The knee joint is one the of easiest joints to injure in your body!
Knee pain can be a dull ache or a sharp pain, it may be located to one area or spread throughout the knee. Knee pain can become very debilitating effect your mobility when walking and everyday tasks such as climbing the stairs or bending down.
What Causes Knee Pain?
Knee pain can begin following an injury or accident, or it may develop over a period of time due to overuse, sitting for long periods, spending long periods on your feet, or old age. Knee pain can be caused by muscle sprains, ligament strains, tendinitis, torn ligaments, torn tendons, damage to the cartilage or meniscus, fractures, bursitis, arthritis, or gout.
Understanding the Knee Joint
The knee is the largest joint in the body and is responsible for supporting you when standing, providing strength and power during movements such as standing up, squatting, or climbing, ensuring efficient movement when walking or running, generating power to propel your body when you move, and providing shock absorption when walking or landing from a jump.
Four bones make up the knee joint: the femur (thigh bone), tibia and fibula (shin bones), and the patella (kneecap). Ligaments connect the bones together, and muscles and tendons enable movement in the knee.
The knee is comprised of two joints:
- Where your thigh and shin bones connect (tibiofemoral joint).
- Where your kneecap and thigh bone connect (patellofemoral joint).
The femur, tibia, and patella are all covered in cartilage (meniscus) where they connect with each other at the knee joints.
Diagnosis of Your Knee Pain
Understanding the cause and structure involved in your knee pain is vital for effective treatment and management of your condition. Knee pain can be diagnosed by physical examination, a review of your medical history, or the use of imaging such as ultrasound, X-ray, or MRI.
How to Manage Your Knee Pain
Knee pain can be managed with painkillers, ice and heat therapy, physical therapy such as osteopathy, limiting physical activity, stretches, injections, or surgery.
How Can Osteopathy Help Knee Pain?
An osteopath will take a detailed case history to understand the cause and contributing factors to your knee pain and help you understand the likely cause of your pain. They will then assess your posture and mobility of the area where you are experiencing symptoms, as well as your entire body, to identify the cause of your symptoms, as often the pain we experience is the body compensating for another area of the body.
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An osteopath will always explain to you what they have found and what their working diagnosis is for your knee pain before providing treatment or advice.
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An osteopath may use a variety of hands-on techniques addressing your whole body to get your body working together as one unit! Techniques may include joint articulation, manipulation, and soft tissue work, which increase joint mobility, relieve muscle tension, enhance blood and nerve supply to tissues, and aid the body’s own healing mechanisms, treating the spine rather than lots of different sections.
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An osteopath may also provide self-management advice, or they may refer you to other healthcare professionals where appropriate. The osteopath may refer you to see Tom at Amber Health for a diagnostic ultrasound to help diagnose your knee pain.