Are You An Athlete Living With Hip, Knee, and Leg Pain?
Your hips, knees, and lower legs are tough because they have to be for your game! However, we’re all still human, and unfortunately, injuries do happen.
The hips and knees are your largest joints, supporting your body’s weight. They work in close coordination, giving us the mobility we need. Conditions such as arthritis, aging, and sports injuries can all cause problems, and before you know it, pain symptoms can flare up.
If you’re experiencing hip, knee, or leg pain, call St. Pete Physical Therapy in St. Petersburg to schedule a closer look. Before you do, however, let’s examine the pain itself and consider possible reasons for it occurring.
Common causes of hip, knee, and leg pain
Injuries to the hip, knee, and ankle are rising in runners and triathletes. Many of these injuries can be attributed to poor biomechanics, muscle imbalances, inadequate strength and training errors. While athletes do suffer from acute injuries, many recreational athletes deal more with injuries due to the “too much too soon” principle.
The risk of many of these injuries can be reduced by incorporating a sport-specific strength program into your training.
Mayo Clinic has pinpointed several leading causes of hip, knee, and leg pain. While many causes exist, the most common causes are:
- Arthritis
- Dislocation
- Hip fracture
- Sprains and strains
- Tendonitis
- Pinched nerves
- Osteoporosis
While some causes are more severe than others, it’s possible to identify any of these as the reason for your pain.
How to know why you’re experiencing hip, knee, or leg pain
Pain presents itself in many different ways. Aching or stiffness around the hip, groin, back, or thigh may signify deeper problems. A decreased range of motion can also be a sign of deeper issues which may later result in hip, knee, or leg pain.
The last thing you want is to be on the sidelines or the bench for long due to discomfort and pain. However, If you’re limping, lurching, or experiencing unsteady balance, you’ve found yourself unable to play the sport you enjoy.
Whatever the cause of your hip and knee pain, if you are experiencing it regularly, you need to find a way to manage it. Unaware of how harmful medications are, many people use anti-inflammatories to minimize their discomfort. However, these medications do have potentially harmful side effects, so it can be helpful to find other ways to relieve your pain.
Does this situation sound familiar? If it does, it’s a good idea to see a sports physical therapist at St. Pete Physical Therapy in St. Petersburg. While some hip, knee, and leg pains go away, those lasting longer than several months may hint at a deeper issue.
Physical therapy in St. Petersburg can help ease your discomfort
In many cases, physical therapy at St. Pete Physical Therapy in St. Petersburg can help patients increase their overall mobility, and performance and decrease pain symptoms. By working regularly with your Doctor of Physical Therapy, athletes can learn how to properly stretch, load and strengthen the muscles, joints, bones, tendons and ligaments responsible for support.
Physical therapists are trained movement specialists who can assess your condition and pain symptoms to create the proper treatment plan. Your physical therapist may recommend that you receive massage therapy, dry needling, corrective exercises, joint mobility exercises, strength training, balance training or compression therapy help normalize your musculoskeletal balance.
Physical therapy can improve your joint function while also easing your pain and stiffness. Our physical therapist can prescribe exercises aimed at addressing your specific condition.
Physical therapy centers around specific exercises designed to target various muscles and strengthen them so that they better support your joints. Loss of muscular strength can contribute significantly to hip and knee pain because the weaker your muscles get, the more stress is put on your joints.
Call us to set up an appointment
On every level, physical therapy enhances the patient’s quality of life! At St. Pete Physical Therapy in St. Petersburg, our goal is to take the guesswork out of strength training for coaches, teams, clubs, and individuals to give you everything you need outside of your endurance training to keep you training injury-free, improve your longevity in the sport you love.
We’re here to help, and we have years of experience backing every therapy option. If you’re living with hip, knee, or leg pain, contact us today to schedule an appointment at our St. Petersburg clinic.
From start to finish, we’re dedicated to your ongoing wellness. We’ll make it our priority to see you through your treatment, so you can get back to enjoying the sports and extracurricular activities you love the most.