Knee pain Worthing treatment
At Broadwater Osteopathic Practice, our expert osteopathic and acupuncture teams have helped hundreds of local people with knee pain treatment in Worthing. We appreciate how debilitating knee pain can be and how it can limit not only your working life, but your leisure time too. Here we share some of our thoughts about common knee problems and their treatment.
One of the 1st steps with Knee pain, just the same as any pain, is to try and establish what the cause of the pain is.
The knee joint anatomy
The knee is the largest and most complex joint in the body and is prone to injury and wear. Pain may arise, as a result of trauma, degenerative wear, or could equally be a result of an underlying medical issue such as gout.
The knee is supported in its function by an array of ligaments, both inside and outside the knee, cartilage menisci within the knee and a fine balance of muscles. Together these help to provide stability, support, shock absorption and functionality to the knee. A disturbance of any of these elements can lead to pain or lessening of function.
Common knee conditions and their treatment
Osteoarthritis of the knee
This involves wear and tear of the knee cartilage. The process tends to be gradual and patients may experience symptoms of stiffness, aching, instability, clicking and swelling. Our treatment here may look to improve local function of the knee and support tissues, alongside work on surrounding muscles and joints too. Focus may also be placed upon rehab exercises to improve strength, support and flexibility. Both acupuncture and osteopathy treatments may help to ease symptoms.
Meniscal treatment
The menisci of the knee act as shock absorbers and stability enhancers. They may be injured in sports or as a result of degenerative wear. Patients will often mention clicking, instability, apprehension, swelling and pain.
Our treatment aim is to thoroughly assess the knee, understand the extent of possible injury and to treat as appropriate. Treatment here will not be aiming to fix any tear, but to enable the knee function better. This may involve hands on treatment, stretching, mobilisation and electrotherapy. Exercise and lifestyle advice is often also provided.
If treatment is not deemed appropriate, advice on further referral options and possible treatments if provided.
Knee ligament treatment
The knee has ligaments both within and outside of the joint. These help to provide the knee with stability. They can be damaged or sprained as a result of an acute trauma or as a result of altered mechanical stresses. Commonly patients will complain of pain, there may be swelling and instability. Our osteopaths will assess the knee function, stability and support. They will also look at surrounding joints and access the mechanical demands being placed upon the knee. As with any issue joint pain, if we consider that treatment is not appropriate, or unlikely to achieve a reduction in symptoms, we will refer accordingly.
Referred pain to the knee
Sometimes pain will be referred to the knee from other areas of the body. The lower back for example may refer pain down to the knee. Our osteopaths will assess where your pain is likely to be coming from, by assessing your knee in context with the rest of your body. It is also important we assess patients as a whole person, to fully establish the demands their body. This builds a true picture then for of how the knee is functioning and adapting to demands placed upon it. Our osteopaths can then work with clients to not only ease current symptoms, but also improve function for more lasting results throughout the body.
Other treatments for knee pain in Worthing
As a team we offer a host of treatments to help knee pain. Our team work together, often combining treatments. This may involve an initial assessment and treatment with the osteopath, but help may also be given by the massage, acupuncture and exercise teams.
The NHS also provide a lot of useful resources to help patients knee pain treatment to help ease symptoms, including help with exercise and weight management.
