Hello!

The next thing to look at in our “Top 10 health concerns” series is knee pain, which comes just behind shoulder and back pain in the list of health concerns people come to us with. This may seem like an unimportant complaint to non-sufferers, but anyone who has experienced long-term pain in the knees knows how debilitating it can be.

So what are the main causes? There are some long-term health conditions that lead to pain in the knees – rheumatism, arthritis and knee effusion (aka “water on the knee”, a build-up of excess fluid in the knee joints) are among the most common. However, lifestyle issues can also cause problems I’m afraid to say! Weight issues and bad posture put undue strain on the knee joints as well as the back, and ironically over-exercise or jogging can have the same effect. While physical exercise is obviously A Good Thing it needs to be undertaken with due care and attention to your body as a whole – a holistic approach, if you will.

Related to over-exercise problems are sports injuries or other injuries. You have to be very careful not to push yourself too hard too soon, as the knees are the fulcrum around which your lower body works. Over-exertion can lead to setbacks in rehabilitation, and potentially cause avoidable long-term problems.

So, that’s the bad news over with! In the follow-up blog I will be talking about the best ways to deal with knee pain – please join me then!

Emi