Prestige Pain Centers - Strategies for Knee Pain Rehabilitation and Long-Term Management

Knee pain is annoying at best; even when mild, it can affect your ability to do the most basic of motions. Merely standing still can be a problem. While many people just deal with knee pain and try to avoid the situations that aggravate it, sometimes the pain is too intrusive, and people seek therapy to lessen and manage the pain. Therapy can be a bit of an unknown for those who haven’t been through it before, but it’s not that magical; each exercise helps reduce or eliminate knee pain over time, with consistent effort.

What Can Cause Knee Pain

The causes of knee pain are what you’d expect: injury, age, excessive pressure, and diseases like arthritis. You may have had surgery and now need therapy to address lingering pain from an old condition, for example. Knee pain can be temporary or constant, and the level of pain can fluctuate. No matter the cause, though, knee pain isn’t normal, and it indicates that there’s inflammation or another injury that’s preventing the parts of your knee from working as they should. One issue you need to be aware of is that the core cause of the pain — say, excess weight placing too much pressure on your knee and resulting in inflammation — has to be addressed, too, if possible. Excess weight, imbalanced pressure on your leg from wearing the wrong shoes, and similar causes are all issues you can do something about. If you don’t work on those, too, it may be harder to eliminate the pain in your knee.

Why Physical Therapy Is Best

As you investigate physical therapy, you’ll see talk of knee surgery to correct problems, too. There are times when surgery is appropriate, but it’s not a first-line treatment unless the knee is in visibly bad shape. In other words, if you’re just experiencing pain from a strain or tendonitis, therapy is more likely the best route for you. Surgery is extreme, even though improvements in technology have made much of it easier to do. Non-invasive knee pain treatments in Paramus, NJ like therapy are still easier for your body to handle, and they’re more cost-effective.

What Does Therapy for Knee Pain Focus On?

Physical therapy for knee pain tends to focus on strengthening the surrounding muscles and improving flexibility. Knee pain can be a funny thing in that it may not actually be an issue originating in your knee. Sometimes your leg has weak muscles and stability, so that places extra strain on your joints. Your knee may just be the first to show any effect. So, if you strengthen the rest of your leg, that alleviates some of the pressure and increases stability, thus reducing pain. However, therapy will take different forms for everyone. Because treatment plans are customized, therapists will focus on exercises that work at least those muscles around the knee, if not muscles and joints all along the leg and up into the hip. Your pain management strategy may vary, too; it could range from taking an over-the-counter pain reliever as needed to being on a prescription medication with a strict schedule. Generally, the less medication you can get by with, the better, for two reasons. One is that you don’t want to develop a dependency or other side effects while on any medication. The second is that pain medication obviously masks pain, which can hide signs of how much you’ve recovered. You may feel so much better that you overdo it the next time you walk somewhere, for example, and unintentionally add even more stress to your knee. You and your doctor will work out a good set of guidelines for when you need to take or stay away from pain medication. Prestige Pain Centers can help you deal with knee pain. Contact us to speak with pain management doctors in Freehold, NJ, and get the help you need to once again move without pain.

What Can Cause Knee Pain

Why Physical Therapy Is Best

What Does Therapy for Knee Pain Focus On?

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