Can Chiropractors Relieve Knee Pain? Here's What To Know

If persistent knee discomfort slows your stride, you're far from alone.

You're among the 25% of adults whose mobility and quality of life get compromised by nagging knee problems each year.

Whether arthritis flare-ups constantly interrupt your routines or lingering instability remains from an old athletic injury, one truth rings clear - achy knees that undermine your ability to walk, exercise, or simply enjoy treasured activities without a struggle demand a change.

Temporary knee pain treatments may briefly reduce discomfort, but they can't address the root biomechanical, postural, and structural issues causing your misery. 

If you feel trapped in a cycle of chasing symptomatic relief with diminishing returns, it's time to explore an integrated approach that revives function and resilience from within.

This guide overviews how chiropractors can provide lasting knee pain relief, the knee conditions they treat, and proven techniques they use for renewed mobility.

Knee Conditions Treated by Chiropractors

While medications, injections, and surgery are sometimes needed for severe acute knee injuries, chiropractors provide natural treatment options that can help manage many chronic, degenerative knee issues without invasive measures.  

Their adjustments and therapies help relieve:

1. Arthritis

Arthritis refers to over 100 different conditions that cause joint inflammation and pain. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, while osteoarthritis is caused by wear-and-tear damage over time. 

Both lead to swelling, stiffness, and the gradual breakdown of knee cartilage, making it harder to bend and straighten the knee smoothly.

2. ACL/PCL Tears

The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) are major knee ligaments that crisscross and help stabilize the joint.

When they are overstretched from sudden impacts or twisting motions, partial or complete tears can occur. This causes the knee to feel unstable like it might give out. 

Swelling and longer-term knee instability can develop if the tears are not properly treated.

3. Fractures

Breaking bones in the knee like the kneecap (patella) severely limits joint mobility, even after the initial cast comes off. This is because the cartilage lacks direct blood flow.

Hence, if the fracture shifts the bone out of proper alignment, the cartilage may not smoothly glide during knee bending.

4. Patellofemoral Syndrome

This refers to kneecap (patella) pain caused by an imbalance between the thigh muscles that attach to it. 

If the outer quadriceps muscles overpower the inner muscles, it can pull the kneecap gradually out of the groove it sits in on the femur bone. 

This abnormal tracking leads to lingering kneecap discomfort.

How Chiropractors Evaluate Your Knee Pain

Before recommending a customized treatment plan, your chiropractor will do a thorough evaluation to understand what is causing your recurring knee discomfort. 

This includes:

1. Taking Your Medical History

They will ask about any past knee injuries and your job activities that may involve repetitive knee motions or uneven weight bearing on your knees. They’ll also enquire if you've noticed any other muscle/joint issues developing around the same time as your knee pain.

2. Physical Examination

Your chiropractor will watch how you move and bend your knees. They will look for signs of swelling, feel for tightness or tenderness, and test your knee's flexibility and strength through guided movements. 

This helps identify areas of misalignment or abnormal tension around the knee joint.

3. Diagnostic Imaging

If they suspect structural damage or degeneration in the knee joint, they may order X-rays, MRIs, or ultrasound imaging to get a closer look and pinpoint the issue.

H3: 4. Posture Assessment

They will analyze the positioning of your pelvis and the curves in your spine from the side view. This can reveal if abnormal weight distribution or poor posture is putting extra stress on your knees over time. 

Your feet and arches will also be examined to see if problems with your foot mechanics could be contributing to knee strain.

This thorough evaluation process aims to find the root causes of your chronic knee instability or recurring pain - not just treat the surface symptoms. 

By identifying the underlying factors, your chiropractor makes the necessary corrections to realign your posture and body mechanics to allow proper knee healing.

How Chiropractors Treat Knee Pain

‍Based on the findings from your evaluation, your chiropractor will develop a personalized treatment plan using a combination of different techniques, which may include:

1. Spinal Adjustments 

They will gently adjust and realign your spine through controlled manipulations. This helps restore proper curvatures and takes abnormal stress off your knees that can deteriorate the joints over time. 

2. Knee Joint Adjustments

Your chiropractor will use skilled techniques to manually adjust and mobilize the restricted areas in your knee joint itself, like the ligaments, cartilage, and tendons. This helps break up scar tissue that is limiting smooth knee motion and gliding.

3. Massage Therapy 

Deep tissue massage will be used to knead out tight, tense muscle knots in areas connected to the knee like the buttocks, thighs, and calves. When these surrounding muscles are tight, they radiate compensating strains to the knee joint.

4. Rehabilitation Exercises 

You'll be prescribed customized exercises to strengthen the stabilizing muscles around your knee joints. This provides more structural support and shock absorption for your knees during daily activities.

5. Knee Braces

Your chiropractor may have you wear custom knee braces that limit excessive twisting or sliding motions in your knees that provoke pain. This takes stress off the joint so the adjustments and therapy can help stabilize the supporting muscles and tissues.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Knee Pain

When combined into a comprehensive treatment plan, chiropractic techniques can provide renewed mobility and relief from chronic, nagging knee issues by:

1. Increasing Joint Flexibility

Gentle, repeated knee adjustments and deep tissue massage help gradually reduce stiffness from arthritis or injuries over time, improving your knee's range of motion.

2. Mobilizing Joint Alignment

By correcting postural imbalances and realigning your spine, your body weight gets redistributed evenly. This takes abnormal pressures off the knee joints, allowing them to heal properly.

3. Strengthening Support Muscles

Customized exercise plans focus on rebuilding the strength and endurance of the muscle groups surrounding and supporting the knees, like the buttocks and thighs. This gives the knee joints more dynamic muscular support and shock absorption.

4. Providing Natural Pain Relief

Techniques like joint realignment, massage, stretching, and rehab exercises can ease knee pain without relying on potentially risky pain medication that only masks symptoms temporarily.

5. Speeding Up Injury Recovery

The improved blood flow, tissue mobility, and lymphatic drainage promoted by chiropractic massage help flush out built-up metabolic wastes after an acute knee injury, accelerating the healing process.

How Long Does Knee Treatment Take?

There is no one-size-fits-all timeline, as the length of your chiropractic treatment plan will depend on a few factors:

• The severity of your knee condition and what is causing it. Acute injuries may get better faster than chronic degenerative issues like osteoarthritis.
• How consistently do you do the prescribed home exercises and stretches between office visits?
• If you have any other health conditions that could slow down your body's healing process.

However, most knee treatment plans from chiropractors follow two general phases:

• Intensive Phase: This initial stage focuses on relieving pain, restoring knee joint mobility, and strengthening the muscles supporting the knee. You may need to visit 2-3 times per week for several weeks.
• Maintenance Phase: Once your knee joints become more stable after rehabilitation, you'll transition to less frequent monthly visits. These serve to maintain proper knee function and prevent re-injury. 

Your chiropractor will continuously evaluate your progress and make adjustments to your treatment plan as needed based on how your body responds. The goal is to help you achieve lasting improvement, not have you depend on treatment indefinitely.

Get Your Knee Mobility Back with Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care provides an integrated, non-invasive approach to treating various knee conditions like arthritis, injuries, and biomechanical imbalances. 

At Complete Wellness, our chiropractors use comprehensive evaluations, specialized adjustment techniques, and rehabilitative exercises to help restore optimal knee joint function and mobility.

We utilize proven chiropractic methods, manual therapies, and patient education to safely realign your body and restore comfort. Our personalized treatment plans address all aspects of your life contributing to pain - physical, mental, and emotional.

Find the support you need to conquer knee pain and reclaim your active lifestyle. Book your chiropractic appointment today at Complete Wellness.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can a chiropractor fix knee arthritis? 

While chiropractors can't reverse arthritis entirely, their techniques can help manage knee arthritis pain and improve joint mobility through adjustments, massage, and therapeutic exercise.

2. Should I see a chiropractor or physiotherapist for knee pain?

Both can be beneficial. Chiropractors focus more on joint adjustments and alignment, while physiotherapists emphasize rehabilitative exercises. An integrative approach combining both is often ideal.

3. Why do my knees hurt after chiropractic adjustment? 

Some minor soreness or achiness in the knees is normal after an adjustment as the joints and muscles adjust to their new, improved alignment. It should subside within a day or two.

4. Should you massage knee pain? 

Yes, massage can help relieve knee pain by increasing blood flow, releasing tension in the surrounding muscles, and helping flush out inflammatory byproducts.

5. How do I know if my knee pain is serious? 

See a doctor if you have severe, unrelenting pain, significant swelling, instability in the knee, or if you can't bear weight on that leg. Sudden or severe knee injuries require prompt medical attention.

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