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Physical Therapy for Knee Pain

Knee pain is one of the most common conditions that we see in our physical therapy office near Greenville, South Carolina.  It’s so common, we created a free guide to help people kickstart their recovery process.  The types of knee pain we treate include meniscus problemspatellofemoral paintendinitis, instability, bursitisarthritis, ACL tears, knee strains, and a variety of post-operative cases.

Knee pain can have many contributing causes, but can be associated with stiffness or weakness of the quad, hamstring, calf, hip, buttock, and core muscles.  These imbalances may affect movement mechanics.  Active people often notice knee pain runningsquating, bending, lunging, hiking, and jumping.  Knee pain may also be noticed with steps and walking.

Knee pain can occur suddenly for no apparent reason or develop slowly, as the result of repetitive trauma. Knee pain occurs in different parts of the knee, depending on what structures in the knee are involved. Below is a general breakdown of the areas in which knee pain may occur and the structures of the knee that may be involved:

  • Anterior knee pain, also referred to as patellofemoral pain, is pain around the kneecap (patella) in front of the knee, caused when the kneecap shifts out of position. This condition commonly affects younger females, and may be due to overuse injury. Pain often occurs when performing activities like squats or stair-climbing.
  • Lateral knee pain is pain that occurs on the outside of the knee. It is a type of overuse injury that commonly occurs in runners when the tendon called the iliotibial band (ITB) becomes irritated. Pain is often felt when performing activities such as climbing stairs, or when walking or running.
  • Medial knee pain is pain that occurs along the inside of the knee when the MCL or the medial meniscus become irritated due to direct injury or overuse. Pain is felt when squatting, walking up or down an incline, or going down stairs.
  • Pain caused by a ligament tear may result from a direct blow to the knee, or when twisting or pivoting the knee while the foot is planted on the ground. Immediate pain and swelling usually occur, and the knee may feel unstable—like it will “give out”—when an individual attempts to put weight on the involved leg.
  • Pain caused by osteoarthritis may occur anywhere in the knee where cartilage has broken down. This type of knee pain may begin as mild and progressively worsen. It can become increasingly difficult to walk long distances, fully bend and straighten the knee, climb stairs, or squat to sit in a chair. The knee also may swell intermittently with increased activity.

Fortunatley, the majority of knee conditions do not require surgery and respond well to physical therapy.

The physical therapists at Movement Solutions design custom trailored programs to help people, ages 40-60, overcome knee pain and injury and get back to being active without uneccessary medications, injections, or surgeries.

This process often begins with a free 15-minute phone consultation.  This is an opportunity to talk with one of our physical therapists about your knee pain.  We will listen to how your knee pain is affecting you, discuss how we can help, and let you know what your options are moving forward.  If you’re interested in a phone consultation, click HERE and complete a short form.

For patients who are interested in getting help, but want to make sure we’re the best fit, the next step is a free Discovery Session.  This is an opportunity to ask questions so you can have clarity with what’s going on and confidence that we can help.  We want our clients to be certain that we’re the best physical therapist for them.  If you’re interested in a Discovery Visit, click HERE and complete a short form.

Once we know that working together makes sense, we move on to the Evaluation.  The purpose of the evaluation is to get to the root cause of the problem and know how long it will take to get lasting results.

Following an evaluation, we begin treatment.  Our treatment process of knee pain is broken down into three phases.

Phase 1:  Alleviate Pain and Discomfort

Pain improvements can be made quickly with hands on therapies such as soft tissue work, gentle joint mobilizations, or dry needling.  Often times it makes sense to start on with these hands-on therapies to calm down irritated and inflamed tissue around the knee.

Phase 2:  Restore Movement and Mobility

Once pain is alleviated, we need to restore the knee’s ability to move.  We also need to restore movement quality.  We spend time on developing good movement habits to prevent falling into the pain cycle again.

Phase 3:  Develop Strength and Durability

To achieve lasting results, we need to develop strength and durability through resistance exercise.   The types of resistance we use at our office include bodyweight, bands, dumbells, barbells, and kettlebells.  We develop foundational strength to get the lasting results that our clients expect.

At Movement Solutions, our three-phase approach with physical therapy makes overcoming knee pain possible. If you have knee pain and you’re interested in a long term solution, we would love to talk with you about how we can help.  If you’re eager to get started but want to know more about cost and availability at our physical therapy clinic, click HERE and complete a short form.

If you would like further information on overcoming knee pain, we have a free guide that can give you further insight into your knee pain and can kick start your recovery process.

If you’re in knee pain but unsure about what your next steps should be, call us at (864) 558-5020 and ask how we can help.

Physical Therapist Dr. Tim Varghese
AUTHOR

Dr. Tim Varghese

Movement Solutions

"We Help Active Adults, Ages 40-60+ Overcome Pain And Injuries And Get Back To Their Favorite Activities Without Unnecessary Medications, Injections, Or Surgeries."

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