Knee pain

Is your mobility being affected?  Are you favouring one leg?

 

Knee pain can be caused by a number of conditions, many of which can be relieved without surgery. In other cases, intervention will be necessary. In either event, we can identify the cause of the problem and support the recovery process.

Knee pain in children is important and should never be ignored as there are serious causes which need to be ruled out.

Our treatments balance the tensions in the tissues around the knee, normalise joint movements and look at other parts of the body which may be involved in causing the problem.

Self care can be extremely important with knee conditions and so we also give advice.

Common causes:

•  Wear & tear under the knee cap ('chondromalacia patella'), which gets irritated as it slides up and down the end of the thigh bone (the femur).  An unpleasant 'graunching' may be felt.
• Abnormal changes in the direction of up & down slide of the knee cap.  This is commonly due to an imbalance in the muscles controlling this movement.  In both cases pain is often evident with crouching or going up stairs, and seems to come from deep under the knee cap. 
• A tear or trapping of the meniscus (cartilage), typically after a bending and twisting movement through the knee. This often produces symptoms of locking, giving-way &/or swelling.
• Ligament damage, most often via a sideways stress on the knee, usually resulting in feeling of instability.  Immediate severe pain and swelling can be expected at the time of injury.
• Foot problems. A bad back or hip can change how we use & stress the knee. So the original cause needs treating – not just the knee!
• Over activity in kids may result in Osgood Schlatter’s disease, where the quadriceps muscles at the front of the thigh pull at the surface of the bone where they attache just below the knee.  This often results in a painful, visible lump.  As mentioned at the top of this page, NEVER ignore persisitent knee pain in a child, as there are specific & serious diseases to this age group which have to be excluded. 

Knee pain can have a negative effect on both confidence and mobility, which is where we can help.  Over the longer term, abnormal mechanics lead to earlier degenerative changes, which is another reason for getting things sorted sooner rather than later.  And if you in the older age group and have been told you have arthritis in the knees, don't take that to mean that you just have to learn to live with it.  Treatment can often improve your symtoms

Contact us now to find out what's wrong and to start putting things right.