

Knee pain is one of the most common chronic pains felt by people of all ages. It tends to increase with age and affects the normal lifestyle of the patient. But with expert care from Spinewise and our modern system of treatment using the ProAdjuster, you don’t need to be inhibited from living your life to the fullest. Contact us and we guarantee our best services to cure you of the crippling knee pain and help you lead a normal life.