Runner’s Knee Recovery: How Can Physical Therapy Help?
Tips on How to Relieve Runner’s Knee
You bent down to pick something up. Kneeled to tie your shoelaces. These simple actions cause pain in the front, around, or behind your knee joint.
And walking downhill or downstairs, you feel the same pain. Simply walking, too. Even the motion of standing up out of a chair can serve up a large spoonful of agony.
You might also hear your knee ‘pop’, feel like it’s grinding, and experience swelling in the knee.
These are classic symptoms of runner’s knee, or what your doctor might call patellofemoral pain syndrome. And, while it’s more common with runners (hence the common name ─ and running with runner’s knee can be painful on every stride), anyone can have the condition.
Runner’s knee also has no respect for age, though it is most prevalent in women in middle age.
Fortunately, there are actions you can take to improve the condition. Before we look at these, and how to relieve runner’s knee, it’s worth knowing how these knee injuries are caused ─ so you can work on preventing runner’s knee in the first instance.
What causes runner’s knee
According to research published by the BMJ, 50% of lower extremity running injuries occur around the knee. Given this, you can imagine just how much research and work have been done into developing treatments and remedies for the condition.
The underlying causes of runner’s knee are complex and can be due to a combination of factors. You may find that it is a weakness in your thigh muscles or other associated muscle groups that indirectly causes the pain.
You might also be experiencing iliotibial band syndrome, which causes pain on the outside of the knee. Or you could be suffering from a condition called chondromalacia patella, which affects the cartilage under your kneecap.
How to relieve runner’s knee ─ The common advice from physical therapists
Most physical therapists will give you the same, standard advice, and recommend the same treatment in sports medicine. This advice generally follows these steps:
Rest. Avoid any weight-bearing activity on the knee:
Except for ‘low-stress’ activities, weight-bearing activity should be minimized. Low-stress activities are showering, dressing, grooming, and light housework.
When resting your knee, raise it by placing a pillow underneath it:
One way to relieve this condition is to rest your knee by raising it on a pillow when you’re resting, as this will reduce pressure on the joint.
Ice your knee for at least 20 minutes every four hours
Runner’s knee can be caused by repetitive motions, such as kneeling or squatting. To reduce the swelling and pain, doctors usually recommend applying ice on the affected knee.
Consult with your doctor, and take the anti-inflammatory medication that is prescribed to you
When pain medication is prescribed for short-term use, it is considered safe to take at the recommended dosage for up to 10 days. However, if you are required to take it on a long-term basis, the doctor will most likely prescribe a lower dose of pain medication to avoid dependency.
Finally, you may also be advised to wear a knee brace.
Yet most advice is only designed to produce short-term relief. And we don’t believe that’s in your best interests. Why? Because these basic actions don’t address the underlying causes of runner’s knee ─ and if you don’t tackle these, your injury will recur.
Long-term solutions ─ The Reload difference
Our philosophy is to take a long-term approach to rehabilitation of runner’s knee and further injury prevention. For a start, we know that each injury, though similar, is different. Why? Because each person is different.
Weight, height, exercise routine, lifestyle, work… all these things play a part in the treatment you should receive. This is why we don’t spend 10 or 15 minutes assessing you. You’ll find that our comprehensive evaluation takes longer than an hour.
At Reload, what we focus on is discovering the underlying causes of your runner’s knee. Only by doing this can you benefit from physical therapy solutions that get to the heart of the problem, fix your body’s weak points, and provide long-term relief.
The result? The pain was eliminated, and functional performance was improved. Not just for the next few weeks, but for good by providing targeted physical therapy for runner’s knee, and the root causes specific to you.
In future articles, we’ll share some of the strengthening exercises we might advise for you. In the meantime, to benefit from an assessment with Reload, or to find out more about how our unique approach to physical therapy can benefit you, contact us today to book an appointment.
