Most people experience knee pain and discomfort at one time or another. For some it’s temporary while for others it is a chronic nagging pain that won’t seem to ever go away.
Injury Vs General Pain
If the knee pain is caused by a specific and direct injury or trauma it will need treatment from a doctor, surgeon and/or physiotherapist. But for most people it’s not as simple as that. It’s easy to assume that if your knee hurts during daily activities (for example; getting out of bed, going up and down stairs, kneeling and squatting down) that there is something wrong with it.
Protecting the Sore Knee
It can then be tempting to do less with that leg so that the knee pain is experience less often and less intensely. This unfortunately usually leads to the knee becoming weaker and more unstable, which tends to make things a whole lot worse.
In many cases it is not even the knee that is the issue.
The knee is just experiencing pain because something else is not quite right. The knee is merely the ‘meeting place’ for the femur (thigh) and the tibia and fibula (lower leg). That meeting place is often the expression of what is occurring above or below it.
Referred Pain
What we see or feel going on at the knee joint is usually a symptom of what is happening at the hip, ankle and/or the foot. This means that if you have an imbalance, weakness or tightness in any of the musculature around the hip, it will affect the position and movement of the femur.
Likewise, poor foot biomechanics, improper shoes, calf tightness/weakness and ankle instability will all affect what happens at the knee.
Treatment
Simply trying to ‘treat’ the knee pain directly with ice, heat packs and/or inactivity will not fix the problem. In both your hip and lower leg, you will need to strengthen weak muscles (by doing specific exercises), loosen and release tight muscles (by using a foam roller and/or massage) and correct any biomechanical issues with the way you walk and the shoes you wear.
If you need any advice about your knee pain, be sure to get in touch with us info@stage.bodytransformationstudio.com.au, 6142 9777.