While you don’t need to be a runner to suffer from runner’s knee, almost everyone who experiences this painful condition will need outside intervention to achieve healing and pain relief. Also known as patellofemoral pain, runner’s knee manifests as a pain or ache at the front of the knee where your patella is located. The patella is where your knee connects with your femur. While there are many manual therapies and exercises that can be helpful for treating runner’s knee, many patients are discovering that shockwave therapy is useful for speeding up healing to reduce pain and restore range of motion. Take a look at what you should know if you’re looking for a cutting-edge treatment for runner’s knee.
What Are the Symptoms of Runner’s Knee?
The most common symptom of runner’s knee is pain that is felt in and around your kneecap. For many people, the pain only flares up when they are being active. Pain experienced when running, walking, dancing, lifting, cycling or exercising can drastically reduce physical performance. Other people with runner’s knee may experience knee pain when they stay in one position with the knee bent for a long time. For people who work at desks, avoiding knee pain can be difficult. People who have long commutes also find that sitting in a car or train for an extended period of time aggravates their injured knees.
Another classic symptom of runner’s knee is a knee that’s tender when touched. Some people also experience general feelings of weakness and instability within the knee. It’s also common for people with runner’s knee to hear clicking sounds when moving their knees. Lastly, swelling around the knee is a telltale sign that the knee joint has been aggravated.
Why Do I Have Runner’s Knee Even Though I’m Not a Runner?
While runners are more likely to experience runner’s knee, a wide variety of underlying factors can be responsible for your knee pain. In fact, a knee injury isn’t always directly linked to the knee. Having tightness or weakness in other muscles throughout the body can cause you to distort your knees because you’re overcompensating when making movements. We see this commonly with people who suffer from tight hamstrings and Achilles tendons. Among athletes, runner’s knee is common when people train too aggressively without warming up and cooling down. However, non-athletes can easily injure their knees by using improper techniques when walking or jogging. Any motion that causes your feet to roll when your thigh muscles are engaged can cause a knee injury. Even a person using proper form can still bring on runner’s knee by simply not wearing footwear that offers proper support!
Your physiology can also put you at risk for runner’s knee. Some people simply have underlying defects within the leg or knee that make them highly susceptible to developing runner’s knee at some point. Some people have misalignments that cause the hips, ankles, and kneecaps to shift out of sync. This misalignment creates pain and tension because your kneecap is unable to pass through its groove during your movements. Someone with flat feet is also at greater risk for runner’s knee. Lastly, falls and direct blows can precipitate runner’s knee.
Treating Runner’s Knee With Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy is helping many people to heal knee injuries in a non-invasive way. Using targeted energy waves to spur cellular activity and increase blood circulation right at the kneecap, shockwave therapy helps to restore tissue. This is a painless treatment with essentially no recovery time. While shockwave therapy can be even more effective when combined with things like physical therapy or manual adjustments, many patients find that it offers the fast, cost-effective alternative to expensive, invasive options like surgery that they are looking for. In a study looking at the benefits of shockwave therapy for athletes suffering from jumping-related knee pain and dysfunction, shockwave therapy was confirmed as being a satisfactory alternative treatment in the management of those tendon disorders.
Book an Appointment for Shockwave Therapy for Runner’s Knee in Scottsdale, Arizona
Dr. Jeffrey Robinson DC is a Holistic Doctor and Chiropractor with extensive experience providing shockwave therapy in Scottsdale, AZ. Utilizing Applied Kinesiology with Integrative nutritional medicine and a good clinical history has helped him to provide a wide scope of care and diagnosis to numerous health conditions. Contact Dr. Robsinon at AZ Multicare to begin your prenatal chiropractic experience.
