We see a lot of people in the clinic who come to us looking for help with their knee pain. Sometimes there will be an obvious reason behind their knee pain, such as a twist, fall or injury playing sport, but with the majority of people we see there is not.
They will often say that their knee got gradually worse over time. Less movement and more painful to the point where it is affecting their everyday activities and preventing them from walking, exercising or doing their everyday tasks.
In these cases, we need to find out what is bringing on their knee pain to get clear on what needs to be done to help them. To do this, we follow our step by step system that you read about in out last blog on knee pain.
Below you will find three short video clips from my latest knee pain webinar on the steps needed to overcome knee pain. In these videos, I go through some of the steps we take and about what is needed to overcome knee pain. I hope you find them helpful.
If you are struggling with knee pain and want to find out what can be done to help then you can fill out a form at the bottom of this page to apply for a free 15 minute consultation.
Of course if you are fed up with living with knee pain and need to get back to pain free movement then the best thing to do is to an initial assessment at our clinic and get back on the road to pain free living as soon as possible.
Identifying the true stressor behind your knee pain
If there has been no specific injury to your knee and your knee pain has come on gradually, then we need to find out why this has happened.
The first step is to understand the patient’s story to find out what their life looks like, their injury and medical history and what events may have led to them developing knee pain.
We then need to piece this together with the information gained from a movement assessment. This will then help us to identify the true reason behind someone’s knee pain and importantly, what needs to be done to help find a solution.
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What is causing my knee pain? Here are 5 things to look out for:
If you have hurt your knee or if you are struggling with some knee pain lately, you may not be sure how bad it is or if you need further medical help.
To help you with this, here are some questions you should ask yourself.
- Was there a ‘pop’ sound at the time of injury?
- Was there much swelling to your knee at the time and is it currently still swollen and not going down?
- Is your knee locking on certain movements or at random times during the day?
- Does it feel like it is giving way when you walk or put pressure on your knee?
- Is the pain constant and not letting up?
If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions and your knee pain is not improving then it is advisable to go and seek further help in the form of a physiotherapist or physical therapist, GP or healthcare practitioner.
If you are living in the midlands area in Ireland you can of course book a consultation and assessment at my clinic to help answer these questions.
You can book online or contact us at https://midlandsphysio.ie/contact-us/
Most common causes of knee pain that I see in my clinic.
When someone comes to see me in the clinic with knee pain, often the first thing they will want to know is “what is causing my knee pain?”
To answer this the first thing that I need to understand is the patient’s story and what has happened that has resulted in them experiencing knee pain.
Most of the time there are two scenarios that have led to knee pain.
- A specific trauma or injury such as bang, fall, or twist.
- No specific injury and the knee pain has come on gradually for no obvious reason.
Of course there can also be medical reasons such as gout or infections that will need medical intervention to reduce the swelling and arthritis can also be a cause of knee pain.
If there has been a specific injury to their knee such as a twist, bang or fall to the knee that has resulted in swelling, pain or stiffness, then the answer to their pain may be coming from some of the structures inside the joint, such as cartilage, bone or ligament.
In these cases, I will need to assess the level of injury and if they need further investigation such as an x-ray or scan. We then need to look at settling the symptoms and follow the best management protocols for healing and recovery.
But very often my patients will not have had a specific injury to their knee and the pain will have ‘come on by itself’’.
In this case, we need to investigate a little more to uncover the root cause behind the pain, which often is not the knee itself but somewhere else in the body that is leading to the knee getting overloaded and becoming painful.
Finding A Solution
Once we have the key information pieced together from the persons story we then bring them through our 5 step treatment pathway below.
The first step involves understanding the person’s story as I mentioned already.
The 2nd step involves a movement assessment to see how your body is moving, where any imbalances may be and what needs to be helped to offload the knee.
The third step involves undoing these imbalances by using hands on treatment and exercises to reduce the pain and improve the movement.
Step 4 involves building solid foundations around the joints of the ankle, knee and hip to ensure that all the key areas are working together efficiently and doing the job they are meant to do.
The 5th step is really what ensures long lasting change and preventing the problem from recurring. This is where we build strength and resilience to allow you to confidently return to the stresses and challenges of your sport or everyday life, without fear and worry of the problem returning.
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