Consult With a Physical Therapist to Find Relief for Your Hip and Knee Pain

Does nagging hip and knee pain keep you from completing everyday tasks with ease? If you’ve been living with chronic aches and pains in these areas, you may benefit from regular physical therapy treatment. A skilled physical therapist can help improve your daily quality of life by targeting your problem areas to decrease pain and boost mobility over time.

If you or a loved one experiences pain and discomfort getting up from a chair, walking to the corner store, or going up and down the stairs, there’s a good chance physical therapy can help ease your pain, stiffness, and weakness.

Why did my hip and knee pain develop?

The hips and knees are the largest joints in the human body and do much of the work supporting your body weight. They work together in close coordination to keep your body mobile, but can easily be affected by injury, arthritis, and other common conditions. In some cases, hip and knee problems can be treated with certain exercises or pain relief medication, but it’s also common for these problems to worsen over time, making them difficult to treat with over-the-counter solutions alone.

Common conditions resulting in hip and knee pain

While each person is different, many of our physical therapy patients experience recurring hip and knee pain as a result of a few common causes, including:

• Core muscle injury. Notice pain in your groin area after a weekend of playing ball with friends? You may be dealing with a strain or tear of the muscles and soft tissue in your lower abdomen. Rest can help, but we recommend an appointment if the pain lasts a week or more.
• “Runner’s knee.” An unstable kneecap can lead to chronic knee pain. This condition is known as patellofemoral syndrome, or runner’s knee.
• Bursitis. Recurring pain on the outside of the hip, buttocks, or thigh often points to bursitis, or inflammation of the cushioning, pillow-like sacs that keep tendons from rubbing against bone. This is common as we age and can be relieved with targeted physical therapy.
• Strains, sprains, and ruptures. The knee and hip joints move thanks to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Repetitive motion or acute injuries can cause a strain (damage to muscles or tendons) or a sprain (hyperextension of a ligament). Athletes are vulnerable to ruptures of the ACL.
• Fractures. The bones of the knee can break during a fall, car accident, or sporting accident. The risk increases with age, as many older adults develop osteoporosis, which weakens the bones. Physical therapy can help reduce pain and inflammation after a fracture and increase mobility over time.
• Osteoarthritis. A degeneration of the cartilage that normally keeps the bone ends in a joint from rubbing together. The resulting friction causes chronic pain and inflammation.
• Torn meniscus. The meniscus is a tough, rubbery piece of cartilage that acts as a shock absorber in the knee. Suddenly twisting your knee during sports or another strenuous move can tear it, causing intense and long-lasting pain. Regular physical therapy visits can help reduce your symptoms.

Ready to get started on a treatment plan?

Depending on the severity of your injury, physical therapy can provide a safe, non-invasive, and comprehensive treatment option. Treatments for hip and knee pain may include stretching and strengthening, balance training, joint mobilization, electrical stimulation, and more.

Our physical therapist will work with you to tailor a treatment plan that fits your specific lifestyle needs, and can also help create a comprehensive home exercise routine to maintain a better quality of life between appointments. The sooner you seek physical therapy for hip or knee pain, the better: research shows that patients who begin rehab within 15 days of symptom onset have less need for pain injections, medications, or surgical intervention.

Call Zone Physical Therapy today to schedule your initial consultation.