Let’s face it, most of us will suffer from knee pain at least a few times in our lives, usually it doesn’t last too long, and we can manage it on our own, but sometimes it just won’t go away! Pain around the front of the knee is one of the most common complaints among otherwise healthy adults. We can experience this pain with walking, running, stairs and even when sitting or driving, so what’s causing it? It can come from a wide variety of issues, the key to treating it comes from an accurate diagnosis.
What Causes Anterior Knee Pain?
When there has been no trauma, fall or injury we need to consider some of the below as potential causes of pain.
- Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: This is caused when there is altered mechanics or movement of the knee cap, caused by muscle tightness, weakness, or imbalance
- Chondromalacia Patellae: This describes the loss of cartilage at the back of the knee cap, which can happen gradually in the younger population or as a part of aging
- Tendinopathy: overuse and under recovery leads to inflammation and disrepair at a tendon, for the knee we need to consider the patellar and quadricep tendons.
- Previous injury: If you have previously injured your knee, or had surgery in previous years, this can lead to altered biomechanics which can affect how the knee functions
When pain hangs around for weeks and sometimes months it can difficult to know what could be causing it, the most effective way to get to the bottom of it is to see an experienced physiotherapist. They can help you really understand the issue and work with you to create a bespoke plan to treat your symptoms.
What can a Physiotherapist do for you?
- Diagnosis: A thorough assessment in clinic will include an in depth subjective assessment to get to know you and really understand how your pain presents and behaves, this will lead into the most effective hands on assessment which will help narrow down the source of pain
- Bespoke rehabilitation plan: Once your physiotherapist knows you and has identified the source of pain, they can work with you to look for muscle and strength imbalances which could be contributing to your pain as well as hands on treatment and taping to improve your pain.
- The extra bits: the knee and how it works is influenced but the joint above and below and how we move in general, assessing the hip and ankle along with your biomechanics will also be crucial to getting the best results
- Long lasting results: exercise and hands on treatment will help with your immediate symptoms but with a bespoke rehab plan and support from your physiotherapist to help you understand all potential factors you will have all the tools to prevent recurrent issues
The Bottom Line
Knee pain is common and can be difficult to deal with on your own, when your usual strategies aren’t cutting it, remove the guess work and come and see an experienced Physiotherapist to get you back to your best
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