Hip and Knee Pains Got You Down? Here’s A Safe Solution!

Request an appointment with a physical therapist today to find pain relief.

Hip and knee discomfort can be caused by a variety of factors, including excess weight, sports injuries, advanced age, and repetitive motion injuries.

Whatever the reason for your hip and/or knee pain, you must find a strategy to manage it if you are suffering it regularly!

Typically, people lean on anti-inflammatories and other drugs to alleviate pain. However, because these medications can have adverse side effects, it’s a good idea to look for different ways to ease your pain.

The good news is  GoodLife Physical Therapy in EVERGREEN PARK’s physical therapy clinic could hold the solution you’ve been searching for. Call us today to learn more and schedule your appointment with one of our skilled therapists!

How can physical therapy help with hip and knee pain?

You may get pain relief when you are at the physical therapist and going through treatment, but what about when you go home?

Your physical therapist’s main purpose is to help you heal your injuries over time. The different workouts and therapies they utilize with you will gradually improve your condition, allowing you to live a life free of discomfort.

Your hips and knees are likely to become less painful as your body becomes stronger and more mobile.

What to expect with physical therapy treatment

If your doctor has told you to take pain relievers every day for your hip and/or knee pain, you should follow your doctor’s recommendations. But it also cannot hurt to ask about alternatives like physical therapy!

Working with a physical therapist can help reduce or eliminate your pain in a variety of ways, including:

  • Heat and ice therapy. Heat can help you move more freely by improving your mobility and reducing the amount of pain you’re experiencing. Ice can also be used to relieve pain and reduce inflammation in your hip and/or knee.
  • Identify the causes of your hip and knee pain. Hip and knee discomfort can be caused by a variety of factors. A physical therapist can check your movement to see whether anything is contributing to your pain, such as bad posture, bad walking patterns, or bad job movement patterns. Physical therapists can inform you how to fix these problems once they’ve been identified.
  • Ultrasound therapy. Physical therapists utilize ultrasound to apply heat deeper in your soft tissues to relieve pain. The heat helps promote circulation and aid in healing, which might help you feel less pain on a daily basis.
  • Exercises to increase your strength. Loss of muscular strength can contribute significantly to hip and knee pain because the weaker your muscles get, the more stress is put on your joints. Physical therapy centers around specific exercises designed to target various muscles and strengthen them so that they better support your joints.
  • Exercises to improve mobility and flexibility. Often hip and knee pain can lead to loss of mobility and flexibility – which then increases the wear on your joints and leads to even more pain. Physical therapists can guide you through exercises to enhance your mobility and flexibility, allowing you to move your limbs and joints through the full range of motion that your body and circumstances allow.

Evidence supporting physical therapy for hip and knee pain

Physical therapy has been proven as one of the most effective treatment methods for knee and hip injuries. This has been demonstrated through several research-based studies, including a 2014 study published by the Journal of American Medical Association.

The study, titled “Effect of a Home-Based Exercise Program on Functional Recovery Following Rehabilitation After Hip Fracture,” focuses on the benefits of exercise programs for those recovering from hip fractures. In this study, patients were split into two groups.

The intervention group received “functionally oriented exercises (such as standing from a chair, climbing a step) taught by a physical therapist and performed independently by the participants in their homes for six months,” while the other group simply received education on cardiovascular nutrition and recovery.

Results from this study concluded that those participating in the in-home physical therapy exercise programs demonstrated “modest improvement in physical function at six months after randomization.”

Our licensed physical therapists are movement experts. They will analyze how you walk in order to determine any abnormalities and to pinpoint stiff or weak muscles. By pinpointing the exact areas of your body that are not moving as they should, they are able to create a treatment plan that will improve your strength, coordination, and overall mobility.

Request an appointment with us today!

Restoring normal motion is a key aspect to alleviating pain and allowing you to safely partake in the activities you love. Our dedicated team can help you walk, run, and play better. With our motion analysis, strength testing, coordination testing, and more, we can spot your muscles and joints that are in need of treatment.

Your treatment plan will be individualized, based on your specific needs, in order to help you reach your optimum function with the least amount of effort.

Please contact us today to schedule an appointment with a physical therapist for your hip and knee pain. We are standing by to assist you!

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Consult with a Physical Therapist to Find Relief for Your Hip and Knee Pains

Looking for Relief? Physical Therapy Has You Covered

Does nagging hip and knee pain keep you from completing everyday tasks with ease? If you’ve been living with chronic aches and pains in these areas, you may benefit from regular physical therapy treatment.

A skilled physical therapist can help to improve your daily quality of life by targeting your problem areas to decrease pain and boost mobility over time.

If you or a loved one experiences pain and discomfort when getting up from a chair, walking down to the corner store, or going up and down the stairs—there’s a good chance that physical therapy can help to ease your pain, stiffness, and weakness.

Call our offices today to learn more about how we can help to reduce your chronic hip or knee pain and be sure to schedule a free initial consultation with our physical therapist.

Why did my hip and knee pain develop?

The hips and knees are the largest joints in the human body and do much of the work in supporting your body weight.

They must both work together in close coordination to keep your body mobile but can easily be affected by injury, arthritis and other common conditions.

In some cases, knee and hip problems can be treated with certain exercises or pain relief medication. But it is also very common for hip and knee problems to worsen over time, making them difficult to treat with over-the-counter solutions.

Common conditions resulting in hip and knee pain

While each person is different, many of our physical therapy clients experience recurring hip and knee pain as a result of a few different causes.

These include:

  • Core Muscle Injury — Notice a pain in your groin area after a weekend of playing ball with your pals? If so, you may be suffering from a core muscle injury, like a strain or tear of the muscles and soft tissues in your lower abdomen area. Rest can help this common injury, but we recommend scheduling an appointment with our physical therapist if the hip pain lasts for several days to a week or more.
  • “Runner’s knee” – An unstable kneecap can lead to chronic knee pain. This condition is known as patellofemoral syndrome or “runner’s knee.”
  • Bursitis — If you notice recurring pain on the outside of your hip, buttocks, or thigh, there’s a good chance that you have bursitis or inflammation of the cushioning pillow-like sacs that work to keep your tendons from rubbing against your bone. This is a common condition as we age and can be relieved with targeted physical therapy treatments.
  • Strains, sprains, and ruptures – The knee and hip joints can move thanks to muscles, tendons and ligaments. Repetitive motion or acute injuries can cause a strain (damage to muscles or tendons) or a sprain (hyperextension of a ligament). Athletes are vulnerable to ruptures of the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).
  • Fractures — The bones of the knee can easily be broken during a fall, car accident or sporting accident. The risk of suffering a knee fracture increases as we age, as many older adults develop osteoporosis which weakens the bones. Physical therapy can help to reduce pain and inflammation after a fracture and increase mobility over time.
  • Osteoarthritis – Osteoarthritis is a degeneration of the cartilage that normally keeps the bone ends in a joint from rubbing together. The resulting friction causes chronic pain and inflammation.
  • Torn Meniscus — The meniscus is a tough, rubbery piece of cartilage that works as a shock absorber in the thigh bone and shinbone area. If you suddenly twist your knee while playing sports or attempting other strenuous moves, the meniscus can be torn, causing intense and long-lasting pain. Regular visits with our physical therapist can help to reduce your symptoms.

Ready to get started on a treatment plan?

Depending on the severity of your injury, physical therapy can provide a safe, non-invasive and holistic treatment option.

Physical therapy treatments for hip and knee pain may include stretching and strengthening, balance training, joint mobilization, electrical stimulation and more.

Our physical therapist will work with you to tailor a treatment plan that works to fit your specific lifestyle needs and can also help to create a comprehensive home exercise routine that will help you to maintain a better quality of life between appointments.

The sooner you seek physical therapy for knee or hip pain, the better. Research shows that patients who rehab their hip or knee pain with physical therapy within 15 days of symptom onset have less need for pain injections, medications, or surgical intervention.

Contact Goodlife Physical Therapy today to schedule your free initial physical therapy consultation.