The knee acts as the fulcrum of the body and one of the most common areas for musculoskeletal injuries. If you are experiencing overall pain, muscle numbness or weakness, a tingling or burning sensation in muscles, or even a tenderness in the knee cap or trouble bending your knee, we suggest giving us a call to have our highly qualified team of physical therapists to take a look.
Your musculoskeletal health is a key component of your quality of life and, as your physical therapists, we are committed to providing relief from injury as well as preventing further injury and promoting overall function and wellness.
Probably the most common injury in the knee, especially young athletes and people who do sports or activities with a lot of start-stop movements. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the fibrous tissue connecting the thigh bone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia) . The ACL is in the center of the knee and provides major stability for it.
Most commonly, the ACL gets damaged when a foot is planted and something or someone strikes the knee pushing it in an unnatural motion.
-Knee pain
-Discoloration
-Swelling within the joint
-Instability in the joint – feeling of your knee buckling or giving out
After a complete physical examination, our Hands of Hope NYC physical therapists may recommend getting an MRI which is the best way of seeing an ACL tear.
Fortunately, rehabilitation of ACL is highly effective in most cases. Recovery time usually takes 3 to 6 months depending on age of patient, lifestyle and degree of tear. At Hands of Hope NY, we have seen the effect of hard-working patients committed to their rehabilitation and nothing beats a positive attitude and consistent work; which can greatly reduce recovery time.
Extremely serious cases might warrant surgery where a hole is drilled in the femur and tibia, remove the damaged ACL and replace it with a graft obtained from somewhere in your body or another body and is then anchored in by two screws.
Rehabilitation for ACL includes the same recommendations as found below for Patellar Femoral Syndrome and Meniscus tear along with as much rest as possible and use of crutches to avoid loading weight on the knee. Rehab for the knee depends on how the patient adapts to the procedure. Recent evidence-based articles prove that the earliest you start the rehabilitation , the better and faster results you get and that’s our optimal goal.
At Hands of Hope NYC we will work with you slowly but steadily to achieve full knee flexion and knee extension, step by step. We will retrain your muscles to give you the stability and strength you need for optimal performance.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your condition or recovery process!
“ AposTherapy® is a clinically-proven, personalized treatment that eases pressure on your joints and corrects your walking patterns, with just one hour or less a day “
Now for Healthfirst patients, Hands of Hope Physical Therapy is at your doorstep!
Patellofemoral SyndromeOne of the most common conditions we treat in knee pain physical therapy at Hands of Hope NYC is Patellofemoral Syndrome. This is a very common knee disorder in the general public and in athletes. The patella or the kneecap is held in place by the quadriceps muscles and attaches to the tibia via the patellar ligament. The patella’s purpose is to protect the anterior knee and increase the efficiency of the quadricep muscles.
The back of the patella is covered in cartilage and this is where the pain is felt when there is lateral pulling of the patella. The exact cause of this pulling affects nerve endings in the soft tissue of the new joint and is often multifactorial; but often related to patellar malalignment or abnormal patellar tracking which can be due to abnormalities in the shape and position of the patella.
-Long-term effects of poor posture.
-Lack of Iliotibial band flexibility: Your IT (or Iliotibial) band—the thick cord of connective tissue that runs down the outside of your thighs from your hip to your knee. Your IT band does an important job of stabilizing the hips and knees, especially during high-impact exercises like running or jumping. And if it gets tight and irritated, you’ll know it very quickly;
-Tightness of hamstring, hip flexors and the chief muscle of the calf
-Weakness of one of the four muscles that make up the quadriceps, originating from the upper part of the femoral shaft and inserts into the upper part of the kneecap (Vastus Medialis)
-Knock-knees (Genu Valgum) is a knee misalignment that turns knees inward. When people with knock-knees stand up with their knees together, there’s a gap of 3 inches or more between their ankles. This is because their knees are bent so far inward.
-Pain behind the knee cap.
-Popping, snapping or grinding in the knee.
-Pain when sitting for long periods of time.
-Pain is amplified when moving downhill or down stairs.
At Hands of Hope NYC we always say the best treatment is prevention! By always staying in shape, keeping your inner thigh muscles strong and spending adequate time stretching before and after you exercise you can prevent many problems.
Most treatment options for knee pain involve managing pain, strengthening surrounding quadricep and adductor muscles, and in extreme cases, the possibility of patellofemoral surgery through arthroscopic surgery and it is a release of the fibrous tissue on the outer side of the kneecap (lateral retinaculum), which is used as a last resort and followed by knee pain physical therapy.
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