Anterior knee pain or Patellofemoral Pain Or runners knee Is a very common condition and there are often other structures around the knee that is irritated to make the diagnostic process more complex, such as the iliotibial band.There are also many other names anterior knee pain but it is related to the fact that the two joint surfaces of the knee And the femur get frictional irritation and damage over time. The anterior knee pain is due to the surface of the patella moving up and down within the groove of the femur.There are many reasons for this such as the patella rushing up and down the femoral groove in a slightly bumpy tracking position, especially if the iliotibial band is pulling tightly against the bone and pulling into the wrong part of the track.
Read the excellent post which we have added by two current excellent sports and exercise research faculties you will see how important it is to off load and allow the frictional irritation to settle and you must select very carefully prudent exercises and the Sensible There are definite exercises which will definitely make you much worse
To diagnose Of anterior knee pain requires a careful through examination of the knee including the patella tendon requires a thorough knee examination. You’ll see the examination of the knee includes the different angles of which the patella may be tracking on the femur.
If one releases the patella from the surface. You should get a more comfortable pain less run and you can get immediate pain relief
The yellow arrow is pointing at the patella or knee cap which runs up and own the groove which is highlighted in blue You can see how over the years the knee cap can causes frictional wear and tear in the groove on the femur which why is it so important you know good self management care as there are so many activities which aggravate the anterior knee pain
It is not uncommon for runners with this condition spend weeks trying to take their kneecap into the right position.
However, this condition affects the general population as well and one gets increased pain when one is walking up and down stairs. Have a look at the anterior knee questionnaire which I have added into this post. This will give you an idea if you have anterior femoral pain.
Personally sometimes I will use some ultrasound, and sometimes a few will have a little bit of very low shockwave therapy, which is very gentle just to loosen off the very tight hard muscles around the knee. This is to enable you to start the very careful exercise regime, which includes offloading the patella frictional irritation and you will see this is termed offloading in the exercise sheets in this post
Shockwave Therapy is from compressed air and it is used on horses and ponies for their tendons The horses do not require any sedation as it is safe and effective
Which is added further down this page you will see that we need to know whether you limp. If you require full support without pain. How much pain and if weight-bearing is impossible. We need to know whether it you can walk unlimited for more than 2K were unable to walk. Questions such as can you go up the stairs with no difficulty or with slight pain when descending or go with pain, both upstairs or do you get pain going down the stairs.
Anterior Knee Pain or Patellofemoral Pain is common about Runners and there is good Appropriate Education BJSM 2017 and Exercises here
If you have Patella Tendinopathy another cause of anterior knee pain Helen has been using shockwave therapy now for over 3 years the exercises for patella tendinopathy are completely different to the exercises for anterior knee pain
ANTERIOR KNEE PAIN SCORE
Have a look at the questionnaire for this anterior knee pain score, As you can see anterior knee pain can be quite frustratingly painful and if you do the wrong exercises. It will only irritate and make your knee pain a great deal more severe and cause secondary irritation to the surrounding structures. Offloading and looking after your anterior knee pain is essential for the quality Rehabilitation
Helen definitely finds this a useful part of loosening off the very tight muscles of the lower limb, by Storz Medical
Here a sample of the 7 different anterior knee pain exercises. These mini video clips of anterior knee pain exercises are sent to your computer or to your smart phone or iphone You have your unique code, Some people find that one session or two sessions it enough combined with these exercise cl
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