Are you looking for answers regarding chronic knee pain or recurrent injuries?
Would you like to find out, once and for all, what is up with your knee?
If you suffer from knee pain, you’re not alone. “100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain” – with 18% reporting knee pain as the primary source of their pain. That’s a lot of sore knees.
But if you’re one of the unlucky ones who is searching for answers on why your knee causes you so much trouble and strife, you might want to seek out a Physical Therapy clinic that uses Knee Kinesiography and the KneeKG System.
Information is power – and that’s precisely what Knee Kinesiography delivers.
It’s a clever bit of kit.
The system manufacturers suggest it’s a bit like an electrocardiogram machine. The machine used in medical settings to detect problems with the heart by measuring its electrical activity, except the KneeKG, provides a high-tech assessment of your knee(s).
The knee is arguably the most complicated joint in the human body – made up by the meeting of three different bones: the patella (kneecap), tibia (large lower leg bone or shinbone), and femur (thighbone) that are all tied together with four major ligaments (the ACL, PCL, LCL, and MCL) and the lateral and medial meniscus.
As a result, many things can and do go wrong – and when they do go wrong, they can go wrong badly. This vulnerability is especially true in runners, soccer players, and other types of athletes prone to collisions and twisting injuries, from ACL and PCL tears and ruptures to total knee and kneecap dislocations, burs, and tendinitis.
Aside from trauma and sporting injuries, the knee joint is a common site for osteoarthritis in older adults. This degenerative condition, caused by wear and tear and the long-term erosion of cartilage, can, in severe cases, eventually lead to total knee replacement surgery.
It’s worth noting, however, that although osteoarthritis is usually age-related to some extent. You can avoid it altogether or massively reduce the symptoms with regular physical therapy, weight management, walking, and therapeutic exercise.
But with all these potential problems and so many bones, ligaments, and contributory factors. It’s easy to see why even for a seasoned knee specialist with many years of experience, it’s hard to identify the true source of the problem. It’s extremely difficult – especially when all you have to go on is watching the patient walk or palpating the knee.
We need to know what issues and deficits are at play with joint alignment. Find out what puts pressure on the knee joint itself and any other issues affecting the surrounding bones, ligaments, and tendons.
When we walk, the only knee movements visible to the human eye are the extension and flexion, when the knee bends and extends. Therefore, in most cases, although a good PT can guess at the problem and treat it via a process of elimination, it isn’t enough to pinpoint the issue at play quickly and precisely.
The KneeKG System helps diagnose knee issues and improve treatment outcomes for patients with all types of knee pain: osteoarthritis, meniscal tears and strains, and other types of ligament damage, anterior knee pain, and patella problems. It’s also particularly beneficial if you’re an athlete with injury-prone knees that keep letting you down and sabotaging your position on the team or the leader board.
The system can identify all different types of deficits. These include valgus knee – when your knee(s) caves inwards. Varus knee – when your tibia turns inwards. External tibial rotation – when your lower leg bone rotates too far out, and flexion contracture – when the knee gets stuck in flexion (bent).
So, let’s get to it. What are the benefits and what’s so good about Knee Kinesiography anyway?
A standard clinical evaluation of the knee only goes so far. Doctors and PTs usually perform knee examinations when the knee joint is stationary mainly and not going through its usual range of motion. For instance, many patients don’t have pain at rest.
Still, they experience knee pain 5 miles into a run or in the middle of a soccer game – or they keep repeatedly tearing their ACL Ligaments. The KneeKG System allows us to assess the knee(s) in motion – with a computerized assessment produced by the machine as we do everything while the knee is active and weight-bearing.
This detailed analysis of your gait, flexion and extension, internal and external rotation, abduction, and adduction provides an accurate diagnosis of the root cause of your knee pain and/or recurrent knee injuries.
In just 15 minutes, your Physical Therapist can view a dynamic, three-dimensional assessment of your knee. This revolutionary report shows the movement patterns and deficits that are contributing to your knee problems. This exceptionally detailed information allows your PT to make a swift diagnosis and move on to designing an individualized program to correct the deficits, improve your movement patterns, reduce pain, and increase activity and performance.
We think it’s even better than an X-Ray. Especially in a physical therapy setting because instead of a flat, lifeless image that may show damage or wear and tear areas. The KneeKG tells us precisely what’s going wrong when your knee is upright and in motion.
Unsurprisingly – in lots of cases, the actual cause of your knee problems may have absolutely nothing to do with what we see on an X-Ray. However, X-rays and MRI Scans are still necessary, of course. But used together, that’s when we can pinpoint and treat the root cause of knee problems.
Knee Kinesiography: The Benefits
There are numerous advantages to having your knee assessed with the KneeKG System over above a standard clinical evaluation.
These include understanding what is happening with your knee and why it’s causing you problems, finding the mechanical deficits contributing to pain levels and repeated injuries, and visualizing these deficits and movement patterns in 3-D. The system can also predict your future risk for orthopedic problems, such as osteoarthritis.
Research shows that a more accurate, faster diagnosis using Knee Kinesiography decreases knee pain and improves joint function, resulting in less need for pain medication and the avoidance of dangerous knee surgery.
What Happens During a Knee Kinesiography Assessment?
When you book an appointment for a Knee Kinesiography Assessment using the KneeKG System, your lower limb from the knee downwards is secured with an exoskeleton attachment (like a knee brace) that stops anything interfering with the results. It’s 100% non-invasive and doesn’t hurt.
Once the exoskeleton is in situ, you walk on a treadmill as the camera films the trackers in 3-D action, and the system produces a computerized assessment of your deficits and movements patterns. The entire evaluation, including the application of the exoskeleton, takes just 15-20 minutes.
At the end of the session, you will have answers in the form of a detailed report with a visual representation of the knee and its associated problems.
Then, we use the information combined with your medical history and other tests to start helping you to correct the issues and resolve your knee problems. We can also use the KneeKG and Knee Kinesiography to track your progress over time and alter your treatment plan accordingly.
How To Book A Knee Kinesiography Assessment
At Intecore PT, we’re big fans of Knee Kinesiography. The PTs at our outpatient orthopedic and sports medicine rehabilitation centers have always had a good eye for spotting problems using standard gait analysis.
We pride ourselves on it. But incorporating the KneeKG into our routine knee evaluations has taken our ability to treat knee patients and prevent knee injuries to a whole new level.
It doesn’t matter whether your knee pain came on suddenly or you’ve been living with it for years, Knee Kinesiography helps you find answers.
So, whether it’s shooting pains that brings you to your knees, a clicking or popping sensation, or a permanent dull ache behind your kneecap, the KneeKG System will find the source. You don’t have to put up with it, regardless of whether the pain is caused by osteoarthritis, ligament damage, or any other type of knee injury. We can help reduce or eliminate your pain and improve your mobility.
We’ve been helping people aged 35-60+ to solve their knee problems for over 20 years. We don’t just prescribe rest and medication or a set of generic exercises. Instead, we use the KneeKG system to pinpoint the exact cause of your problems and design an individualized treatment program created specifically for you and the issues we’ve identified.
Ready to get started?
Book a free consultation with one of our knee specialists here. Choose from a complimentary telephone call or a 30-minute Discovery Visit at the clinic.
Or, for fast relief from daily knee pain, you can download our free 10-page report – written by our founder and Head Physical Therapist, Andrew Version: “7 Simple Steps to Stop Daily Annoying Knee Pain – Without Injections, Taking Painkillers, Or Having To Wear A Brace”
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