Do you have nagging knee pain that doesn’t seem to go away? Knee pain is both physical and mental. It can be caused by an injury, arthritis, or just from doing too much activity on your knees. Knee pain can range from mild to severe and it’s important that you take care of it before it gets worse. In this blog post, we’ll talk about 10 thoughts on relief!
1) Direct Access to Physical Therapy, if available. One of the best ways to reduce knee pain is by doing physical therapy. Physical therapy can help stretch and strengthen the muscles around your knee, which will provide relief from the pain. You can also do some simple exercises at home to help improve your condition. Direct access allows you to start physical therapy and often times save money and time by not having to see the doctor first. Dr. Hillebrand, DPT, has seen hundreds of people with knee pain and can diagnose many issues without the need for expensive testing.
2) When to get an x-ray/MRI/CT scan?
Xrays- These will show infection, fractures, arthritis, and malalignment of the bones. They will not show soft tissue damage like torn ligaments. Patients often want X-rays but they often provide little to no help if the issue is not bone-related.
MRI/CT scan- They will show more structures, including soft tissue, however, because they show more, they can be misleading. Some abnormalities seen in these scans are asymptomatic and likely have been there for years as well as being unrelated to what they were looking for.
Dr. Hillebrand has seen patients get diagnostic scans including both knees due to pain in one of them and the scan showed to the pain-free knee was full of arthritis. This resulted in the previously painful leg being now pain-free and the pain-free leg now being too painful to walk on. While scans can be helpful, they are expensive and if not properly explained, they can be misleading.
Using hands-on assessments as well as taking a good history is how Dr. Hillebrand approaches knee pain to allow patients to better understand the issues and to heal quicker.
3) Losing weight
Weight loss is a great way to reduce knee pain because it reduces the stress of the structures allowing for inflammation to calm down. There are many ways to exercise beyond cardio, which happens to be the least effective way to lose weight. (Stay tuned for our blog on weight loss.)
Kaeo Physical Therapy has a very effective weight loss program that is tailored to your needs and goals.
4) Strengthening
Simply put, the stronger you are, the less stress on the joints and the less pain you have. The more you struggle to move around and do normal activities, the more pressure you will put on the irritated parts of your knees and the more pain you will have.
5) To ice or not to ice?
Another way to get relief from knee pain is by using a cold pack or ice pack. Applying a cold pack to your knee for about 15 minutes can help reduce inflammation and swelling. Make sure you wrap the ice pack in a towel so that it doesn’t touch your skin directly. (This will be likely eliminated soon as an option from what the research is looking like.)
6) Heat or no heat? Depends!
Adding heat can increase the range of motion and reduce pain on a temporary basis. However, it can also increase inflammation and pain once the heat is taken away. Dr. Hillebrand, generally speaking, does not recommend heat from external sources but instead recommends moving as it is a much more effective long-term solution to stiffness and pain.
7) Medication
If you’re experiencing severe knee pain, you may need prescription medication to help relieve the symptoms. Talk to your doctor about what medications are available for you and how they can help alleviate. However, prescription pain medication can have many side effects and will not completely take away the pain but will only dull it. In many cases, Kaeo Physical Therapy’s goal is to get patients to the point they do not have pain that requires medications.
8) Knee braces
When people hear Kaeo Physical Therapy, the first thing they often think of is knee bracing. Knee braces can provide support for weak/injured knees and reduce pain from many different causes including arthritis, meniscus injuries, tendonitis etc. However, wearing a brace will not make your injury better if it has already occurred or help prevent future issues if you are at risk because there is no guarantee that any one specific brand works for everyone’s needs. Kaeo Physical Therapy uses several different types of knee braces based on patient needs as well as custom-fit knee supports to ensure maximum benefit with minimal discomfort and the best results possible.
9) Surgery
In some cases, surgery may be the best option to reduce knee pain. Kaeo Physical Therapy will work with you and your doctor to help identify if surgery is the best course of action for you and to ensure that you are physically and emotionally prepared for surgery.
10) Knee exercises
Believe it or not, Kaeo Physical Therapy has learned that the best way to treat knee pain is by strengthening and retraining your muscles. These exercises can help reduce stress on the knees while increasing strength in other areas of the body which will take pressure off joints like the hips, pelvis, and lower back. Kaeo Physical Therapy’s goal with all patients is to get you moving better so that when you get home from treatment, life doesn’t change but instead gets even easier! Knees are an important part of our bodies; however, if we don’t use them they often start hurting.
While there are many options available for reducing knee pain, physical therapy is often one of the most effective treatments available. Kaeo Physical Therapy has a wide variety of treatment methods that can be tailored specifically for your needs in order to provide relief from knee pain as quickly as possible.
For more information on knee pain whether from patellofemoral pain syndrome or knee arthritis, and want to schedule an appointment, please call our office at (317) 854-6433 or email us at doc@kaeoconsulting.us .
You can also visit our website at www.kaeophysicaltherapy.com .
Dr. Anthony Hillebrand, DPT
Kaeo Physical Therapy
39 N US HWY 31
Whiteland, IN 46184
