Knee Pain

Knee pain ; All too familiar for the avid runner, can be painful, debilitating and disheartening. Particularly when it prevents you from doing the things you love. You may have experienced the typical sharp pain from a traumatic injury that athletes are all too familiar with. Although other knee pain can range from early morning stiffness, tenderness when walking, aching under the knee cap, pain when climbing upstairs, clicking or even locking of the knee. However most knee pain isn’t caused by the knee at all!

What is the Function of the Knee

The knee is a mobiliser of movement, meaning it helps us achieve the movements required by our lower limbs like walking, running, squatting and climbing. It is a joint that is directed by the hips and then the ankles. The knee itself is not a driver of movement. So when we experience knee pain, it is often due to imbalances or lack of motion experienced at the hips, or lower down at the ankles. When the knee is made to work harder because of an imbalance somewhere else in the lower limb then we begin to experience knee pain. Overuse of the knee can lead to damage of the tissues around it, including muscular strains, tendinopathies and even osteoarthritis.

So how do we correct knee pain?

How do we heal and how do we prevent ongoing damage? Good news is, there is hope! Consulting your osteopath about full body functional screening will help to determine where in the body the cause of the imbalance is. By correcting this imbalance, using osteopathic treatment and rehabilitation exercise, you can restore the function of your lower limb.