Doc, can a chiropractor help my knee pain?

Q: A patient asked me recently, “Doc, can a chiropractor help my knee pain? I really don’t know why my knee hurts but can you help?

A: There are many possible causes of knee pain, so I am going to try to answer your question from multiple aspects. In general, there are a few things that are important to know about chiropractic and knee pain. First, chiropractic alone (a joint mobilization to the knee) is likely not the only treatment that would need to be applied. (It all depends on what I find, how long you’ve had the problem, and what you’ve done for that pain in the past.) Also, we have some specialized physical therapy, and adjusting techniques… that can help you stretch and strengthen your joints. As far as X-rays, we can easily take care of that along with properly diagnosing the cause of your knee pain. Finally, if you are not seeing results, we’ll refer you to an orthopedic doctor, but you should definitely come to this office and find out if we can help you first.

Now without knowing the source of your knee pain… let me just say this. Your knees may begin to hurt if you spend too much time on your feet or you are suffering from arthritis. You are not alone. We see lots of patients who have knee problems from overuse of their knee joints, traumatic injury from events such as sports and falls and loads of pain due to arthritic changes in their joints.

Often the kneecap does not move smoothly enough when bending, causing abnormal stresses upon the tendons, cartilage and ligaments. You probably don’t know this but I am trained to provide the proper diagnosis and management of this problem through re-establishing proper muscle balance, restoring movement to the kneecap, and working with you to help you stretch your tendons so you can return to doing what you love to do. Strains and sprains often occur during sports that involve running and jumping. We also successfully treat these conditions.

Now knee pain might be the result of poor gait function. If poor mechanics or traumatic injuries are not corrected at an early age, and as soon as possible, the knee joint tissues will eventually begin to erode and break down. As a result, the bones rub upon one another and cause bone spurs. This painful condition is known as degenerative joint disease, or osteoarthritis, and is often progressive with age. It is critical to get treated by this office as soon as possible when injuries occur, so they do not progress over time.

If you would like more information, call the office, and schedule an appointment, plus you can also give us your email and join our mailing list.