Knee Ankle Pain

Knee pain
Knee pain and dysfunction are particularly common among two groups of people, athletes/physically active people and older people.

In either case, knee pain can significantly affect your daily activities. In addition, if you suffer from knee pain, it is most likely causing problems elsewhere, such as your feet or hips, as your body tries to compensate for the pain. Athletes and people who play sports regularly often suffer from knee pain due to trauma and overuse, while older people suffer from knee pain due to arthritis.

Types of knee pain:
Acute injuries such as meniscal or ACL tears, joint arthritis, Osgood Schlatter disease, ITB (runner’s knee) syndrome, patellar tracking and referred low back and hip pain.

Causes of knee pain:
Spinal misalignment.
Weight bearing changes
Trauma such as sports injuries
Prolonged sitting
Age
Lack of muscle strength
Lack of flexibility
Excess weight
Repetitive motion/use
Underlying disease or pathology (rare)

What is the most common cause of knee pain?
Once any underlying disease or problem has been ruled out, the most common causes of knee pain are mechanical in nature. Apart from trauma from injury or overuse, one of the most common causes of knee pain is changes in the lower back, pelvis and hip.

If these areas are not well balanced, it changes the way the individual bears weight. Unnecessary weight bearing on the knee joints is a common cause of knee pain. This is often the result of poor posture and spinal alignment.

Ankle pain
Ankle pain can have some major repercussions on your daily life, as walking and weight bearing becomes increasingly difficult. Ankle injuries, if not treated correctly, can become chronic. Not only that, ankle injuries have the potential to create problems elsewhere due to the body’s compensation pattern. The most common type of ankle injury is an ankle sprain, or inversion sprain. This type of trauma has the ability to strain or tear the ligaments around the ankle, creating instability in the joint.

Ankle and foot conditions:
Ankle sprains, ankle fractures, plantar fasciitis, police heel, bunions, tarsal tunnel and many more.

Common causes:
Sports injuries.
Knee/hip misalignment
Poor posture/spine alignment
Incorrect footwear (high heels, stiff work boots)
Poor running technique
Repetitive strain injuries
Trauma
Fractures
Underlying disease or pathology (rare)

What is the most common cause of ankle pain?
Once we have ruled out any underlying disease or problem, such as a fracture, the most common causes of ankle pain are mechanical in nature. Incorrect alignment and muscle imbalances of the ankle joint are common causes.

Spinal alignment and posture have a major impact on ankle pain and dysfunction, because if your posture is forward or unbalanced it can place unnecessary weight and pressure on the joint.

How can chiropractic help?

There can be many factors in the cause of your pain, so it is essential that we provide an accurate diagnosis.

During this examination, we will perform a series of orthopaedic, neurological, postural and musculoskeletal tests to find out what the problem is. Once we have all this information, we will inform you of our findings.

From there we will create a personalised treatment plan, designed to help you recover naturally. Our treatment approach will include spinal adjustments, adjustments to the joints of the body, especially the upper extremities, muscle work, plus the prescription of rehabilitation exercises and stretches designed to improve your posture.

In the case of knee and/or ankle pain, we will also examine the lifestyle factors that have led to the injury and help you make the necessary modifications to prevent future cases.

We use a variety of different chiropractic techniques, from manual adjustment, to gentle low force techniques. Depending on your needs and your body type, we will provide you with a treatment style that suits your body.