The Truth About Knee Pain and How to Treat It

Knee pain is a common complaint in our runners here in the clinic. Interestingly, we see a higher prevalence of knee pain in non-running groups in the medical literature (Orthop J Sports Med 2023). Nevertheless, knee pain can be quite frustrating and debilitating whether you are a runner or not. 

Knee pain can come on all of a sudden as a result of a traumatic force, like a fall or quick change of direction that we weren’t ready for, that causes tissue damage. 

Most often, knee pain is NOT associated with tissue damage per se, but due to a mismatch in the load we are putting our tissues under and their current capacity. Think more inflammation or irritation than damage. 

Common sites of knee pain that we treat in the clinic are:

1. Patellofemoral pain (knee cap),
2. Patella or quad tendinitis (irritation of the tendons that attach on either side of the knee cap),
3. Knee joint pain (pain inside the knee, like arthritis),
4. Posterior knee pain (hamstring or other muscle-tendons in the back of the knee)
5. Ligament sprains (often, the patient feels a “pop” and usually has accompanying swelling). 

If you or someone you know is experiencing knee pain, there are many things that we can do to treat it. 

After a thorough examination, we will discuss a treatment plan that is unique to you. 

A treatment plan will most assuredly consist of:

1. A strategy to calm down the symptoms, such as our therapy laser
2. Restoring load tolerance through the involved and surrounding tissues
3. Progressive loading with both weight and speed of movement
4. A strategy to return you to your sport or favorite activity. 

Check out this video of some strategies we use to calm down knee pain that you can try at home. 

Schedule a time for us to chat to see if we’re the right fit to help you overcome your knee pain: