Runner’s Knee Pain Treatment

Runner’s Knee Pain Specialists

At Tri PT, your physical therapist provides you specific, personalized runner’s knee exercises. These exercises help reduce the pain of the runner’s knee.

Proper runner’s knee exercises work well for runners and walkers alike. Call your Brooklyn physical therapy practice to treat and/or prevent knee problems before they take you down.

What is Runner’s Knee?

Runner’s knee causes tenderness and pain around your kneecap. While it can be caused by excessive running, you don’t need to be a runner to get it. Physiotherapy doctors in Brooklyn, NY offer plenty of interventions that can help with runner’s knee.

Other damage can lead to the runner’s knee. Damage from heredity, previous breaks, or prior surgery can cause pain. Some patients get runner’s knee from an improper walking form. The term “runner’s knee” is used to describe any pain that centers around your kneecap or patella.
Common concerns that lead to the uncomfortable condition include:

Problems with the bone structure, often not diagnosed at birth
Standing for extended periods of time. This is a common work-related injury
Weak leg muscles, occurring from too much sitting
Walking awkwardly or having bowed legs
Poorly fitting and inappropriate shoes

You may need to refrain from the activity that caused your pain for some time. Physical therapy (PT) offers various interventions to alleviate the runner’s knee. Physical therapists aim to get you back to your normal routines. You should be able to live your life pain-free, in as little time as possible.

Goals of PT include:

Managing pain
Strengthening the muscles that support your knee
Working on the way you move
Devising new ways of doing things to prevent further pain
Creating strategies to manage inherent abnormalities

Read more: What Is the Difference Between a Jumper’s Knee and Runner’s Knee?

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First Line of Runner’s Knee Rehab

Your physical therapist at TRI PT practice uses targeted techniques to combat pain.

Treatment may begin with a gentle massage. Stimulation reduces inflammation above your kneecap. Runner’s knee centers in the connection of your kneecap to your thigh. Massage directed toward pain works well for treating the early stages of runner’s knee.

Your best Brooklyn physical therapists are trained to seek out the cause of your condition. Treating the cause of your pain has the best results in your recovery. The investigation includes reviewing the various shoes you wear. Women are discouraged from wearing high heels since they place enormous pressure on their knees. High heels cause unnatural movement in your knees. Your therapist may recommend different shoes for various sports.

What Are Runner’s Knee Treatment Options?

During your initial exam, you receive appropriate medical treatment. After you rest, you can begin further treatments to get back on your feet without pain. Your PT may instruct you to use ice packs to reduce swelling at night. We recommend elevation and rest as at-home follow-up treatments.

At Brooklyn Tri Physical Therapy, your physical therapist may use taping and bandaging. These procedures give your knees extra support. Soaking and heat therapy are other home remedies you can use. These are less common but effective ways of combating runner’s knee pain. Other physical therapy for knee sprain may include:

Functional exercises
Shockwave therapy
Active release technique
The Graston technique
Targeted trigger point technique
Trigenics
Lasers
Isokinetics

What Are the Exercises and Stretches Used for Runner’s Knee?

The core of a good PT for a runner’s knee involves strengthening and stretching the muscle groups that support your kneecap. Weak or tight quads, hamstrings, and hip flexors often cause the runner’s knee. Physical therapists know this and put you through a therapeutic round of classic stretches.

Your physical therapist may recommend exercises that tense up these same muscle groups. Building up these muscles helps you rely on them rather than using the more delicate structures around your kneecap. Exercises include:

Squats to strengthen your quads
Planks to increase core strength that supports your legs
Lunges that improve glute muscle strength
Elastic band exercises and weight-training machines that provide resistance to build leg strength

What Are Knee Strengthening Exercises for Runners?

You can count on your physical therapist in Brooklyn to target specific goals if you are a runner. You’re asked about the surfaces you run on and the type of support in your shoes. Expect to do some treadmill work. Your physical therapist analyzes the way you run to see if anything about your technique is causing problems. If your form is incorrect, you get directions to retrain and correct your motions.

Runner’s knee in itself isn’t dangerous. But left untreated, it can lead to worse issues down the road. Once you’ve completed a runner’s knee program, your physical therapist stresses proper stretching, muscle strengthening, adequate preparation, and aftercare.

Whether you’re a runner or not, a runner’s knee program that includes proven physical therapy practices helps you get your body moving smoothly again. Don’t take your knees for granted!