Understanding Knee Pain (What Causes It & How to Eliminate It)

Dr. Luke Gordon returns to the “Stay Healthy Spokane” podcast and discusses a wide range of information related to knee pain, its various causes, and how to effectively eliminate knee pain. Here are the major topics for this episode: 

• Topic #1: Why is knee pain so common? The knee contains 3 distinct joints as well as 4 different bones. The bones include the femur (the long bone in your thigh), the tibia (aka your shin), the fibula (skinny bone next to your tibia) and the patella (aka the kneecap). There are several large muscles. The largest and most important muscle group in your knee is the quadriceps, 4 primary ligaments (ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL), and several other structures: 2 menisci, several smaller ligaments, and the IT band

• Topic #2: Several other factors affect pain in the knee: Ankle stability and arch support, hip strength and alignment, and ongoing issues with pain (knee pain is often associated with hip & back pain)

• Topic #3: The most common type of pain we see in the clinic is Patello-femoral joint pain. Poor tracking of the kneecap leads to pain near the front of the knee. Typically associated with weakness in the quad and hip muscles.

• Topic #4: Other common causes of pain. Ligament sprains (MCL is the most common), Muscle strains, Meniscus tears, IT band irritation, Arthritis, Fractures, trauma and surgery.

• Topic #5: The Single Biggest Mistake People w/ Knee Pain  Make. You may have guessed it: the biggest mistake is that people tend to IGNORE their pain for way too long, which can run the risk of more permanent and severe damage. The other mistake you should try to avoid is MASKING your pain with things like medications. Instead, try to HANDLE your pain as quickly as possible (which is explained in the next section!). 

• Topic #6: What Does Successful Treatment of Knee Pain Look Like? At Gordon PT, we take a 2-step approach to helping our clients eliminate knee pain for good. Step 1 is to determine the ROOT CAUSES(s) of the pain, and Step 2 is to design a PT program catered to these specific issues. During Step 2, we follow the “3 Phases of Recovery”, which are outlined below. 

• Topic #7: The “3 Phases of Healing” Once you know the cause(s) of your knee pain, you can now move forward to treating it! In Phase 1, we focus on reducing pain and inflammation, with an emphasis on hands-on therapy and gentle exercises. In Phase 2, as pain is improving, we start to incorporate more stretches and exercises to help sustain these improvements. And in Phase 3, when pain continues to decrease, we’re looking at returning to full activity, including more demanding activities, such as jogging, hiking, sports, etc. It all depends on what you love to do! 

• Topic #8: Still looking for more help? If you’d like more help getting to the root cause of your knee pain and achieving lasting pain relief, Luke wraps up with 2 good options. 

• Option #1: If you live in the area, you can request a FREE 30-minute “Discovery Visit” with one of our PTs! During your free consultation, one of our PTs will help you do 2 things: Discover what factors are contributing to your knee pain, and determine if we’re the best ones to help you decrease your pain and increase your activity level. 

• Option #2: Request a copy of Luke’s FREE report on Knee Pain by calling the clinic at (509) 892-5442, or visit https://www.gordonphysicaltherapy.com/knee-pain/ to download the report directly to your phone or computer. If you’d like more information on Total Knee Replacement Surgery, visit this link instead: https://www.gordonphysicaltherapy.com/total-knee-replacement/ 

Thank you for listening to the “Stay Healthy Spokane” podcast! If you have any comments/questions or ideas for future topics, please reach out to Dr. Luke at Luke@GordonPhysicalTherapy.com