The Best Knee Specialist
The Best Knee Specialist
| Balance Core
Get the Best Knee Specialist in Singapore
Whenever there’s abnormal forces or stresses within the knee joint, pain can be experienced. If you are experiencing knee pain for more than 2 months without any associated traumatic event, and the pain is not going away, or getting worse, it’s best to seek help from a knee specialist. On the contrary, if your knee pain is caused by a fall or accident, early rehabilitation is of utmost importance in recovery. If not treated timely, prolonged knee pain can lead to early arthritis and the possibility of a total knee replacement in the future.
Knee pain is usually not a standalone condition. Being the center joint in the lower limb, abnormal loading from the hip or ankle/foot will always alter the loading on the knee joint. Therefore, our physiotherapy assessment for knee pain will always involve analysis of the entire body biomechanics. Our physiotherapists are trained to identify faulty biomechanics that will place additional stress onto the knee joint. This can be related to your daily activities such as walking, stairs climbing or squatting.
Conditions of the knee that we treat
There are many different kinds of knee injuries causing pain, some occur because of wear and tear, some from sports, or some from pure accidents. Here are some common knee injuries and conditions that we treat:
Patellofemoral pain syndrome
This is the term used to describe pain around the patella or kneecap and in front of the knee. Certain movements or activities can aggravate the pain such as kneeling, squatting, ascending or descending stairs, or sitting for long periods of time. Other symptoms may include mild swelling in front of the knee joint, a sensation of grinding when bending or extending the leg, and reduced thigh muscle strength if initial symptoms are left untreated.
Patellar tendonitis
This is a common injury or inflammation of the tendon that joins your kneecap (patella) to your shin bone (tibia). The repetitive stress on the knee creates tiny tears in the tear that cause inflammation and weaken the tendon overtime. Causes are muscular imbalances (weakness or tightness), poor alignment of the lower limb, obesity, and chronic systemic diseases that weaken the tendon. Athletes are more at risk because running, jumping and squatting put more force on the patella tendon.
Usually the first symptoms of patellar tendonitis is pain and tenderness at the base of the kneecap. There may also be swelling present as well. Initially the pain may only occur after exercising or sports activity. But as the tendon becomes more damaged, the pain can worsen progressively.
Ligament injury
There are 4 ligaments of the knee, namely the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL). These ligaments provide stability to the knee joint and can get strained when after a direct trauma to the knee or with chronic malalignment of the lower limb. When that happens, one may experience giving way symptoms or buckling episodes.
Meniscus injury and
meniscectomy
The meniscus is a piece of cartilage that provides a cushion between your femur and tibia. There are two menisci in each knee joint and they can be damaged or torn during activities that involve pressurizing or twisting of the knee joint. Meniscectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of a torn meniscus. Your age, your health, and your activity level will affect your treatment options.
Knee replacement
Knee replacement is done to replace the worn out joint surfaces with metal implants. The goal of knee replacement is for pain relief and subsequently to improve function and movement.
Chondromalacia Patella
This is a condition where the cartilage on the undersurface of the patella deteriorates and softens. This is common among young, athletic individuals, but may also occur in older adults who have knee arthritis. Chondromalacia is often seen as an overuse injury in sports and it is caused by abnormal rubbing of the kneecap against the cartilage of the thigh bone. Improper kneecap movement may result from poor knee alignment (acquired or congenital) or muscular imbalances.
Iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome
This is an overuse injury of the connective tissues that are located on the outer thigh and knee. The ITB runs along the lateral or outside aspect of the thigh and it is an important stabilizer structure of the lateral aspect of the knee as the joint flexes and extends. Inflammation and irritation of the ITB can occur as it travels back and forth, crossing the bony prominence of the femoral epicondyle as the knee joint moves.
ACL injury and reconstruction
The ACL is one of the two ligaments that crosses the middle of the knee and connects your thigh bone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia) and helps stabilize your knee joint. Most ACL injuries occur during sports when the player is changing direction, landing from a jump incorrectly, pivoting with the foot firmly planted or when a direct blow is received to the knee. Not all ACL injuries require a reconstruction. It is very much dependent on the patient’s goals, level of instability and activity level. In an ACL reconstruction, the torn ligament is removed and replaced with a piece of tendon from another part of your knee or from a deceased donor. After surgery, an active individual will be required to partake in physiotherapy rehabilitation for a period of 6 to 1 year.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is wear and tear of the cartilage surrounding the joint surfaces. This is due to accumulated improper loading and excessive stress of a joint. Usually the knee joint will only get injured or degenerated over time when there is a combination of forces in multiple directions such as compression plus gliding or compression plus twisting. As the knee is the center joint of the leg, abnormal loading from the hip or ankle will always have an impact on the knee.
Services and Treatment That We Offer
Muscle trigger point release
Trigger points are involuntary tight tender spots in a contracted muscle. This creates pain and dysfunction within the muscle. A sustained pressure is applied for about 10-30 seconds to release a trigger point and ultimately to relax the muscle. This increases blood flow to the muscle normalizing it and bringing it back to a healthy state.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES)
Used for muscle strengthening, maintenance of muscle mass and strength during prolonged periods of immobilization, selective muscle retraining and the control of oedema.
Education
We help identify movement / posture errors in your daily activity routines, in order to minimize stress to the knee. For example, not to keep the knee in a fixed position for long, or excessively keep them in a tensed position (e.g. locking your knee when standing on a bus / train).
Dry needling
It involves the use of a sterile, thin monofilament needle that penetrates the skin and treats underlying muscular trigger points for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments
ultrasound
Ultrasound therapy is the use of sound waves to treat musculoskeletal problems like inflammation from injuries such as sprains, tendinitis or bursitis. The sound waves can penetrate soft tissues to provide deep heating, increasing circulation and ultimately improve the rate of healing.
Specific muscle activation
Pain is usually the result of long-term muscle dysfunction, or bad movement patterns that have been repeated for years. When a weak muscle is identified and strengthened, it improves the neuromuscular communication loop, thereby reducing pain.
Task-specific training for work and sports
There’s always an optimal way to perform a task at work or play. We analyse the physical demands of different individuals based on their work or sports of interest, and design treatment programs that best suit their needs. By integrating training of the weak muscles into their tasks and forming correct movement habits, they can minimize chances of re-injury, and complete the tasks in the most efficient way.
Our Top Knee Pain Specialists
Besides looking for a top knee pain specialist, how about seeking help from our physiotherapists for knee pain as well? We spend quality time with each patient, so that you get a thorough assessment to identify both the present issues as well as background issues. With accurate diagnosis and individualized treatment, we ensure that every client gets quality care and fastest recovery. To book an appointment please call us at 64582575, or message us at 91714325.
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