Chronic Hip & Knee Pain
Patients with Chronic Hip & Knee Pain
Patient's Concerns
Patients suffering from chronic hip & knee pain have difficulty walking more than a few minutes. It could be tough to walk up and down a flight of stairs because your knee doesn't feel supported as you're bending it.
Some patients also find it difficult to stand for long without feeling weak or unstable on their legs. When you don't feel confident on your own two feet, it's easy to lose motivation to go out and about during the day.
Patient's Experience
Patients with chronic hip & knee pain generally feel a deep ache in their knee joint and hip sockets. Each patient feels the pain differently, so it's not wise to compare your situation with others.
Some patients describe a sharp, shooting pain going down the back of their leg. Often times these symptoms can cause numbness, tingling or a feeling of "pins & needles" all the way down to your feet and toes.
Chronic Hip & Knee Pain Causes
Chronic pain is usually caused by prolonged stress on your nerves. Stress can come in many forms, and is typically dependant on your environment, lifestyle and habits.
For chronic hip & knee pain, here are some common causes:
- High risk sports (running, martial arts)
- Recurring injuries
- Genetics (one leg is longer)
- Crossing your legs
- Wrong shoes
- Wear and tear (age related)
Chronic Hip & Knee Pain Facts
Misconceptions about Chronic Hip & Knee Pain
Most people think that chronic hip & knee pain is caused by arthritis. This may be true if you are over 60 years old or had surgery on your knees when you were younger (from an injury), but is not the only reason for chronic pain in this area.
Another mistake people make is to assume that their knee pain started in their knee. It's actually more common for chronic knee pain to arise from the nerves in your pelvis (lower back), and the same is true for chronic hip pain.
Conditions Associated with Chronic Hip & Knee Pain
- Sciatica
- Hip bursitis
- Patello-femoral pain syndrome
Solutions for Chronic Hip & Knee Pain
Chronic Pain is a Nerve Problem
Traditionally, patients with hip & knee pain address their chronic pain with quick fix solutions. These include applying heat, ice, stretching, massaging the painful area and pain medication.
However, because chronic pain is different from normal pain, these solutions only address the "tip of the iceberg". Chiropractic on the other hand addresses the "whole of the iceberg", allowing for natural chronic pain relief by addressing the patient's nerves.