Where Directly or Indirectly May Knee Pain Stem From?

This article was reviewed by Eric M. MSPT.

Is knee pain always limited to causes only at the knee?

It has been suggested that impairments of the hip and foot/ankle may contribute to the development of pathological conditions of the knee by means of direct and indirect influences on movement patterns or anatomical alignment that could overload the knee structures.¹^,⁷^,¹²^,¹³^,¹⁸^,²⁶^,²⁹^–³¹^,³⁶^,³⁷^,³⁹^,⁴¹ For example, there is evidence that individuals with knee pain have increased hip adduction¹²and excessive femoral internal rotation (IR)³⁹ during functional activities.

These altered hip motions may be caused by hip abductor and hip external rotator (ER) weakness.⁴⁴ In addition, studies investigating lower-limb kinematics in the sagittal plane reported that athletes with patellar tendinopathy exhibit altered hip and knee movement patterns during landing, when compared to those who are pain free.²⁵^,³⁵^,³⁸

In other words, if you are suffering from knee pain, in addition to treating your pain, your physical therapist will look at how your ankle and hip move and if you have muscle weaknesses or imbalances in these joints that are causing your knee pain. Your physical therapist is trained to assess your movement patterns that may contribute to your knee pain.

Source:

Association of Hip and Foot Factors With Patellar Tendinopathy (Jumper’s Knee) in Athletes
Published: Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2018 Volume: 48 Issue: 9 Pages: 676–684 DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2018.7426

How Outreach Can Help

We provide in-home Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy to individuals that have a difficult time getting/going to an out-patient rehabilitation facility on a consistent basis, prefer not to go to a facility, or those that are more effectively treated within their home.

We also have an out-patient clinic at 1110 2nd Avenue in the Sutton Place/UES area where we provide therapy for those who are adamant about receiving care in a clinic setting. Our evaluations are 45 minutes and treatments are one-to-one with an ample amount of treatment time per client (no double bookings allowed.)