If there’s one thing that seems to be true for everyone as they get older, it’s that knee pain is inevitable. Knee pain is often associated with general wear and tear like walking, bending, standing, and lifting. But why does this happen?
To understand what causes knee pain, let’s first look at the make of the knee.
The human leg is made up of four bones the femur, patella, fibula, and tibia. Today we’ll focus on the femur, the thigh bone or upper leg region, the patella, the knee cap, and the tibia, the shin bone.
Each end of these bones is covered with a layer of cartilage. The cartilage is meant to absorb shocks and protect the knee. Essentially, the knee is two long leg bones held together by muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
Why knee pain happens
Knee pain can be linked to sprained or strained ligaments, cartilage tears, tendonitis, and arthritis. The most common causes of knee pain that our patients encounter are strains, sprains, and arthritis.
Sprains and Strains
We wrote an article a while back that discussed the difference between sprains and strains, which you can read here. But, in short, for you to experience a sprain, you would need to tear or overstretch a ligament. With a strain, you are tearing or overstretching a tendon or muscle. These often occur when there’s a blow to the knee or a sudden twist and can also cause your cartilage to tear.
Tendonitis
Tendonitis is often caused by repetitive stress on the knee from lifting, running, and sports. These repetitive movements create tiny tears in the tendon, causing the tendon to weaken and become inflamed.
Arthritis
Arthritis is often the result of getting older and is caused by your joints being chronically inflamed, leading to stiffness and discomfort. Several types of arthritis can occur in your knee, and if you would like to learn more about them, we found this article that dives into them.
Dealing with knee pain
First, if you experienced a recent knee injury and have yet to visit your doctor, please do. Your doctor will be able to assure there are no underlying issues and determine if your knee needs immediate medical attention.
After visiting your doctor, scheduling an appointment with a trusted chiropractor is a great way to get back on the road to recovery. A chiropractor will be able to offer you the therapy you need to deal with your pain instead of turning to medication.
Our chiropractors at ProActive Health assure that we closely examine the knee and use adjustments to ensure the knee joint is in proper alignment.
Visit us at ProActive Health today to “Align Your Spine, Realign Your Life!”
Ready to see a chiropractor for your knee pain? Dr. Doug Patterson at ProActive Health is the top choice in the Michiana area!
In 1993, Dr. Doug Patterson hurt his back and first sought the care of a Chiropractor. After this experience, he decided he wanted to help people himself by pursuing chiropractic. He is a 1997 graduate of the Life University College of Chiropractic in Marietta, Georgia, and has been in practice for 20+ years. Since then, Dr. Doug has expanded his field of practice to include functional medicine and science-based nutrition. If you’re tired of dealing with your knee pain, schedule a visit with Dr. Doug at ProActive Health today!
