So You Have A Painful Knee Problem!

Knee pain is one of the most common complaints we see in our office. Although most doctors will exam, diagnose then just treat the knee, there are many other factors that often can cause or, at the very least, contribute to the ongoing problem. Other than simply masking the painful condition with cortisone injections or pain killers, another typical "treatment" choice for doctors reminds me of an old joke. A patient sees his doctor for pain and says, "Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this. " The doctor then says, "Don't do that!" This is another easy solution for him or her, but is not a very realistic one for you. After all, why should you stop doing the things you love to do just because your doctor doesn't want to spend the time it takes to find the real cause of your problem?

For instance, most lateral knee pain of runners is due to something called iliotibial band syndrome or ITBS. The Iliotibial band is located at the end of the muscle that runs along the outer part of your thigh called tensor fascia latae. What can cause this syndrome? Any problem from the hip to the foot can actually be the culprit in an ongoing knee problem. The cause of an over contraction of the tensor fascia latae muscle is often due to a weakness of the hip abductors, which bring the leg out to the side of the body. Another cause could be what are called trigger-points in the thigh or calf muscles. These are nodules or knots in the muscle that causes weakness or over-contraction.

How do we find the problem?

Only through a thorough physical exam and muscle testing regimen can we ultimately determine which part of the kinetic chain (in this case: the hip, knee, foot and ankle) is distorted thus causing the painful condition, irregardless of where the actual pain is.

How do we fix this type of problem in our office?

After locating, testing and identifying the problem area whether it is a weak muscle(s), an over contracted one or the presence of trigger-points, we then treat by reducing the spasms, strengthening muscles and eliminating the trigger-points by various techniques. In our office, we have found the most beneficial form of treatment in reducing and eliminating trigger-points is deep tissue laser therapy. Our Class IV Laser not only reduces trigger-points, pain, swelling and inflammation but more importantly actually promotes and accelerates healing.

This is really the only way to permanently and realistically eliminate painful musculoskeletal conditions as opposed to masking the pain with tissue deadening procedures such as cortisone and pain killing medications.