Knee pain affects millions of people each year. It can cause debilitating pain to the point of disability, as well as keep you from your personal goals and passions. Being able to handle daily activities, attend church or run a marathon are all of equal importance, and knee pain can interfere with all of them.

In physical therapy, the goal is to return the patient to the level of function experienced before knee pain. A physical therapist can discover movement disorders which may be straining the knee and prescribe programs to fix those problems. There are many types of knee pain which benefit from bracing, exercise, stretching, manual techniques and education to correct faulty habits.

Physical therapists develop a customized exercise program to focus on specific problems. Some patients may need close attention and motivation.  Some need help correcting alignment or faulty mechanical problems. Still others may only need one or two visits and then to continue with their program at home with follow-ups if needed.

If medication and injections are recommended by a physician, but muscle weakness, tightness and myofascial pain are present, the pain is likely to return as the medicine wears off. Using physician-recommended treatment along with a physical therapy program ensures fewer episodes in the future.

Then there are patients needing knee surgery. One surgery is for repairing damage caused by a single occurrence or repeated trauma resulting in internal injury. This type of surgery usually cannot be avoided. Another is a full-, or partial-knee replacement which is usually the result of arthritis. With each of these surgeries, physical therapy is required afterward to build up muscles, regain flexibility and return to daily life and/or sports.  Most people don’t realize the importance of physical therapy before surgery.  To ensure a better outcome, surgeons feel it is ideal to have less swelling, more strength and flexibility when going into the surgery.

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that arthroscopic surgery combined with physical therapy and medication was no more beneficial than physical therapy and medication alone (September 2008).  These procedures are done more than a million times a year!  The study focused on arthroscopic surgery only and did not include ligament reconstruction surgery or meniscus tears. Also, in an article in U.S. News and World Report (September 2008), physical therapy was listed as one of the top six alternatives to arthroscopic knee surgery.

According to the article, the amount of pain due to arthritis is related directly to muscle weakness and a comprehensive physical therapy program can “go a long way.”  Physical therapy is a primary weapon in the arsenal to combat knee pain.