Physical Therapy Can Help You Move with Ease Again
According to the Centers for Disease Control, hip and knee pain are both commonly reported areas of discomfort across the United States.
If you’ve been struggling with hip and knee pain for a long time, it may begin to feel as if your pain is here to stay. After all, can you really get any lasting relief from severe and/or chronic joint pain?
Fortunately, you can – and physical therapy is one of the best ways to do just that. With the right physical therapy treatments, you can reduce the pain you have been experiencing in your hips and knees – and possibly even eliminate it altogether.
Common conditions leading to hip and knee pain
There are many different conditions that can result in hip and knee pain, including, but not limited to:
- Tears in the meniscus – Unfortunately, meniscus tears are one of the more common knee injuries people experience. This injury causes swelling, stiffness, and varying degrees of pain. You’re also at a higher risk for receiving this energy if you’re engaging in aggressive pivoting and twisting of your legs. Athletes experience tears often because of this. A physical therapist can provide safe and effective treatment for a torn meniscus – without surgery!
- Bursitis – Bursitis occurs when a small sac of fluid known as the “bursa” becomes painfully inflamed. This is brought on by overuse or repetitive injuries, similar to many other conditions. Bursitis can occur in a variety of locations in the body including the elbows, knees and hips. Physical therapy reduces pain with bursitis and helps with speedy recovery timelines.
- Arthritis – Arthritis, or “osteoarthritis” is a condition where tissues around the joints become inflamed and irritated. i This condition can cause pain in a number of places all over your body, including your hands, knees, and hips. A physical therapist can teach you correct posture and proper movement techniques to protect your joints and prevent your arthritis from taking over your normal day-to-day activities.
- Sprains and strains – Sprains and strains are common injuries but come about in different ways. Strains happen when a muscle or tendon is overstretched or torn. A sprain is a stretched or torn ligament. Ligaments can even rupture, which results in bruising, limited mobility, and pain. A physical therapist can show you exercises to help you recover more quickly. They can also teach you ways to move in order to reduce further pain or injuries.
How can physical therapy help me find relief in my hips/knees?
Hip and knee pain can be so frustrating – it seems like no matter what you have to do if you move you are going to experience pain.
But there are ways to reduce your pain over the long term. It may take some time and effort on your part, but physical therapy has proven time and again to help reduce hip and knee pain for patients of all ages and backgrounds.
Why does the pain relief you get from physical therapy last for so long? There are a few reasons, including:
- Helping you live a more active lifestyle. Chronic hip and knee pain can be improved significantly through regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Of course, you have to be able to move without significant pain to exercise – something that is made much easier by physical therapy. Your physical therapist can help you improve your hip and knee pain significantly and teach you ways to exercise so that you avoid injuring your joints. Through physical therapy, you can regain strength and mobility so that you can lead a more active lifestyle.
- Providing the techniques you need to move comfortably. Many times the pain you are experiencing in your hip and knee is related to unhealthy movement patterns. They may have been learned over time or in response to an initial injury. Those unhealthy movements cause added strain on your joints and lead to further pain and injuries. Your physical therapist will help identify unhealthy movement patterns and give you the advice to replace those patterns with ones that will protect your joints from further injury.
- Improving your strength to avoid injuries. One of the big frustrations with joint pain is that it never seems to fully go away. Even if you rest for a while and feel better, when you go out and start moving again the injury can flare up all over again. But with physical therapy exercises, you get much stronger than you were before. The added strength allows your muscles to better support your joints, so you are less likely to experience additional irritation in the joint.
- Treating the problem at its source. If you just treat the symptoms of a hip and/or knee issue, you are almost guaranteed to see the problem pop up again later on. But if you can identify the source of the problem, you can actually treat what is causing the pain. Physical therapists have a process to identify the causes of hip and knee pain so that they can give you targeted treatments designed to get to the bottom of what is causing your pain.
Ready to discover how physical therapy can help you get moving without pain?
If you’re living with hip and knee pain right now, we want you to know that we’re here to help. Our physical therapy team can help you reduce your pain over the short and long term.
Please contact Spectrum Therapy Consultants today to schedule an appointment with one of our licensed and highly trained physical therapists to get started on the first steps toward the pain-free life you deserve!
