Find effective hip and knee pain treatment from a physical therapist

Most people don’t consider how many normal daily tasks involve the hip and knee. Walking your dog. Frolicking in the yard with your grandkids. Sitting down and standing up from your chair at the dinner table. These tasks and many more rely heavily on the hip and knee joints, and they can be much harder to do when these joints are in pain. 

Dealing with pain in these joints isn’t that uncommon. Medical research reports that up to 15% of adults over 60 deal with hip pain and 25% of adults experience frequent knee pain. Finding effective treatment for hip and knee pain can be easy with physical therapy. Physical therapists can help you address many common causes of hip and knee pain. They also offer many physical therapy techniques that can benefit patients with pain in these joints. 

These conditions commonly lead to hip and knee pain treatment

There are several specific conditions that often cause pain in the hips and knees: 

• Arthritis — This condition involves inflammation of tissue that surrounds the joints. It’s also an issue that often leads to hip and knee pain. One medical study reports that osteoarthritis is the most common cause of knee pain in adults over 50. 

• Strains and sprains — Strains happen when a muscle or tendon is stretched excessively or torn. A sprain is a stretched or torn ligament. Ligaments may even rupture, causing bruising, pain and limited mobility. 

• Meniscus tears — This is one of the most common knee injuries people experience. It’s estimated that up to 20% of all knee orthopedic surgeries are done to repair a meniscus tear. A torn meniscus can cause stiffness, swelling and varying degrees of pain. This condition could be the result of a sudden injury or repetitive motions. You’re at higher risk if you’re engaging in aggressive pivoting and twisting of your legs. 

• Bursitis — This issue occurs when a small sac of fluid known as the bursa becomes inflamed. It’s often caused by overuse or repetitive injuries. Bursitis can occur in a variety of locations in the body, including the knees and hips. 

How physical therapists can treat hip and knee pain

A physical therapy plan is an excellent treatment option for hip and knee pain. Your physical therapist will evaluate your condition. Range-of-motion and strength measurements may be taken during the evaluation. 

Your physical therapist can then build you an individualized therapy plan based on your evaluation. This plan can include therapy techniques like: 

• Manual therapy — Your physical therapist may utilize several manual therapy techniques to reduce pain in your hips and knees. These will involve your physical therapist moving your joints and mobilizing the soft tissue around them with their hands. One study shows that joint mobilization helped reduce resting pain scores in people with knee osteoarthritis by almost 18 points. 

• Therapeutic exercises — Your physical therapist can teach you therapeutic exercises intended to decrease hip and knee pain. Such exercises can be incorporated into a home exercise program that can become part of your daily routine. Researchers from one medical study of hip osteoarthritis reveal that therapeutic exercises significantly reduced hip pain in 50% of the patients who used them.

SSOR offers physical therapy-based hip and knee pain treatment

Not sure where to turn for physical therapy-based treatment for your hip and knee pain? Our therapy specialists at SSOR offer just the sort of help you’re looking for. Our team offers complimentary screenings designed to reveal the root cause of your pain. We also excel at creating personalized physical therapy plans intended to reduce joint pain and improve joint mobility. Our physical therapists even offer virtual therapy and at-home care sessions that you can do from home. 

Contact us today for more information about all our treatment options or to schedule an initial appointment.