One of the best things you can do for your joints is to stay active, but injuries can unfortunately happen and when they do, knees are often involved. Aside from falls, there are many possible reasons for your knees to hurt. Below are a few of the most common:
Patellar tendinitis: When you exercise too much, especially if it involves repetitive jumping, the tendon that connects your shin bone to your kneecap can become inflamed and sore.
Osteoarthritis: The most common cause of knee pain for adults over the age of fifty, it is essentially the result of a worn-out joint. When you’re active, the joint starts to swell, causing a dull aching pain that gets worse the longer you go.
Bursitis: The bane of preachers everywhere (it’s also called preacher’s knee), this is the result of repeated bending and kneeling. This action eventually irritates the bursa sac, a small pouch of liquid on top of your knee that helps eliminate joint friction.
People who are experiencing knee pain know all too well the implications. It can be very difficult to bend or straighten your leg, meaning basic mobility is anything but. Obviously, this means no stairs. It also means no loads and extreme difficulty getting into a car or onto a bus. Some people have even experienced buckling (when your leg gives out) and locking (impossible to move the joint).
Luckily, there are solutions available. First off, depending on the severity of the pain, and the length of which you have been experiencing it, you should go visit a doctor. No matter what, get plenty of rest, and remember to elevate your knee and apply both compression alternating heat and ice packs. You should also consider having a therapist apply therapeutic kinesiology tape. It’s perfectly suited to knee problems because of the simple way it balances the effect your muscles have on your knee joint. Kinesiology tape can also relieve pressure on the kneecap and its tendon, and it can help reduce inflammation all across the joint. Reduced inflammation means less or no pain.
If you’ve had a knee injury, are experiencing inflammation, or are in any sort of pain, Kinesiology tape can probably help you. Click the ‘Book Now’ button to set up an appointment with one of our trained RMTs.
