Knee pain is often a persistent nuisance, but for some people, it’s devastating. Because our knees drive nearly every motion we make while standing, chronic pain in this joint can have lasting and systemic effects on everything we do.
For many years, the conventional wisdom held that knee pain should be treated at the source – namely, the knee. But a new study recently found that knee pain can be relieved by focusing “upstream” as well, on the hip, thereby strengthening the entire leg as a system:
British and Australian scientists analyzed 14 previous studies of people with patellofemoral pain, the official name for the ache in the front of the knee that strikes many runners. Participants whose programs included moves to build strength, endurance, and activation in the muscles around the hip had less knee pain and improved joint function when compared with those whose therapy focused on the quadriceps muscles alone.
It is an interesting finding that underscores the simple fact that our bodies are full of interdependent pieces, and that no orthopedic issue ever arises in a vacuum. My San Diego orthopedic practice offers effective therapy, treatment and surgery for chronic knee pain, and takes care to treat entire patients young and old.
Want to learn more? Contact the orthopedic surgeons today.
