A patient was in the office not long ago complaining about pain that affected his right hip and knee.
He had been evaluated by an orthopedist and had X-rays. He was told that he had “a little arthritis.”
He had been referred for physical therapy, which he did.
During physical therapy, he underwent ultrasound treatments and was taught how to perform certain exercises. His pain was reduced by about 50 percent.
He was happy for the improvement but still was concerned about the pain that persisted.
During his evaluation, I observed he had a tendency to slightly bend the right knee to avoid placing too much pressure on the affected leg.
I asked him if he did this to avoid pain.
He told me he felt more stable if he avoided too much pressure on the right.
I did some further testing and found that he had difficulty balancing on his right leg.
He was reacting not to pain, but an innate fear of falling due to a feeling of instability of the affected leg.
Further testing revealed an old injury to the inside muscles of the right thigh.
I asked him about this, and he could not recall an injury but had felt unsteady for several years.
We continued the examination until we located a specific area of muscle injury that probably had occurred years earlier and never healed correctly.
Treatment to address the old injury and improve balance resolved the instability, the imbalance, as well as the persistent hip and knee pain.
He soon began to walk more normally and was able to resume the leisure activity of hiking local trails, something he had abandoned due to pain and concern for falling.
Along with acupuncture and manual therapy to help him recover, he was taught some exercises specific for his condition to retrain his lost coordination and balancing ability.
This patient’s condition was unique, but not unheard of.
The previous physical therapy he had received had been appropriate, but it had not resolved the hidden cause of the problem.
Although he felt the pain in the right hip and knee, the cause for the pain turned out to be abnormal biomechanics resulting from an altered gait he had adopted after a right groin injury that had occurred in the past.
It is not uncommon for patients to develop pain in one joint that comes about several weeks or months after an injury to a different area.
This can be especially true regarding the knee and hip area.
The knees or hips can become subject to persistent strain from abnormal posture or gait while trying to avoid pain in another area.
So, this week’s recommendation is to pay heed to any injury that alters your behavior.
Ignoring the injury often leads to prolonged pain and treatment that is more involved and expensive.
If an injury is severe enough to cause you to alter your movements, activities, posture or gait to avoid pain, you are setting yourself up for future pain in a different region that is harder to diagnose and treat.
Finding the cause of chronic joint pain often involves considerable detective work, due to the body’s tendency to develop compensatory behavior. That is why getting proper care for an injury early is so important.
Putting off seeking care often just leads to a more complicated condition that is harder to accurately diagnose and more difficult to treat.
Next week: A secret technique used by professional athletic trainers that can help you recover from injuries faster. |
Email
Print
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!