Staying active is important for your joint health and your overall well-being. However, injuries can happen, and often, they involve the knees. There are a number of common problems that can affect your knees. Tendinitis, meniscus tears, sprained ligaments and even old injuries that haven’t been properly treated can cause pain.
Causes Of Knee Pain
Some common knee problems include:
- Osteoarthritis – it’s easy to treat this condition, so if you find your knee is painful and aching after activities and is stiff after resting, you should seek advice from an osteopath.
- Referred pain – pain in your knee could actually be due to nerve compression in the lower back or from the muscles in the leg.
- Biomechanical problems – issues like kneecap lateral tracking happen because of a number of issues such as dropped arches, poor quad muscle tone, pelvic torsion or differences in leg length.
- Bursa inflammation – when the bursa surrounding your knee become inflamed and irritated, pain can occur around the kneecap.
- Sporting injuries – collateral and cruciate ligament tears can occur if excess force is put on the knee. Cartilage and meniscal tears can occur if the knee becomes over-rotated.
Seeking Help
An osteopath can assess your muscles and joints holistically, focusing on how every part of your body works together to determine the reason your knee is painful. Once the cause has been identified, the problem can then be treated using manipulation, stretching and articulation as appropriate and you can also benefit from professional advice about effective exercises to improve your condition.