Knee pain can be caused by an assortment of reasons or conditions. During most exercises, your knees act as an anchor for the rest of your body as you use the athletic stance: knees bent, feet hip width apart, back tilted and head up. That is to say, your knees can often undergo and take on a lot of stress and pressure, especially if overworked. Taking care of your body and understanding where pain may be occurring can help you take back your confidence in all activities.
Identifying where the pain may be coming from can be difficult and can be a long process especially without help or previous knowledge. Finding help with knee pain through a physical therapist or doctor can make a huge difference in your journey as you learn, recover and become empowered.
Could your tight hamstrings be the cause of your knee pain?
Short answer: It is possible!
Long answer: There are many possible causes of knee pain, but tight hamstrings are a common knee pain cause. Your hamstring muscles (there are three of them) are connected to your lower leg bones just below your knees. When you work your hamstrings, they bend your knee joints and pull your lower legs up toward your butt. This means that as you work your hamstrings, your knees are under stress as well. Overworking the hamstrings can lead to them tightening up, which can put excessive stress on your patella, or kneecap, and lead to knee pain.
How did you develop tight hamstrings?
Not only does working your hamstring also mean working your knee, but also, tightness in your hamstring could mean that you are not preparing well before exercising. Furthermore, if you are experiencing tightness in your hamstrings, you could be increasing your risk of an injury.
Hamstring tightness can be caused by intense forms of exercise, long periods of inactivity before activity, or even dehydration. Proper stretching and warmups can help prevent tightness and pain in your hamstrings and knees. It is important to listen to your body and not shock it with exercise; exercise should feel like you are working but should never cause pain or strong discomfort.
3 ways PT can help reduce hamstring tightness and knee pain
Physical therapists have many techniques they can use to help ease tight hamstrings and reduce the knee pain that results from that tightness. A few techniques your therapist may use to help you include:
- Manual therapy — This category of PT techniques is also called hands-on therapy. Manual therapy techniques all involve physical therapists using their hands to move or manipulate your body in some way. One hands-on technique that may be used to ease tight hamstrings is called soft tissue mobilization. When using this technique, your therapist will use their hands to perform massagelike movements on the tight hamstring. These movements are designed to improve blood flow and ease the tension in the hamstring, which should also help decrease your knee pain.
- Trigger point therapy — Trigger points are areas of tension or scar tissue that can appear in muscles over time. They may be the source of your tight hamstrings and knee pain. A physical therapist can use trigger point therapy movements to target any trigger points in your hamstrings. By breaking down the trigger points, your therapist can help ease the tension in your hamstrings and ease the stress on your knee.
- Therapeutic exercises — Another reason you may have tight hamstrings is that they’re not strong enough to do the activities you’re trying to do. Your physical therapist can show you how to do specific stretches that can help stretch the tension out of your hamstrings. They can also help you learn how to do exercises designed to strengthen your hamstrings, and improved hamstring strength can help reduce your risk of future injury and your risk of future knee pain.
Find help easing hamstring tightness and knee pain at Panther PT
Seeking professional help from Panther Physical Therapy can help you identify the problem areas behind your knee pain and understand your symptoms better. Our team includes dedicated physical therapists who understand your pain and symptoms. They can help you identify and understand the source of your hamstring tightness. They can also build you a custom PT plan that includes effective techniques that are designed to promote pain reduction and recovery.
Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment and start your journey to feeling stronger and freer in your body!