Best treatment for knee pain Gold Coast
What causes people to suffer from knee pain? What your Gold Coast knee Physiotherapist says.
In this blog we will look at atraumatic knee pain and what it looks like from a Physiotherapy standpoint and what we believe is the best treatment for knee pain here on the Gold Coast. This is knee pain without a traumatic ‘incident’ like torn/sprained ligaments on the sporting field.
The main causes we commonly see for knee pain are usually overuse knee pain from running/activity, excessive load e.g. kneeling in the workplace; or overload injuries in the gym or on the sporting field. This could be excessive use of stairs/step at work or lifting too much weight squatting/lunging with incorrect technique in the gym. Another very common cause of knee pain is poor control of muscles in the hip joint that help to stabilise the knee. The Physiotherapists job is to determine what is causing the overuse/overload of the sore knee and find out what movements need to improve and what muscles need strengthening to return the person back to their normal daily life and routine pain free long term.
What are the common causes of knee pain? What will my Gold Coast Physiotherapist assess?
In your initial consultation your Gold Coast Physiotherapist will always assess all the following to ensure they uncover all the possible contributing factors to your knee pain. It could be one or more of the below that are contributing to your knee pain:
- Limited knee range of motion
- Limited hip/ankle range of motion
- Excessive or limited knee cap movement
- Incorrect position of the knee cap (patella)
- Poor hip joint muscle control/endurance
- Poor muscle endurance/strength in the knee
What are the symptoms of knee pain?
Many symptoms can occur with knee pain. Generally the most common symptoms are a sharp stabbing pain in the front of the knee which is usually very localised around the knee cap.
This pain typically increases with certain movements/activities such as sitting for long periods, going down stairs, squatting and of course running/jumping.
Depending on the current pain and symptoms being experienced the Gold Coast Physiotherapist can make an estimated prognosis and indicate what the management for your knee pain will look like.
Should I be getting an X-ray or MRI for my knee pain?
After your initial assessment with the Gold Coast Physiotherapist a decision will be made whether further scans are needed to investigate any potential structural damage that may need further referral to specialists or other medical practitioners. The Physiotherapist has a bunch of tests they will complete on your knee to determine and rule out any serious damage that may require an MRI or X-ray. Once these tests are cleared then Physiotherapy treatment can commence, and you will be on your way to fixing your knee pain.
How will your Gold Coast Physiotherapist treat your knee pain?
After the assessment is complete, the Gold Coast Physiotherapist will get the work on explaining the findings and educating you on why certain movements and muscles need to be improved and strengthened. This usually begins at a basic level with some stretches to improve flexibility in areas and exercises to start activating and strengthening certain muscles. This is done in conjunction with hands on therapy to improve joint movement and muscle flexibility.
Once those initial stretches and muscle strength exercises are done for a set period which is determined by your Gold Coast Physiotherapist, more functional movements will be incorporated. This will begin to use that new flexibility and strength for things you do either at work, at the gym or in everyday life.
These functional movements are the progressed through stages of difficulty to ensure that your knee now has the correct movement and strength, and your hip muscles have enough control and endurance to withstand activities you will need to complete in the outside world.
Lastly, your Gold Coast Physiotherapist will tailor make a lower body strengthening program to help maintain and manage your knee pain into the future to ensure you stay pain free.
How your Gold Coast Physiotherapist helped treat a client with atraumatic knee pain.
A client arrived at the clinic with worsening knee pain over the last 6 weeks whilst at work. They were experiencing a sharp pain in the front of the knee when going up and down stairs at work and when squatting down into low cupboards.
An assessment was completed, and it was determined that this client had a knee cap that was moving incorrectly when doing these tasks due to tight muscles in this leg and also muscles with poor endurance/strength in both his hip and knee.
Treatment consisted of repositioning the kneecap in the right spot with massage, strapping tape and stretches. Treatment then progressed to strengthening the muscles in the thigh and hip to ensure the client could then use the stairs and squat down low pain free multiple times. This process from the initial assessment to becoming pain free with the stairs and squatting took 6 weeks.
How often does your Gold Coast Physiotherapist treat knee pain?
Atraumatic knee pain due to overuse is one of the more common and treatable conditions that come through our door. Here at Central Physio and Health we have a special passion for treating knee pain and strive to have you back pain free and at your best as quickly as possible.
Your Gold Coast Physiotherapist will create a management plan which will indicate how often is best to see them in the early stages until certain outcomes are achieved. Once achieved treatment will also be adjusted accordingly.
We strongly believe that our integrated systems and procedures for treating not just knee pain but all injuries will have the client achieving their goals or “good result”.
Are our Gold Coast Physiotherapists the right fit for you?
If you have any questions about your knee complaint and whether we can assist, we encourage you to give us a call 07 5679 3664 or email us at info@centralphysiohealth.com.au about any questions that you might have. One of our practitioners will give you a call to discuss your specific questions and how we can assist.
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