4 Reasons Hip and Knee Pain Doesn’t Have to Control Your Life

4 Reasons Hip and Knee Pain Doesn’t Have to Control Your Life If you have been struggling with hip and knee pain for a while, it may feel like your pain is here to stay. You might even feel like nothing in the world can offer you lasting joint pain relief! Good news is on the horizon though — physical therapy is one of the best ways to achieve freedom from hip and knee pain. With the right physical therapy treatments, you can lessen the pain you experience in your hips and knees – and possibly even eliminate it altogether. Call our office today to learn more. Our innovative care strategies at Chesterton Physical Therapy will help you find quick relief. What is hip and knee pain? Hip and knee pain can be caused by a variety of medical conditions as well as from certain injuries. It often occurs when inflamed tendons from over-exertion or an athletic injury. Tendinitis, dislocation, sprains, and pinched nerves can all contribute to or be the cause of hip pain. Hip pain may also result from repetitive injuries or poor posture. Fractures, tendinitis, and knee bursitis are all common knee injuries. Injuries that include torn cartilage or damaged ligaments can cause knee pain. Medical conditions such as arthritis or gout can cause mild to severe knee pain. You may be experiencing stiffness or swelling in one or both knees, and it might be difficult to stand, walk, or fully straighten your knee. Sometimes knees will make popping or crunching noises. If you’re experiencing hip or knee pain, don’t assume it will just dissipate over time! Chances are that you do need to see a physical therapist for help. What benefits does physical therapy offer? Hip and knee pain can be debilitating – it seems like no matter what you have on your schedule for the day, if you move around too much, you’re going to experience pain. Thankfully there are ways to reduce your pain over the long term. It may take some time and effort on your part, but physical therapy has proven time and again to help reduce hip and knee pain for patients of all ages and backgrounds. You might be wondering, “How does the pain relief I can get from physical therapy last for so long? Well, there are a few reasons! We’ve compiled some of the most obvious ones in a list for you below. Physical therapy will prevent future injuries. One of the big frustrations with joint pain is that it never seems to fully go away. Even if you rest for a while and feel better, when you go out and start moving again the injury can flare up all over again. But with physical therapy exercises, you get much stronger than you were before. The added strength allows your muscles to better support your joints, so you are less likely to experience additional irritation in the joint. A physical therapist can teach you how to move in the proper ways. Many times the pain you are experiencing in your hip and knee is related to unhealthy movement patterns. They may have been learned over time or in response to an initial injury. Those unhealthy movements cause added strain on your joints and lead to further pain and injuries. Your physical therapist will help identify unhealthy movement patterns and provide you with education that will allow you to replace those patterns with ones that will protect your joints from further injury. Physical therapy can help you live a healthy and active life. Chronic hip and knee pain can be significantly improved or eliminated through regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Of course, you have to be able to move without significant pain to exercise – something that is made much easier by physical therapy. Your physical therapist can help you improve your hip and knee pain and teach you ways to exercise so that you avoid injuring your joints. Through physical therapy, you can regain strength and mobility so that you can lead a more active lifestyle. It will stop your pain problem at the source. If you just treat the symptoms of a hip and/or knee issue, you are almost guaranteed to see the problem pop up again later on. However, if you can determine the true source of the pain problem, you can actually treat what is causing the pain. Physical therapists have a process to identify the causes of hip and knee pain so that they can give you targeted treatments designed to get to the bottom of what is causing your pain. Common causes of hip and knee pain A great number of problems can cause hip and knee pain. Some of these are related to musculoskeletal misalignment, poor posture, and/or excess weight gain; others occur as the result of natural aging or unhealthy sports/work habits. Your hip or knee pain may stem from: Osteoarthritis Tendinitis Bursitis Traumatic injuries, such as dislocation of the joint Postural/alignment issues that throw your body off balance, straining the knees or hips Runner’s knee, an instability of the kneecap Infections A skilled physical therapist can often tell the cause of your hip or knee pain from its location. For example, pain along the inside of the hip is more likely to be caused by a problem with the bones or cartilage. Pain along the outer side is typically caused by a problem in the muscles, tendons or ligaments. Contact our clinic for an appointment If you are currently struggling with hip and knee pain, we want you to know that we are here to help. Our physical therapy team can help you reduce both acute and chronic pain caused by injuries, disabilities, illnesses, and more. Contact us today or visit us in Chesterton to schedule an appointment with your physical therapy team and get the relief you’ve been longing for!

Dealing With Stress-Related Headaches? Physical Therapy Can Help.

Dealing With Stress- related Headaches? Physical Therapy Can Help. Have you ever seen someone at work or in a difficult situation holding their head? What was your first initial thought? Most of us would assume either that they’re under extreme stress, or that they have a headache. In fact, you may be right on both counts. Both physical and emotional stress can cause tension headaches. They can also trigger cervicogenic and migraine headaches, both of which can leave you effectively disabled for the remainder of your day. You may struggle with chronic or recurring headache pain yourself, and if you do, you’re probably tired of taking pain-relieving medication all the time just to be able to do things you want to do. Maybe it’s time you found a better answer by consulting with a licensed physical therapist about your pain. Physical therapy can ease your headache symptoms by treating their underlying causes, giving you a safer, more sustainable headache management strategy. How does stress cause headaches? Emotional stress and physical stress go hand in hand, with either capable of causing or aggravating the other. Being in stressful situations can cause muscles to tighten up as the body goes into “fight or flight” mode. When tightness affects the small muscles at the base of the skull (such as the RCPM muscle in the neck) those muscles may pull on a pain-sensitive membrane in the head called the dura mater. The dura mater responds by sending out waves of pain, giving you a classic tension headache. Headaches that begin in the neck are referred to as “cervicogenic headaches.” These headaches are often caused by imbalances or alignment problems in the cervical spine. These imbalances place the neck muscles under physical stress, producing both headaches and neck pain. Emotional stress can also play a role in cervicogenic headaches, since the muscle tightness they create can help to pull the neck out of alignment. Migraines are the most dreaded of headaches, and knowing that someone has one is sure to make you wince if you’ve ever experienced one yourself. In fact, a migraine attack may go far beyond the crushing headache it is notorious for producing, causing symptoms such as: Sound and/or light sensitivity Faintness Nausea and vomiting Visual distortions known as “auras” While it’s hard to pin down the underlying causes behind migraines, many of the triggers are well known. Stress, various foods, bright lights, loud sounds, weather changes, and hormonal swings can cause migraines, as well as physical overexertion or emotional strain. How physical therapy can relieve stress-related headaches While pain-relieving drugs such as NSAIDs (Aleve, Tylenol, ibuprofen) can relieve the occasional headache, what they can’t do is address the stresses that lead to chronic headache problems. For that level of relief, you need to see a physical therapist. Our physical therapist will conduct a thorough evaluation that includes an examination of your neck and cervical spine, discussion of your symptoms, and analysis of lifestyle factors that may be sources of stress. This background allows us to create a headache management program largely rooted in the management of stress and its effects. Your physical therapy treatment program may include: Chiropractic adjustments to correct cervical spinal alignment Ergonomic adjustments such as changing your computer monitor height (to prevent constant neck droop) Mindfulness exercises such as yoga to help you add more serenity to your daily life Suggestions for changing or sleep position or trying a different kind of pillow Dry needling to ease stress-induced tension and pain Massage therapy to relax tight neck muscles Exercises to limber up your neck or strengthen your neck muscles Other causes of stress-related headaches There may be a physical cause behind your stress-related headaches. An accident or injury to the neck or back can contribute to headaches. Poor posture and arthritis are two other potential causes. Depression and anxiety are similar emotions to stress that can also lead to headaches. In general, you can expect stretching and strength training to be part of your treatment. The treatment of your stress-related headaches will depend in part on the diagnosis. For example, one course of treatment that would work for correcting your posture and strengthening the neck muscles might not be appropriate if your headaches are the result of a past injury. Other options that your physical therapist might employ can include: McKenzie therapies Cervical traction Body mobilization Hot and cold compressions Soft tissue mobilization Besides the treatment you will receive during your physical therapy sessions at the clinic, your therapist will also recommend exercises, stretches, and lifestyle changes that you can make at home, which will all contribute to eliminating your headaches. Contact our clinic to schedule a consultation with a physical therapist If you can conquer your stress, you may just conquer your chronic headaches as well! To learn more about this natural, drug-free method for headache relief, get in touch with our physical therapy clinic today!