Do you have knee pain? 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and knee pain is the second most common cause of chronic pain.
15% of men and 20% of women suffer from knee pain.
“Anterior knee pain” is a popular term to describe pain in the front of the knee.
This is the most common area to have pain when it is related to arthritis. Another very common reason for anterior knee pain is patelo-femoral syndrome or grinding of the kneecap on the groove underneath, which is the track on femur.
This is also referred to as a patellar tracking issue or malalignment. Often injections, medication and surgery are suggested as a treatment for this type of pain.
Luckily a more conservative approach with the proper physical therapy program can help and often resolve this issue without the need for more invasive things, like injections or surgery.
You can Google “knee exercises” and a wide variety of exercises will come up that may help, but may also make things worse if done incorrectly or unsafely. At Capstone Physical Therapy the P.T.s are trained in biomechanics in a way to get to the root cause of the problem, which is often faulty mechanics related to the foot, ankle and hip and causes the knee to take the hit.
We have the most success when getting the other joints doing their job properly to decrease the load placed on the front of the knee.
Each patient is taken through an assessment of their strength, balance, and flexibility with an individualized program designed specifically to the patient’s impairments. We do not use a one size fits all approach or even a joint specific approach.
Every patient is treated as a unique individual and not a body part.
PHOTO CAP: Jackie mobilizing ankle and knee to help with walking mechanics