Knee pain is a persistent problem. According to a major rehabilitation clinic, over 100 million people are affected by constant or near-constant knee pain, and knee pain is the second most common cause of chronic pain.
In fact, around one-third of all adults report having knee pain sometime in their lives.
What are common knee pain causes?
Perhaps the number one cause of knee pain is just aging. As we age, we tend to experience knee pain due to the amount of stress and strain on our bodies that the joints and the ligaments of the knee go through.
One common knee pain causes is simply being overweight. According to the statistics the mean waist size of most men is around 35.4 inches and the average waist size of most women is 29.5.
However, most holistic doctors say that the waist size for women should never go above 26, and for men, it should rarely exceed 32.
Any waist size larger than this, unless one has the height of a typical professional basketball player means that people are overweight or morbidly obese, and all that extra weight puts a lot of stress on your knees simply in walking, let alone exercising.
Osteoarthritis
Many people as they age develop Osteoarthritis, which is a degenerative process where the cartilage that surrounds the knee gradually wears away.
In addition, Rheumatoid arthritis, which is a natural disease in which the body attacks itself, often causes inflammation of the knee cartilage.
Athletic injuries
In addition, activities such as snow skiing, running long distances, basketball, tennis, and soccer also place undue stress on the knees.
Not only do many sports activities place undue stress on the knees, but often such activities are sometimes addictive.
We know personally of a member of our family, a young woman in her 30’s, who was so rough on her knees that she had to undergo orthopedic surgery to alleviate the problem.
But only two days before her surgery she went out for a run, promising to only do 5 kilometers.
Knee pain treatment
As knee pain has various causes, if you are experiencing continual pain, one of the first stops for you will be seeing one of the many Physiotherapists in Singapore.
Regular visits to a Physiotherapist will often be one way to facilitate knee pain treatment.
Most physiotherapists are referred to patients by an orthopedic doctor, who may or may not also be an orthopedic surgeon, but will certainly have access to them.
Cortisone Injections
One of the primary ways that an orthopedic doctor will help is with ultrasound-guided cortisone injections. Using an ultrasound, the injections are guided straight to the needed parts of the knee, and the cortisone injections do wonders for swelling and inflammation of the knee. A single cortisone shot may last from 6 weeks to even much longer.
Anti-inflammatories
Anti Inflammatory medicines are often prescribed, notably diclofenac, for those with arthritis of the knee.
Surgery
Of course the last measure is often some kind of reconstructive surgery by an orthopedic surgeon, and there are many sophisticated procedures that assist people with chronic pain.
However, orthopedic surgery is often the last knee pain treatment resort.
What do physiotherapists do for knee pain?
Physiotherapists often work in close conjunction to an orthopedic doctor but they use different techniques.
Physiotherapists may use physical massage to induce endorphins in the knee. teach patients how to adjust their walking gait, how to use a cane to assist in mobility and will generally assign exercises to help build up the muscles in and around the knee.
These exercises may be with free weights or machines, or just as often, they may be
water exercises.
Many people when they have a knee injury pretty much stop doing as much movement as their lifestyle will allow.
However, that is often not the right approach. If a person has a sports related injury, or even has knee problems due to some form of arthritis, exercise is often the best treatment.
This does not mean however, that if a person has almost destroyed their knees through jogging that they should resume training for marathons. The exercises that a physiotherapist will supervise concentrates on building up the muscle around the knee so that it can more normalize itself.
Often a schedule of visiting a physiotherapist every four to six weeks, together with regular home exercises he or she provides will significantly reduce knee pain.
Therefore, with the permission of your orthopedic doctor you should consult a Knee Pain Treatment Clinic in Singapore.
Usually your employee health insurance will cover both your visits to an orthopedic doctor as well as assist in paying for your physiotherapist visits, in particular when your orthopedic physician recommends it as a part of your treatment.