Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

Battling Knee Pain Means Getting Your Butt In Gear - Literally

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Thu, Jun 30, 2011 @ 18:06 PM

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So often individuals with knee pain miss out on the opportunity to resolve their troublesome and agonizing cases because the answer comes dressed in overalls, a hard hat and carries a lunch box.  Addressing knee pain means so much more than sitting back and relaxing in your local physical therapy or athletic training center with an ice bag and electrical stimulation on your knee.  Addressing knee pain takes hard work and requires that patients become an active participant in their care plan.

In a recent article published in Sports Health, Lake and Wofford reviewed current literature examining therapeutic modalities and their effectiveness for the treatment of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) or good old fashion knee pain.  Their findings come as no surprise to those that understand that knee pain is a real pain in the butt – meaning, quite literally it's cause is coming from your butt (or a lack thereof).  Conclusions drawn from their examination was that, “none of the therapeutic modalities reviewed has sound scientific justification for the treatment of PFPS when used alone.”

So what’s the answer?

Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water quite yet.  A comprehensive treatment approach offering therapeutic modalities as needed with a focus on eccentric strength training along with an overall strengthening program for the hips and gluteus musculature in addition to providing mobility above and below the knee (hips and ankle) continues to be the best approach to getting athletes back to competition faster and putting smiles on knee pain sufferers  time and time again.


See additional knee pain articles below: 

Treating Anterior Knee Pain - Part I and Part II

 

Lake D., and Wofford N. Effect of Therapeutic Modalities on Patients With Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: A Systematic Review. 2011. Sports Health, Vol. 3(2)p.182-189.

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