Knee Pain Treatment in Stuart, FL

Comprehensive Consultation and Examination

The first step before treatment is to meet with one of our highly trained Case Managers, who will listen to your story. Clearly understanding your past and future life goals gives us an accurate understanding of where to begin our examination in determining the root cause of what’s triggering your knee pain. Without an accurate diagnosis, the treatment will not be successful.

Then, the Case Manager will introduce you to one of our medical providers, who will perform a complete physical, neurological, and biomechanical examination. Additionally, we’ll perform a series of X-rays or a diagnostic ultrasound to ensure an accurate diagnosis.

With the root cause of your knee pain found, we can design your customized treatment plan and help you address it.

Knee-on-Trac Joint Decompression

The most common reason for getting knee replacement surgery is simply because the knee has completely worn down. The joint space is gone, the menisci have worn down, and the femur and tibia bones are basically touching. This operation uses hardware that “replaces” the knee joint space altogether. It is a costly maneuver and doesn’t always lead to pain relief for sufferers of this type of knee pain.

At Harbour Medical Centers, we utilize technology that decompresses the knee joint, opens up joint spacing, and stimulates healing. This device is known as the Knee-on-Trac, and it’s the only product on the market of its kind.

During treatment on the Knee-on-Trac, you sit comfortably in a chair with your knee secured to the device. The device will slowly and gently stretch the knee back and forth for five to ten minutes. This treatment decreases inflammation, increases hydration to the joint, increases the knee’s range of motion, and speeds up the healing process. Our treatment programs will take you through a series of visits that will provide regular care to the knees to help restore motion and function to the affected knee joint.

Soft Tissue Therapy

In many cases of knee injury, the muscles around the knees can be tight, and we offer several non-invasive therapies that will help balance the knee and significantly reduce stress on the joint. We utilize advanced passive treatments:

• Class 4 Laser
• Radial Pressure Wave
• NeuroMed
• Neurocure

With these therapies, we will address the calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, and tibial muscles to help improve their mobility, reduce restrictions, and support proper knee motion.

Advanced Injections

Our medical providers can utilize safe, scientifically proven joint regenerative injections that include Platelet Rich Plasma, Hyaluronic Acid, and many other products known to accelerate the healing of injured tendons, ligaments, cartilage, muscles, and joints.

Joint Manipulation

Most injuries related to the knee are rooted in a history of poor functional movement. This can range from immobility, weakness, or imbalances that fail to properly support your knee’s integrity. Functional issues above and below the knee can be involved in many cases. Our goal in joint manipulation is to improve joint mobility and restore proper range of motion. With proper function and movement, the knee and other joints can be more pain-free, even with arthritic conditions.

Degenerative Arthritis (Osteoarthritis)

Perhaps the most common cause of knee pain, especially chronic knee pain, is degenerative arthritis. This condition is classically caused by wear and tear over years and even decades of use. It can also be accelerated by being overweight or obese due to the increased weight stress applied to the knee joints. It typically appears on one side first but can affect both knees over time. From a medical standpoint, it is generally treated with NSAID medications, knee injections, and, eventually, knee replacement surgery. However, there are more natural options available to treat this common condition.

At Harbour Medical Centers, we address knee pain by getting to the root cause of the issue. If there is soft tissue damage, we use advanced injections. If there is alignment or structural imbalance, we use joint manipulation techniques. If there is muscle weakness, instability, spasm, or range of motion loss, we can employ our passive therapies and Knee-on-Trac joint decompression. Overall, many effective, conservative treatments for degenerative arthritis are worth trying before moving on to more invasive treatment methods.

Torn Meniscus

A torn meniscus is another common sports injury that occurs with forceful twisting of the knee joint. The meniscus is the thin fibrocartilage layer that lines the knee joint’s bony surfaces. When you plant your foot, the knee bones come extremely close together. When rotation of the knee occurs, whether intentional or not, the bones push into the meniscus, causing anything up to a complete tear of the cartilage. This can be very painful and cause swelling and inflammation in and around the knee.

Surgery is a common route for treating a torn meniscus, but it is not always successful. More conservative methods are just as effective in rehabilitating even completely torn menisci. Advanced Injections, including deep tissue laser, and therapeutic exercises, can be very effective for healing torn menisci, but it can take time to recover completely.

Runner’s Knee

Some knee injuries result from overuse or repetitive motion; a particularly common one is Runner’s knee. This condition causes pain in the front of the knee, either around or behind the kneecap. It develops over time due to repetitive activities such as jogging or running. It can cause “creaking” and “cracking” noises to occur in addition to chronic knee stiffness. The amount of force and stress placed on the knee joint during this activity causes the surrounding tissue to become inflamed. However, there is usually no damage to any bones, ligaments, or muscle tendons.

Sometimes, Runner’s knee will require some time off of running to let the tissue heal and the inflammation subside. Advanced Injections and deep tissue laser, which uses light energy to penetrate deep into the tissue and accelerate the healing process by decreasing inflammation, can also effectively manage the condition. Runners are some of the most dedicated athletes on the planet, and the better they can manage conditions like runner’s knee, the more they can stay out there doing what they love.

ACL Injury

Within the knee joint, two ligaments connect the thigh bone to the leg bone: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). Of these 2, the ACL is far more likely to be injured. ACL injuries can happen in everyday life, but they most notably occur in the context of sports due to the mechanism of injury. In sports requiring rapid change of direction, such as soccer, basketball, or football, the ACL can be damaged when the knee rotates while the foot is planted. This torquing motion causes fibers in the ACL to tear and, in the worst cases, completely rupture.

ACL treatment depends largely on the extent of the damage. If the ligament is damaged but still intact, it can be rehabilitated through Advanced Injections, rehabilitation exercises, deep tissue vibration therapy, as well as many other therapies.

Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome

The iliotibial band, more commonly known as the IT band, is the longest tendon in the human body. It is the tendon of a hip muscle called the tensor fascia lata, and it spans down the outside of the thigh down to its attachment site past the knee joint. You can feel IT band irritation anywhere along the tendon, but it is especially common to feel discomfort on the outside of the knee. This condition tends to affect athletes such as distance runners and cyclists due to their repetitive movements.

At Harbour Medical Centers, our doctors utilize a combination of Advanced Injections, Class 4 Laser, Radial Pressure Wave, Neurocure, and NeuroMed technologies to help facilitate the healing process of the IT band. They will also provide exercises to help provide more muscle balance to the quadriceps, which can help further stabilize the knee joint. IT band syndrome can be painful, but recovery is usually very straightforward and does not take very long to heal.