Call 281-633-8600. In this article Dr. Bennett and Dr. Simonich talk about diagnosing and treating patella femoral syndrome, also known as anterior knee pain. Dr. J. Michael Bennett is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Fellowship Trained Sports Medicine Doctor serving patients from all over Metro Houston through offices in Sugar Land, TX, and Houston, near the Houston Galleria. If you’re experiencing knee pain or stiffness or you feel you’ve injured your knee, please call 281-633-8600.
This is the transcript of the third part of a radio show that was hosted by Dr. Bennett on AM1560 The Game. With Dr. Bennett was Bob Lewis of 1560TheGame and Dr. Stephen Simonich of Katy Orthopedics in Katy, TX.
Click here to link to the first portion of the show and here to link to the previous portion.
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DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT — We’re going to go on to the next caller here. This is Lydia, and she’s also got a knee problem. Lydia, what can we do for you today?
CALLER 2 – Many years ago when I was in school I was in the drill team and I hurt my knee. I didn’t think it was any big thing but now that I’ve gotten older, whenever I run or do any kind of exercise, it just kind of aches. It doesn’t hurt, it just aches.
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT – What you’re describing is actually very, very common. Now does it ache and feel kind of tight occasionally?
CALLER 2 – It does.
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT – Okay, does that bother you when you’re going up and down stairs?
CALLER 2 – Yes.
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT – What you’re describing is anterior knee pain, also known as patella femoral syndrome. It’s very common. We see a lot of it, particularly in runners. And a lot of this can actually be due to a muscular imbalance in regards to your knee cap and how it tracks. It’s supposed to go in the groove in the front of your knee and if you have any kind of weakness, particularly in the quadriceps, it can be an issue and that knee cap can kind of translate a little abnormally laterally to the outside of the knee and that can cause a little irritation and pain and make the knee feel tight.
So really just getting into a good rehab program, making sure you’re stretching those hamstrings and building up those quadriceps, will actually take care of that knee pain. Now in the next part of the segment we’re going to talk about how to differentiate what’s a mild knee injury and severe knee injury; what symptoms to look for and what I like to call the “red flags” that crop up when evaluating a patient. The things to really worry about and when to seek help from a physician are if you have any kind of locking, if the knee locks on you, if it gives out on you, if you notice consistent swelling – if it looks like a cantaloupe at the end of the run – if you’re having instability, if the knee is like Dr. Siminic mentioned earlier unstable and slides on you and feels like it is just not right. It’s not one of those things where it’s “no pain, no gain, I’m going to go out there and work through it.” Because it’s not going to happen. It’s going to keep on bothering you and you can damage the cartilage.
DR. STEPHEN SIMONICH – Patella femoral syndrome is one of the most common things we see. About 90 percent of patients get better with a good physical therapy program and they can do a lot of it on their own. Just to be fair to our other caller, I felt like she didn’t want to have surgery or think about it, but she, too, could do a lot of therapy to make her knee feel better and sometimes bracing helps so she doesn’t feel like she has to do that.
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT – We just don’t want to have patients with instability.
BOB LEWIS – When you’re talking about therapy, does she go to a place like Plex for therapy or does she consult with an orthopedic surgeon? Who provides this protocol?
DR. STEPHEN SIMONICH – Well physical therapists can see a patient one time and assess them, but they need to have a physician’s prescription for them to continue therapy. They usually have to see an orthopedic surgeon or their primary care doctor to start therapy. Plex has therapy out there at Texas Sports Medicine Institute.
BOB LEWIS – So that would be specific to what type of problem her knee was having.
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT – A lot of times it’s a matter of when to get therapy when you have an injury and after an injury, or whether or not to actually get therapy before an injury and prevent it. They can teach you certain landing strategies or how to do some quadriceps strengthening or some hamstring stretching that will actually make a big difference, and I mean a lot of these things are very basic; you can do these things with your trainer. If you’ve had surgery I’d recommend that you go to a therapist that will follow protocol their physician will provide for you, but if you’re just trying to avoid an injury, it’s probably okay, talking to your trainer or your therapist, to say, “hey, look, I want to avoid an injury,” and if they have a background in regards to sports specific training, they’ll give you some specific exercises.
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If you’ve experienced a knee injury and would like an appointment for a knee evaluation with Dr. Bennett, please call 281-633-8600.
