We see many patients with knee complaints in our osteopathy practice. People with knee complaints report pain, sometimes accompanied by swelling or restricted movement of the knee. The pain is sometimes only present during certain movements, and sometimes at rest as well. Osteopathy can help with knee complaints.
The osteopath will not only treat the knee, but will also look at where the cause of the knee complaint lies and treat that area. Only then will you truly be rid of your knee problems.
Knee complaints can arise after a (sports) accident, wear and tear, or overuse. Most knee complaints develop gradually. If nothing is done about them, the complaints get worse, or complaints can arise elsewhere in the body because the patient starts moving differently to avoid pain.
The knee is a complex joint that has to absorb a great deal of force every day. The knee also reacts strongly to changes in the mobility of the foot, hip, pelvis or back, even if those changes are only minimal. Problems higher up or lower down the movement chain make the surrounding muscles, tendons, ligaments or meniscus of the knee more prone to overload. The osteopath will examine the whole body to find where the restriction lies and release it with gentle manipulations and techniques. This takes the pressure off the knee and the knee pain will disappear.
Treatment of knee complaints always starts with an intake, in which the osteopath asks about the nature of the complaints, the patient’s medical history, lifestyle and previous treatments. Often the patient has already been treated by their GP, an orthopaedic surgeon and a physiotherapist, but the complaints have not gone away.
After the intake, the osteopath will examine not only the knee but also the rest of the body, to see how the mobility of muscles, tissues and organs is affecting the complaints. If the cause of the knee pain lies in the knee itself, the osteopath will treat it locally (for example in the case of a locked meniscus). Often, however, the cause of the knee complaints is not in the knee but elsewhere in the movement chain. With knee complaints, this is often the back, pelvis, hip or foot. Knee complaints can also be caused, for example, by reduced mobility of the pelvis, a difference in leg length or a locked metatarsal bone. The osteopath will then focus the treatment on restoring mobility in those areas of the body.
After the treatment, the osteopath may give you lifestyle advice and muscle-strengthening exercises. The body will then heal itself and the pain will usually ease. Because the cause is addressed, the knee complaints are prevented from returning.