Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)

Patella Femoral Pain syndrome is the most common knee disorder, accounting for 25% of all

knee diagnoses. It is often a common complaint following meniscus or ACL injury and is the

most common injury for runners.

There are multiple factors that contribute to PFPS. However, PFPS is commonly associated

with repetitive micro trauma, impaired hip muscle strength, and lower extremity flexibility.

Through proper examination a physical therapist can help to determine the contributing factors

causing your pain and difficulty from PFPS and help give you the tools needed to improve function and

decrease pain with activity.

Knee Arthritis

Arthritis is a common misunderstood word patients often hear from their doctors. Basically, it means swelling and tenderness of one or more of your joints, that may result in pain or achiness in the joint. Over time our understanding of this diagnosis has changed:

Myth - We used to think that this discomfort was due to structural loss of cartilage, or “wear and tear of the joint” resulting in irreversible damage that requires a knee replacement.

However new research has shown that this is a misleading hypothesis. We know now that with consistent, targeted exercise we can decrease symptoms of achiness and pain. Targeted exercise has also been shown to prolong or prevent the need for surgical intervention. 

Exercise is a form of medicine and it can prevent and treat over 25 chronic conditions 

Surgical intervention should be your last resort: A knee replacement is tough! It’s not the easy way out and takes months of rehab. It is very important to participate in prehab to strengthen the joint prior to a knee replacement.

Runner's Knee

Runner’s Knee 

Symptoms

• Pain around the knee cap when on one leg such as running and stairs.

• Knee pain with standing and walking after prolonged sitting

Causes

• This injury can affect people of any fitness level or age. 

• It is caused by overuse and under stretching of the TFL muscle which is on the side of the hip and attaches to the IT band, which attaches to the knee cap.

Treatment

• Instruction on how and when to stretch the TFL muscle to prevent pulling on knee cap

• Targeted strengthening that avoids over stressing the muscle but still challenges it

• Guided return to movement with a progressive increase in activity