The top two different types of knee pain are called intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic knee pain is pain that happens because of a wearing away, or some kind of problem which happens in the knee joint itself. This in turn may cause problems in other areas, but the origin is the knee.
Extrinsic knee pain is knee pain which happens as a compensation for a problem elsewhere. For example, in the lower back, in the hip, or in the foot, although it can really be anywhere in the body. Those are the two types of pain.
The treatments vary greatly depending on where the pain starts from, but there are some common threads.
I want to describe four types of treatment that we do that are unique to our office.
- Cold Laser Therapy: We do a laser treatment using cold laser therapy, which helps to increase nerve flow to the knee joint and to decrease inflammation.
- Pulsed Electromagnetic Frequency: We use pulsed electromagnetic frequency, commonly known as PEMF. PEMF is an electromagnetic device which helps to eliminate swelling, not only in the outer part of the knee but in the inner part of the knee also, which is hidden from sight. The PEMF also helps to increase the health of the cells of the knee, and there is ample evidence that it helps to create stem cells, which then in turn help with healing.
- Rapid Release Technology: We use rapid release technology, which is a percussing type of instrument that helps to reduce scar tissue. Whenever a person has a knee injury, the body, in an attempt to help itself, creates scarring around the joint. If you think about a finger that is broken, how you would splint the finger by wrapping it, in the same way if you injure a joint like the knee, the body will create tough tissue around the knee to keep it from getting worse. However, we have to take care of that in order to help the knee get better.
- Anti-Gravity Treadmill: We use an anti-gravity treadmill. An anti-gravity treadmill is a treadmill that has you lifted while you are walking. This treadmill allows so you to re-learn and re-work the walking with your knee as it heals without putting any actual gravity pressure on it. This is one of the favorites in our office, and one of the things that gets us such great results.
