KNEE PAIN

 

​

Knee pain is very common, often misdiagnosed, and improperly treated.

 

In this chapter, I will discuss the two most common causes of knee pain - knee sprain/strain and osteoarthritis.

 

 

KNEE SPRAIN / STRAIN

There are two levels of knee injury.  The deeper, or more serious level, of knee injury is when you "blow your knee out."  This is what happens when you buckle your knee in a serious accident such as skiing in which your body goes one way, and your lower leg goes the other.  Or it could be a football type of injury in which a player lands on your knee and your knee gives way or buckles.

 

When this happens, you cannot put weight on your knee because your knee will be sloppy and give way.  This full-blown level of knee injury includes torn ligaments, tendons, meniscus, and cartilage and needs treatment from an orthopedic surgeon and may possibly require surgery.

 

​

However, most people who come to my office with knee pain do not have this deeper level of knee injury. They do not have torn ligaments, tendons, meniscus, and cartilage, but they have a lessor level, or a sprain/strain complex of their knee. 

 

So what is a sprain/strain of the knee and what do you do about it?

 

 

In the knee chapter I discuss:

 

• Knee sprain/strain (the cause of most people's knee pain)

• Included is a detailed list of how to treat it. (both at home and by a medical office)

• How to work with a medical office to make sure you get quality treatment.

• There is a one page handout of the treatment that you will be able to print and use as a reminder.  This is the same handout that I give my patients.

• Osteo-arthritis (OA) (wear and tear) of the knee (also very common)

• What to do if it doesn't respond to therapy.

 

Many medical offices will simply tell you that you have arthritis and that you are going to have to live with it.  They do not have an effective treatment for knee pain.

 

Many of my patients are quite surprised to find there is a treatment for their knee pain. They also are quite pleased when their pain is gone.