- September 9, 2023
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You’ve heard the old song that goes, “Your knee bone is connected to your hip bone,” right? Hip and knee pains can be experienced together or separately, but it is important to note that because of their connection, what happens with one, affects the other!
Your knee is a hinge joint, confined to forward-and-backward motions. Individually, your knees support more weight than the hips, 6 times your body weight when doing a squat. Your hip is a ball-and-socket joint that works to support the weight of your upper body, relying on multiple muscles and tissues to keep it mobile and stable so it can function properly. Proper movement of both your hips and knees allows complicated motions, giving you the ability to stand, walk, run, and dance without falling over.
Pain felt in the hips and/or knees may originate in the joints themselves, but it may also be a result of an underlying condition in another part of the body. For example, your hips and knees are part of the same kinetic chain, meaning they make up a combination of weight-bearing joints that must function together in harmony in order for your body and posture to function properly.
Therefore, a problem with your knee joint may translate to unnecessary added forces to your hips, and vice versa. If one part of the kinetic chain is out of balance, stress and deterioration may be placed on another.
At Good Hands Physical Therapy, our physical therapists will work to reduce or even eliminate your hip and knee pain. Often we find that our patients can be spared the need for harmful medication or expensive corrective surgery. Our Bridgewater, NJ physical therapists are highly trained and can examine your hip or knee for signs of misalignment or damage, as well as examine your balance, gait, posture, and overall range of motion.
During your physical therapy treatment, you will be given exercises for relieving your joint pain and stabilizing any weak hip or knee tissues. These exercises will most likely vary depending on your specific condition. For example, research has demonstrated that people suffering from patella pain (pain located in the kneecaps) tend to respond better to exercises that focus on strengthening both the hips and knees, rather than just focusing on the knees by themselves.
Core exercises may also be suggested for you to do in order to strengthen your core, lower back muscles, lower abdominal muscle groups, and pelvic muscles. Core exercises are meant to improve your posture and reduce the amount of weight you carry on both sides of your body.
Your physical therapist may also recommend additional customized treatments, such as mobilizations to improve joint movement or other soft tissue treatments that offer pain relief and promote the healing of damaged tissues in the hip or knees.
