Knee Pain
Knee pain is a common complaint that affects people of all ages. Knee pain may be the result of an injury, such as a ruptured ligament or torn cartilage. Medical conditions — including arthritis, gout and infections — also can cause knee pain.
Knee pain can be caused by a sudden injury, an overuse injury, or by an underlying condition, such as arthritis.
Many knee problems are a result of the aging process and continual wear and stress on the knee joint (i.e., arthritis). Other knee problems are a result of an injury or a sudden movement that strains the knee. Common knee problems include the following:
- Sprained or strained knee ligaments and/or muscles. A sprained or strained knee ligament or muscle is usually caused by a blow to the knee or a sudden twist of the knee. Symptoms often include pain, swelling, and difficulty in walking.
- Torn cartilage. Trauma to the knee can tear the menisci (pads of connective tissue that act as shock absorbers and also enhance stability). Cartilage tears can often occur with sprains. Treatment may involve wearing a brace during an activity to protect the knee from further injury. Surgery may be needed to repair the tear.
- Tendinitis. Inflammation of the tendons may result from overuse of a tendon during certain activities such as running, jumping, or cycling. Tendonitis of the patellar tendon is called jumper’s knee. This often occurs with sports such as basketball, where the force of hitting the ground after a jump strains the tendon.
- Arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis that affects the knee. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative process where the cartilage in the joint gradually wears away, and often affects middle-age and older people. Osteoarthritis may be caused by excess stress on the joint such as repeated injury or being overweight.Rheumatoid arthritis can also affect the knees by causing the joint to become inflamed and by destroying the knee cartilage. Rheumatoid arthritis often affects persons at an earlier age than osteoarthritis.
Hip Pain
Hip pain is the sensation of discomfort in or around the hip joint. Hip pain has a number of causes, most of which are related to degeneration, injury, or inflammation of the muscles, bones, joints, and tendons located in the hip area.
Common causes of hip pain include arthritis, bursitis, bone fracture, muscle spasms, and strains. Hip pain can also result from disorders causing pain radiating from the spine and back, such as sciatica and herniated discs.
Pain in your hip can be debilitating, making it difficult for you to walk, climb stairs, or even pick up an object from the floor. It can limit your freedom of movement and ability to function independently.
While hip pain can be caused by deformity or by direct injury, like trauma or a sports injury, the most common cause of hip pain is osteoarthritis (OA) also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD). Depending on factors like age, weight, joint function, and activity, people with arthritis find their hip’s cartilage lining wears away over time. At that point, your bones begin to rub against each other, resulting in friction, swelling, pain, stiffness, and instability.
Experiencing joint pain day after day without relief can lead to “staying off” the joint — which often weakens the muscles around it so it becomes even more difficult to move.
Symptoms of Hip Pain
Depending on the condition that’s causing your hip pain, you might feel the discomfort in your:
- Thigh
- Inside of the hip joint
- Groin
- Outside of the hip joint
- Buttocks
Sometimes pain from other areas of the body, such as the back or groin (from a hernia), can radiate to the hip.
You might notice that your pain gets worse with activity, especially if it’s caused by arthritis. Along with the pain, you might have reduced range of motion. Some people develop a limp from persistent hip pain.
Symptoms of knee pain
Signs and symptoms that sometimes accompany knee pain include:
- Swelling and stiffness
- Redness and warmth to the touch
- Weakness or instability
- Popping or crunching noises
- Inability to fully straighten the knee
- Can’t bear weight on your knee
- Have marked knee swelling
- Are unable to fully extend or flex your knee
- See an obvious deformity in your leg or knee
- Have a fever, in addition to redness, pain and swelling in your knee
- Feel as if your knee is unstable or your knee “gives out”
Treatments for Hip and Knee Pain
Although there are a large number of knee and hip conditions that we see every day in practice at Spinal and Sports Care, from the minor to large trauma, acute to chronic, young versus old and from the elite sports levels to repetitive pain syndromes secondary poor posture and ergonomics at work, a large goal and focus of our practice is to prevent as many hip and knee replacements as possible.
It is important to have your discomfort comprehensively assessed to determine the nature and type of condition that you have.
Through a thorough evaluation, we are confident that we can identify the cause of your pain. Our Chiropractors and Physiotherapists are all fully trained to accurately assess, diagnose and treat all types of discomfort in hips and knees.
Management utilises a hands-on approach of manual treatment, which includes soft tissue and myofascial/active releases, joint and spinal mobilisations and manipulations, condition-specific musculoskeletal dry needling and electro-physical modalities.
However, all practitioners at Spinal and Sports Care consider lifestyle and regular exercise an important part of the treatment plan and prevention.
Where necessary, we are happy to co-manage your condition with other allied healthcare professionals. By working with specialists in other fields, combined expertise & experience will help us return you sooner & more safely to your work, recreational activity or sport and most importantly, delay further deterioration to your hips and knees.