Knee pain is a common condition because of how sensitive knees can be to the wear and tear of daily life. 1 in 4 adults suffers from chronic knee pain. A knee is an extremely vulnerable joint, taking on huge responsibility for the proper functioning of many activities, including basic functions like walking and lifting. Your knees are incredibly strong, supporting the weight of your whole body. When you walk across a room, your knees will bear one and a half times your weight because of the angle of force they endure, meaning a person who weighs 150 pounds will walk around carrying 225 pounds of weight on their knees with every step.
Pain in the knee is often described with many sensations, like sharp, shooting pain or persistent and dull aches. This kind of pain is extremely common with age, in athletes, and in other cases where a person regularly puts too much pressure on their knee joints. Ongoing knee pain can result in other symptoms like limited mobility, which can further impact a person’s quality of life.
The right treatment options can make all the difference. At Optimum Health Rehabilitation Center, we have the Buford knee pain specialist for you. Our licensed chiropractors, physical therapists, and pain treatment experts are standing by to help you get started on your journey to relief. Take control of your health with the resources available from our local team of professionals. To speak with a trusted member of our team, contact us online or call (678) 714-3053.
When to See a Doctor for Knee Pain?
Knee pain is a common condition for people of all ages, with a wide range of causes and severity. Most of the time, knee pain doesn’t require medical intervention. For knee pain that grows slowly or is caused by strenuous activities, at-home treatments can be effective.
If your knee pain is ongoing, but not paired with any other alarming symptoms, consulting with your primary care physician during your next visit may be productive in building a course of action for relief. You should schedule an appointment with a doctor if you notice swelling, tenderness/warmth around the joint, redness, or develop a fever in addition to your knee pain.
In some cases, emergency care may be necessary to accurately resolve knee pain. Serious cases of knee pain that require immediate medical assistance are typically due to injury and not cumulative strain or age.
Note that you shouldn’t drive yourself to the emergency room if you are experiencing extreme knee pain, as it can affect your ability to properly and safely operate a vehicle. Instead, ask someone you trust to drive you to a local Urgent Care or emergency room if you experience any of these symptoms in relation to your knee pain:
- Pain is caused by an injury
- Popping noise at the time of injury
- Sudden swelling
- Joint appears to be deformed
- Unable to put weight or pressure on the knee
Prevention Measures According to Buford Knee Pain Specialists
Knees are incredibly delicate, but you can build up the resilience of your tendons and conserve the mobility of your joints with proper prevention treatment.
To avoid knee pain, there are a few lifestyle changes or habits that can aid in strengthening your knee health for long-term preservation. Preventing knee pain takes dedication to proper diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
The following are some effective methods for reducing knee pain and protecting the long-term health of your knees, generally:
- Committing to low-impact exercise every day: Low-impact exercise can help stretch out your joints and strengthen the function of your ligaments, tendons, and overall mobility, as well as preserve long-term knee health. Some popular low-impact exercises for bad knees include leg raises, hamstring curls, calf raises, step-ups, and wall squats.
- Swimming and walking: These are two great examples of low-impact exercises that you can do to continually improve the mobility in your knees. It is important to remember not to push too far when the objective is knee health, as strenuous kicking while swimming or fast-walking can have the opposite effect.
- Investing in comfortable shoes: Having the right shoes can make all the difference. If your shoes don’t fit right, you could be unintentionally adding more pressure to your knees as a result. Shoes that have little to no support overwork and overstretch the tendons and ligaments in the feet, which can have a domino effect on the quality of your knees. Some shoes also fail to account for differences in the bottoms of our feet, forcing us to settle weight on the inside or outside of the knee. If you have ongoing knee problems, see about getting custom insoles made or ordering shoes customized to the shape of your foot.
- Always warm up and cool down: Exercising every day is essential in promoting knee health, but it can also increase your chances of knee pain if you aren’t careful. Before you begin working out, develop a warm-up routine that stretches your muscles and prepares your body for your workout session. Similarly, a cool-down routine can help your muscles relax, but prevent them from tensing up and limiting your range of motion.
- RICE method: The rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) method is the most commonly practiced method of a-home treatment for minor injuries and joint-related pain. Step one is to halt any strenuous activity when you notice something is wrong. In the first 24-48 hours, you should be icing the area for 15 minutes every 2-3 hours. Next is compression, which involves wrapping the area to prevent swelling. You want the wrap to feel secure, but never tight. Once the affected area, in this case, your knee, is compressed, you’ll want to elevate it with a pillow.
Maintain a healthy weight: Knee pain can be the result of an unbalanced weight for your body’s proportions. A recently published study found that losing 10 pounds can relieve up to 40 pounds of weight off of your knees. Maintaining a healthy weight for your body is crucial in preserving the wellness of your joints.
Common Knee Pain Treatments
Living with knee pain is an unnecessary burden when there are treatments that utilize the most innovative medical knowledge and technology to promote natural healing within the body. Many treatments, such as topical creams and painkillers, only treat the symptoms of your pain while failing to address the root of the problem. The knee pain specialists at Optimum Health in Buford can offer comprehensive care including physical rehabilitation, personal injury rehabilitation, regenerative therapy, and more!
Physical Rehabilitation
The chiropractic and wellness specialists at Optimum Health offer a variety of services that fuse traditional medical care with innovative therapies. Not only can your specialist provide in-house treatments like manual manipulation and mechanical traction.
Regenerative Therapy
Regenerative medicine includes Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections that boost the body’s natural ability to heal itself. This type of therapy is especially useful for tendon and ligament injuries which are common causes of knee pain. These injections utilize your own placenta so there is no risk for rejection. This non-invasive medical technology helps patients put the healing back into their own hands.
What Is Causing My Knee Pain?
The knee has many moving parts. You could injure the tendons, ligaments, and bursae (fluid-filled sacs) around the knee or damage the bones, cartilage, and ligaments that make up the joint.
Knee injuries are common, and with age, the strength of joints in the knee wears down from daily activities. These factors make knee pain a very broad condition with a wide variety of causes.
Some of the most common causes of knee pain include:
- Torn meniscus: This thick rubbery cartilage, the meniscus, can be torn if you twist your knee suddenly with weight on it. It is essential for absorbing shock from the shinbone and thighbone. This type of injury is especially common in athletes.
- Knee bursitis: The knee has fluid-filled sacs (bursae) that cushion the outside of knee joints to help the tendons and ligaments move more effortlessly. Certain knee injuries can inflame the bursae, causing pain and a limited range of mobility.
- ACL injury: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four ligaments that connect the shinbone to the thigh bone. Tearing your ACL is most commonly caused by a sudden rotating movement during a sporting event like basketball or soccer. This injury requires a long recovery process of six to nine months as well.
- Fractures: Fractures are extremely common after a fall or auto accident, and they can affect parts of the knee, like the patella (kneecap) or the end of the femur. People with osteoporosis, which affects the density and strength of the bones, are especially at risk for fractures that could result from simply stepping wrong.
- Patellar tendinitis: This is inflammation or irritation of the tendons around the knee. Tendinitis can affect most tendons in the body, but is especially common in the shoulders, knees, and hips. This is the result of excessive strain or injury, and is commonly seen in runners, bicyclists, and other athletes that rely on their knee joints for strenuous activities for long periods of time.
- Arthritis: There are more than 100 types of arthritis, all affecting the knee in different ways. Most commonly, osteoarthritis, a degenerative condition resulting from the normal wear and tear of aging, affects the knees. Osteoarthritis typically affects people over 50 years old, and without proper aid may become increasingly painful as time goes on.
Get Relief from Pain and Discomfort at Optimum Health Rehabilitation Center
Managing the effects of ongoing pain can be overwhelming, but with the right knee pain treatment, you can live with minimized or eliminated symptoms. A skilled chiropractor from Optimum will work with you to personalize a course of action that targets, relieves, and prevents pain in your knees. Our staff is committed to providing aid to each patient that we see and is dedicated to their long-term wellness. To get in touch with a trusted member of our team, contact us online or call (678) 714-3053.