Knee Pain PhysiotherapyMilsons Point
Can be debilitating. It can really interfere with your life! Below are descriptions of many types of knee pain.
A-J the principal therapist here at Physio Therapy Yoga is a sports physio with years of personal experience with knee pain, surgery and treatment.
The many sources of Knee Pain, these are some we treat;
Patello-femoral (kneecap) pain
is one of the most common types of knee pain. It is usually due to the kneecap not tracking properly within a groove in the leg bone underneath. The kneecap glides in the groove at the lower end of the thigh (femur) bone. It operates to help your quadriceps muscle function more efficiently. It is a floating bone within the quadriceps tendon (joins muscle to bone). Some of the causes for maltracking are; muscular imbalance between inner and outer thigh muscles, stiff hips or ankles, weak hips or feet, misalignment of the body above, or feet below…and many more.
Inflammation
The knee joint gets inflammed with ‘wear and tear’. If there are torsions or twists in the body above or below the knee, it can cause uneven wear on the joints and resultant inflammation. The chemicals of inflammation cause pain. We must treat the cause of your knee misalignment to relieve your pain. Your body alignment and muscle balance needs to be assessed to determine where the torsion or twist is coming from.
Bursitis
this can be caused by trauma, or again by misalignment of the knee. The bursa is a pouch of fluid that pads the surfaces between bone and tendon in the knee, providing cushioning. When it gets inflamed it causes pain.
Arthritis
Wear and tear over time is inevitable, but pain is optional. Pain is best prevented by correcting your alignment and muscular balance (strength and flexibility) with specific exercises. Physios here at Physio Therapy Yoga can prescribe appropriate knee exercises for you. Rest is not always best!
Others Include
Post-surgical or fracture, Osgood Schlatters, Bakers cyst, patella tendinopathy, fat pad irritation.
Yoga Therapy for the knees may include;
1. Functional Yoga poses to enhance knee flexibility. Additionally, as a physio, AJ can help guide how far you can safely push your knee. It is good to keep arthritic knees moving, just in the correct way!
2. Maintain and enhance strength with Yoga poses such as Warrior pose (lunges), Chair pose (squat) and Goddess pose (wide squat) and more. All poses focus on the balance between effort and ease while maintaining awareness of the alignment of your whole body. Alignment is what enables the ‘correct’ muscles to work. Yoga has added benefits over pure exercise.
3. Maintain proprioception or balance ie know where your body is in the space to quickly catch yourself if you trip on an uneven surface. There are many balance poses of all grades in Yoga.
Using the combination of Physio and Yoga you will be given a home Yoga program to reduce knee pain, stiffness and/or weakness. You will be shown how to align, and balance the muscles to support your knee health for optimal longevity.