Overview

Many patients come to us for pain relief. Heat, ice, electric stimulation and ultrasound (modalities) can be helpful in the treatment of acutely inflamed and irritated tissues, but we believe it is more important to identify and treat the reasons why your tissues have become inflamed and irritated to begin with. For this reason, we examine the entire body to identify and treat not just the pain, but also the source of the pain.

Knee Pain:

There are many structures in and around the knee that can become a source of knee pain. Whether patients have undergone surgery for their injury, are awaiting surgery or perhaps are trying to avoid knee surgery, we treat all varieties of knee pain including but no limited to:

Ligamentous injuries: There are four main ligaments at the knee that provide stability for the joint. Injury to any one of these ligaments may compromise the stability of the knee and result in pain and limitations with activity.

Meniscus injury: At the knee, there are two different types of cartilage – the articular cartilage (that covers the ends of the bones) and meniscal cartilage (two discs of cartilage that aide in distributing and absorbing the shock of weight-bearing). Injury to these “shock absorbers” can result from twisting or from accumulative wear and tear over time.

Arthritis/Degenerative Joint Disease: Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis refer to degeneration of the articular cartilage, either from accumulative wear and tear or an auto-immune response respectively.

Patello-femoral Syndrome: Often a result of imbalances in the strength and length/flexibility of muscles around the knee joint, the knee cap may move improperly in relation to the thigh bone and result in irritation and/or breakdown of the structures involved.

Post-surgical patients: Ligament repair, meniscal repair/removal, partial/total knee replacements and others.

The treatment goals for each of the conditions is similar

1. Diminish symptoms through pain reducing exercises and/or treatments specific to each patient.
   
   
2. 2. Identify and treat the underlying source of the problem.
   1. Specific hip/knee/ankle tightness patterns
   2. Faulty foot mechanics
   3. Specific leg weakness patterns
   4. Abnormal functional movement patterns specific to each patient’s work, sport or activity of daily living
      
      
3. Prevention: Each patient is instructed in a preventative home exercise program to minimize the chance that the problem will recur.