Everyone experiences knee pain at some point in their lives, whether from running or jumping or just simple old wear and tear over time. Fortunately, many treatment methods are available for knee pain, depending on what’s causing the pain. One treatment we commonly use at our office in The Woodlands for patients with knee pain is cold laser therapy.
When it comes to knee pain, there are a few common culprits: arthritis, bursitis, and patellar tendinitis. Arthritis is most common in people over 60 but can develop at any age. It occurs when your cartilage—the smooth material covering and protecting your joints—breaks down or wears away. Bursitis refers to inflammation of your bursae (small fluid-filled sacs around your bones). This condition typically develops from overuse or injury.
Bursitis commonly occurs in and around your hips, shoulders, elbows, and knees. On top of that, patellar tendinitis is a condition where your patellar tendon—the large tendon that connects your kneecap to your shinbone—becomes inflamed.
Patellar tendinitis causes pain at or around your kneecap. It’s usually caused by repetitive use of your leg muscles and can weaken your tendon. This condition most commonly affects athletes who participate in running or jumping sports like basketball, volleyball, and soccer.
Related Read: What Could Be Causing Your Knee Pain?
Cold laser therapy is a non-invasive treatment that is used for knee pain, among other conditions. The light emitted from the laser doesn’t get hot, which is why it’s referred to as cold laser therapy. Your body absorbs this near-infrared light, causing blood to rush to the treatment area. The blood in the affected area promotes the healing of damaged cells. At our office, we MLS cold laser therapy which is good to treat pain from several sources including muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and nerves.
Cold laser therapy works well as a complement to massage, and knee traction which is sometimes used to help patients with arthritis of the knee.
You only need several minutes of treatment in each session for it to really help your body promote healing. You don’t need to change your daily activities or diet. You simply need to schedule treatment. The best part is that cold laser therapy is FDA-approved, so it’s safe for most patients.
For people suffering from knee pain, laser therapy is a great way to combat pain without taking drugs. The cold laser not only helps promote healing it will also reduce swelling. Most patients start to have improved mobility after a few treatments.
It doesn’t matter if your pain is new or if you’ve been struggling with it for a long time. The effects of the cold laser, often with other chiropractic treatments, will provide relief for most patients. Remember, it takes more than one treatment to get the full effect of cold laser therapy and other chiropractic treatments. If your knee doesn’t feel better right away, be patient and return for your next sessions.
Sometimes we get knee pain because of injuries, whether old or new. Patellofemoral syndrome, patellar tendonitis, and ligament damage—can all lead to knee pain that keeps you from running or sometimes even walking! When you start to feel pain in the knee -- whether it’s the front, side, back or just under the knee -- don’t delay coming in. The earlier you can start treatment, the easier it usually is to help you feel better.
You will have an exam by one of the chiropractors and they’ll ask you questions about injuries, how you exercise, etc. This will help them pinpoint the cause. In some cases an X-ray is helpful to see the structure of the knee before creating a treatment plan. Cold laser therapy can help ease your pain and prepare your knees for physical activity again. That makes it a great treatment for knee pain caused by any injury.
If you’re experiencing knee pain and would like to find relief without the use of drugs, and hopefully without surgery,