Anchor Health – How Chiropractic Care Can Help Alleviate Knee Pain

Any painful joint affects our daily lives, but painful knees can lead to incredible levels of disability. Throughout many of our daily tasks, our knee joints take a beating. For example, every time we stand up, sit down, or walk somewhere, we are putting tremendous amounts of stress on our knees.

Luckily, if you’re suffering from pain in the knees, chiropractic care can help. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of knee pain and detail how chiropractic treatments can alleviate your knee discomforts.

 

Knee Joint Anatomy

The knee is essentially an intersection between two large bones in our legs: the femur (thigh bone) and the tibia (shin bone). Additionally, sitting atop this joint is the aptly named “knee cap,” also known as the patella.

Crossing and surrounding these bones are a variety of tissues including muscles, tendons, and ligaments. When something goes wrong with one or more of these structures, the patient will often experience intense pain and may have great difficulty walking or bearing weight.

 

Why is Knee Pain So Common?

Oftentimes, people are at higher risk of developing knee pain if they fall into any or all of the following categories:

• Overweight or obese. Any extra weight that the knees have to support will put them at increased risk for breaking down.

• Previous trauma to the knee. If you broke your leg or tore your ACL when you were in high school, you may be at higher risk for developing knee pain later in life.

• Work in a field or play a sport that puts a lot of stress on the knees. Warehouse workers, construction professionals, and those who have to walk long distances for their jobs are more likely to develop knee pain in their lifetimes. Similarly, competitive athletes whose sports inflict significant amounts of trauma to the knees can put them at higher risk for having knee pain. Specifically, sports involving activities such as jumping, landing, running, and other repetitive knee motions can be particularly damaging to the knees.

• Significant weakness or tightness in the lower body. Within our bodies, our muscles cross over joints and connect to certain parts of our bones. For this reason, we need our muscles to be strong and flexible. Otherwise, they will limit our ability to move and may lead to pain later on.

 

As you can see, many of the risk factors for the development of knee pain are present in most people’s lives. Therefore, knee pain is a very tough issue to deal with.

 

How Can Chiropractors Help With Knee Pain?

The first step in addressing knee pain (or any bodily issue, for that matter) is to make a diagnosis. Once your chiropractor has come up with a list of likely diagnoses, she can then perform more specific tests to determine what, exactly, is causing your knee pain.

For example, if you’re experiencing sharp pain behind the knee, your treatment may be very different from someone who is suffering from dull pain in the knee cap.

Based on your symptoms and the results of your chiropractic evaluation, chiropractors can choose from any number of standalone treatments or a combination of treatments. These treatment options include:

• Joint manipulations. Depending on your individual needs, your chiropractor may elect to perform spinal and/or other joint manipulations. 

• Soft tissue massage. Often, very tight muscles surrounding a joint can limit said joint’s range of motion and cause pain. By loosening these tissues with massage techniques, your chiropractor can often decrease your symptoms.

• Exercise. Sometimes, knees and other joints benefit from stretching and exercise. Your chiropractor will prescribe the best exercises for your condition.

• Many others. Treatments such as TENS, ultrasound, and others may be viable options for eliminating your symptoms.

If you’re sick and tired of your knee pain, reach out to your Noblesville chiropractor at Anchor Health Chiropractic. Book your appointment today.