Knee Pain

Why do I have knee pain? 

Your knees are prone to developing painful conditions because they have to work so hard, supporting your body weight and coping with all of the movements you make during your life.

These large joints are a complex structure containing the ends of your thigh and shin bones, plus your kneecap. The bones are held together with tough ligaments, while tendons attach your muscles to the bones.

There are also sacs of fluid called bursae that cushion the joint, and layers of cartilage protecting the bones and providing shock absorbency. Any of these parts of your knee could suffer an injury or deteriorate over time, leading to knee pain.

What conditions are most likely to cause knee pain?

Acute knee pain is typically due to damage from a fall, accident, or sports injury. Common knee injuries include:

• Fractured bones
• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear
• Medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear
• Meniscus tear
• Patellar (kneecap) instability
• Dislocation
• Iliotibial (IT) band injury

Rather than happening suddenly, some injuries develop over time, due to repetitive strain or overuse. These types of knee pain include bursitis, patellar tendinitis (jumper’s knee), and patellofemoral syndrome (runner’s knee), which is due to long-term friction between your kneecap and your femur.

Chronic knee pain could be due to these slow-developing injuries, or conditions like arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder in which your immune system destroys the joint linings, is one possible cause.

There are many other types of arthritis, but the one most likely to be causing your knee pain is osteoarthritis. This form of the disease is due to joint wear-and-tear, because of erosion in the cartilage on the bones. This cartilage allows your joints to operate smoothly and painlessly.

How is knee pain treated?

Your knee pain treatment at Integrated Pain Solutions is likely to begin with conservative therapies. Avoiding stress on the injured knee helps your body heal itself, so you need to avoid certain activities. You might need to wear a brace to keep pressure off your knee as it heals.

Physical therapy is usually a critical part of your treatment, as it helps build up strength in your knee and surrounding muscles without overstressing the joint. Viscosupplementation (hyaluronic acid injections into the knee joint) helps to lubricate stiff, arthritic knees.

Depending on the cause of your knee pain, you might also benefit from regenerative medicine treatments like PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy. PRP stimulates the growth of healthy cells and tissues at the site of an injury. 

Dr. Snowball extracts platelets containing growth factors from your blood and injects them into your knees. Extracorporeal pulse activation technology (EPAT®) creates similar effects to PRP by using pressure waves.

In some cases, patients with severe or nonresponsive knee pain require cortisone injections. These joint injections have potent anti-inflammatory effects and can ease knee pain in the longer term, as well as providing immediate short-term relief.

To find out more, call Integrated Pain Solutions today or book an appointment online.