Knee Pain Services in Chattanooga & Cleveland, TN
Knee Pain
Most knee pain stems from loss of “accessory motions”. Accessory motions are the knee's smaller movements that include sliding side-to-side and back and forth as well as spinning and rotating. Without consistent stretching or regular activity, the tissues around the knee tighten. If the muscles of the knee weaken, the knee joint is subject to even more abnormal forces
All of these problems lead to increased friction and wear on the knee. This causes inflammation that results in pain in and around the knee. Sharp pain during movement can mean the knee is being severely pressed upon and the movement of the joint is not normal.
The first step is to pinpoint the exact mechanism of why your knee pain is occurring. We perform a thorough evaluation of your posture, knee motion, knee and hip strength, walking analysis, and joint mobility. We can subsequently discover the core reason for your knee pain and formulate a treatment plan that will alleviate it quickly.
Our physical therapists perform hands-on therapy to improve your knee joint mobility, reducing pain quickly. Modalities such as ultrasound may be used to reduce swelling and pain. Specific exercises will be performed to enhance your leg strength and address any unbalanced muscles that are contributing to your knee pain. Call us today to find out how we can alleviate your knee pain!
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tears
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) checks the forward sliding of the tibia bone on the femur bone in the knee. This ligament is usually injured from blows to the knee from the side while the foot is planted on the ground.
An ACL sprain involves swelling in the knee and instability when walking. Sprains are classified according to their severity, with grades 1 through 3. Grades 1 and 2 are often treatable without surgery, while grade 3 is most often a complete tear and typically requires surgery.
Grade 3 ACL tears normally require surgery. Physical therapy is vital to the rehabilitation after surgery. Rehabilitation aims to protect the surgery site, maintaining stability while getting back into walking and eventually running.
Our physical therapists are experienced with working with ACL tears. We assess ligament stability and determine a course of action for healing.
With cases requiring surgery, we work closely with your physician's rehabilitation protocols. Our priority is to manage your pain and swelling post-surgery and gradually increase your range of motion in the knee.
With time, we work to regain strength in the knee, improve stability of the joint, and get you back to doing you normal activities. Call us today to discover how we can help you bounce back after an ACL tear.
Sports Injuries
Whether you are a professional athlete, high school athlete or just like to be active and play sports, injuries can occur.
Our physical therapists are experts at caring for and rehabilitating sports injuries. Our goal is to rehabilitate you back to your favorite sports activities pain-free as quickly and safely as possible. Sports injuries require unique care and rehabilitation, therefore, know that you are in the right hands with us. From mild sprains to recovery after surgery, we have you covered. Look for more on our ACL prevention program on our sport program page.
Poor Balance
As we age, there is a natural loss of balance due to slowing down of reflexes, muscle weakness, and tissue changes. In addition, arthritis in the ankles, knee, or hips can affect balance. Furthermore, any neurological changes, such as Parkinsons Disease, spinal cord injuries, nerve injuries, and more can diminish balance.
Our ability to balance relies mainly on 3 factors: Our ability to perceive muscular movement, our vision, and the position of our head through the vestibular system in the inner ear. When any one of these factors is sub-optimal, our ability to balance decreases and our risk for falling greatly increases.
Therapy begins with a thorough evaluation of your walking, balance, coordination, joint movement, range of motion, and strength. With neurological conditions, more testing is required to determine visual tracking and vestibular system function, which contributes to your balance.
After discovering the root cause of your balance difficulties, we develop a treatment plan that will improve your ability to balance, walk and negotiate many different uneven terrains such as grass, sand, stairs, and more. If you use a cane or walker, we can instruct you in the proper use of your equipment. Physical therapy goes a long way to improving your balance and setting you on the safe path to enjoying activities you love. At the end we retest the balance test to make sure you have progressed and are ready to be discharged.
Difficulty Walking
As we age, walking can become difficult. With previous injuries or pain in the knee or hip, our walking pattern can change, leaving us with a limp or back pain. Changes in posture can also alter walking patterns.
When walking patterns change, abnormal stresses and strains with everyday activities can be transmitted to areas it shouldn’t. For example, if you have knee pain and you begin to limp, the other hip and your spine now have to take double the weight. This can lead to pain and dysfunction in those areas also. The good news is that if you have difficulty walking, you can be helped. Physical therapists are the experts uniquely trained to do so.
One of the main specialties of physical therapy is helping people to walk normally. This takes a thorough evaluation of your range of motion, strength, walking patterns, balance and coordination. By discovering in what area you have difficulties we can paint a picture of why your walking is not as it should be.
We then coordinate a treatment plan that will address your range of motion, pain, coordination, balance and strength. The end result is the ability to walk without the need of an assistive device such as a cane or walker, safely and smoothly. Call us today to discover how we can help you walk better!
Knee Post-surgery Rehabilitation
Other types of surgeries for the knee are fracture repairs or ligament / tissue repair from trauma. The amount of force it takes to break bone means that the soft tissues around the knee are most likely significantly injured also. After surgery, due to limited movement, range of motion is lost as well as strength. Since walking is a very complex action of different muscles moving in a coordinated fashion, it can be difficulty to walk after a knee surgery.
Physical therapy is an important part of the rehabilitative process after a knee surgery. Depending on your surgery and your physician’s protocols, we gently progress you through a structured rehabilitation program. The goal is to restore pain-free range of motion in the knee while maintaining surgery recovery protocols. Finally, walking coordination, balance and strength are improved so you can return to normal pain-free walking. Call us today to learn more about our post-surgery rehabilitation program.