Knee Pain
Having knee pain can affect our lifestyle significantly, as it affects our ability to walk, negotiate stairs and exercise with ease. The most common groups of individuals suffering from knee pain include:
▪ Athletes who do long-distance running, play soccer, tennis, netball etc.
▪ Middle-aged men and women with knee osteoarthritis
▪ Adolescents who are active in jumping or running sports
▪ Yoga practitioners who have problems with lotus pose and its variations
▪ Direct injury to the knee from falls and accidents
Very often, the knee pain may be accompanied with some mild to moderate swelling around the knee joint. While first-aid application such as an ice pack will ease the inflammation, it is important that you have your knee assessed for any tissue damage. Different tissues have different rates of recovery and the kind of treatment you need may also vary depending on the injury.
Whether this is your first episode of knee pain, or a recurrent problem affecting your lifestyle, your Osteopath will be able to help you. A comprehensive physical assessment is given to identify the cause of the problem, followed by an individual treatment & management plan to help you recover as quickly as possible. Your Osteopath will also advise you if any and what kind of modification is required to your activity level to manage the knee pain well.
What makes Osteopaths unique and effective, apart from years of education in the medical sciences, is their highly trained sense of touch. The Osteopath’s main tool-of-trade is his hands, which are used to accurately identify areas of excessive tension, weakness and imbalances in the musculoskeletal system. These problems often do not show up in X-rays and scans but yet they still feel the pain or discomfort.
Osteopathy recognizes you as a unique individual so treatment is customized to your needs and not protocol-based. Gentle but firm hands-on techniques are applied to stretch & relax tight tissues, get stiff joints moving and improve general body alignment.
Your osteopath will not only just focus on your knee to relieve symptoms, he will also assess the rest of your body as a whole to address the contributing factors (eg. previously-injured or stiff areas) that make you susceptible to knee pain. After your treatment, you will come away with a better understanding of how your pain developed and what you can do to take better care of yourself.