It is no surprise that knee pain affects 25% of the population’s adults, and that its prevalence has increased in the last two decades by around 65%. Being that we treat knee pain on a regular basis with chiropractic, we know that standard medicine isn’t always the one and only solution for our patients. Chiropractic treatment can help for knee pain not only by reducing pain, but helping with recovery and maintenance of the patient’s knee health. Additionally, chiropractic providers are known to work side by side with standard medical doctors to get the patient optimal results.
Knee Pain/Injury
Although knee pain is pretty self-explanatory, it is important as chiropractic providers to always refresh ourselves on the basic types of knee pain so that we can properly treat our patients.
Causes for Knee Pain:
- Injuries – common amongst athletes or those who participate in physically demanding activities or jobs regularly. This can be sprains, fractures, or tears in the ligaments.
- Bursitis – this is when the bursae becoming swollen causing pain and inflammation around the knee
- Osteoarthritis – the leading cause of disability among adults, around 27 million Americans have some form of osteoarthritis. This happens when the knee joint cartilage wears down leading to bones rubbing against each other causing pain.
- Tendonitis – this happens when the tendons become inflamed from overuse, repetitive movement, or injury. It is most common when it comes to knee pain in the patellar tendon.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis – this is an autoimmune disorder that attacks the synovial membrane in the knee joint causing pain and inflammation. This chronic condition can also cause bone erosion and harm articular cartilage.
- Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) – this most often affects athletes or runners when the iliotibial band becomes inflamed from overuse or incorrect training techniques.
When patients come in with knee pain they most often will present with swelling, problems bending or straightening the knee, soreness around the affected bursa, warmth or redness in the joint, or clicking or popping sound in the knee with movement.
Chiropractic for Knee Pain
Like with many other conditions, some patients may not realize that there are a multitude of other conditions that can be treated with chiropractic including knee pain. First and foremost, chiropractic providers must determine if the patient’s knee pain is from a compensatory cause or primary cause. Treatment can include other areas of the body including the spine, hips, and neck as misalignments in these places can all contribute to knee pain. The ultimate goal of chiropractic treatment is to take pressure off the knee.
Chiropractic Treatment Options for Knee Pain:
- Manual Manipulation – align the spine to improve patient posture, decrease stress, and encourage mobility.
- Ultrasound – utilize the sound waves massaging effect to relieve pain, stiffness, and swelling in the knee.
- Cold Laser – use to speed up healing and decrease inflammation.
- Traction – use to encourage mobility and decrease inflammation in the knee.
- Electrotherapy – use a TENS unit boost blood flow, and decrease swelling and tension in the knee.
- Infrared Sauna – use to boost blood flow, and decrease pain and stiffness in the knee.
- Exercise – develop a customized plan based on the individual’s presenting symptoms with rehabilitation stretches and exercises to strengthen the knee and the muscles surrounding it.
It is essential as chiropractic providers to not only provide the treatment needed in office, but provide a comprehensive plan to manage knee pain out of the office or with other providers that the patient may be seeing. This will involve not only a knee adjustment along with a spinal adjustment, but also potentially ice application, soft tissue massage, stretching, and more. The knee plays a huge role in the mobility of the body, and if it is in pain there is a struggle in all aspects of daily life like standing, walking, or getting out of bed. Chiropractic treatment works to decrease any deterioration in the joint. As chiropractic providers, we know that most often joint pain can be traced back to issues in the spine.
Updated Chiropractic Technology for Knee Pain:
- Knee on Trac – a traction system which isolates and gently stretches the knee joint. It is utilized to re-develop the mobility and flexibility in the knee joint. It will increase the space in the knee joint and needed fluid in and around the knee which in-turn will decrease pain. This can be used, and may be more beneficial depending on the patient condition with modalities like manual and cold laser therapy.
- Benefits of using this for patients with knee pain is that, just like with spinal adjustments, it is non-surgical.
- It will extend the usage of the knee to eliminate the need for surgery. Being that joint replacements have a lifespan of about 20 years, and with people living longer, there is a risk of the replacement not outlasting the patient.
- The ease of treatment is unmatched being that it is a chair that the patient is in for 5-10 minutes at most during decompression.
- MLS (multi-wave locked system) Cold Laser Therapy – also extremely helpful for knee pain among many other forms of pain. It produces better results that older cold lasers of the past. As with any cold therapy, the laser is applied to the knee and those tissues absorb the light causing the blood to rush to this area and promote healing. Additionally, it doesn’t only stimulate one aspect of the knee, but it stimulates all cell types making it an extremely effective knee treatment.
All in all, as chiropractors we must use our vast knowledge of the knee joint as well as the spine to explore factors beyond the knee joint itself that may be contributing to a patient’s knee pain. Utilizing a collaboration approach to knee pain relief is our best option to obtain the best results for our patients. Chiropractic providers play a huge part in orthopedic care, particularly with knee pain, and it is vital patients understand the benefits of chiropractic for not only their knee pain but a quicker recovery.