How Chiropractic Care Helps Treat Knee Pain from Arthritis

Knee pain from arthritis can range from mildly irritating to chronic problems with trying to walk or move your knee.

There are three types of arthritis in the knee:

• The most common type of knee arthritis is osteoarthritis. This type of arthritis causes the cartilage in your knee to wear away until the cartilage is gone and it is painful to walk.
• Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that can occur at any age. It is diagnosed through a combination of blood work and assessing the inflammation in your joints.
• Post-traumatic arthritis develops after an injury.

Knee Pain Symptoms From Arthritis

Pain in the knee from arthritis is hard to miss. Here are some of the common symptoms of knee arthritis:

• When you step down and it is difficult to put full pressure on your foot, this can be due to inflammation and arthritis. 
• If you have a sharp stabbing pain in your knee when you turn it, arthritis may be present. 
• If you hear or feel a grinding noise when you walk, it's important to have the condition checked out. 

The level of pain in your knee that you feel can come and go, depending on the amount of inflammation in your knee, the amount of use and the amount of cartilage left in the knee.

How Chiropractic Care Helps Relieve Knee Pain from Arthritis

Chiropractic care can help reduce the inflammation in your knee and improve your range of motion. This leads to reduced knee pain. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t automatically rebuild the cartilage that’s worn away. If you have pain when you walk, you may find relief when you go to a chiropractor. You will learn strengthening techniques and get the treatment you need to improve your gait. 

Reducing Knee Pain With Traction

Your chiropractor will take a look at the overall function of your knee to see how well the joint moves. Knee on Trac is one technique used to reduce pressure on your knee, and promote healing of the surrounding tissue. Knee replacement surgery is only recommended once you have tried more conservative treatment methods to reduce knee pain from arthritis. Traction may require several visits for complete relief. It is done sitting in a comfortable chair at Village Chiropractic. You may find relief after the first session, while continued sessions help keep the pain under control.

Cold Laser Therapy and Knee Pain

As you look for knee pain relief from arthritis, cold laser therapy may also be an option. It is cold laser, because it is low level laser and doesn't produce heat during the process. Your knee and the surrounding tissue is exposed to the cold laser, and this will promote circulation to the area. After a few visits for cold laser therapy, you may begin to see results. When blood flow is increased, your tissue is better able to heal from injuries. If the problem in your knee is post-traumatic arthritis and inflammation, you may find that your inflammation improves and you have better mobility after several sessions of cold laser therapy.

Manual Therapy to Address Knee Function

A chiropractor looks at the function of your knee to better understand what the exact problem is. When the area is compressed because of osteoarthritis, traction is a good first step towards treatment for knee pain relief. Manual therapy can include chiropractic adjustments to improve joint mobility, massage to improve blood flow to the area, gentle stretching and exercise techniques to strengthen the muscles that support your knee. While you will still have areas of arthritis in your knee, you can improve how your knee functions with manual therapy to address weakness and pain.

Strengthening and Stretching Your Leg Muscles

When you take the time to stretch your leg muscles and follow through with strengthening exercises, you are going to help support your knee joint as best as possible. The arthritis is still present, but you may experience less pain when you focus on muscle strengthening and proper gait mechanics.

to learn more about chiropractic care and how it can help your knee pain from arthritis.