Patellofemoral Pain Sydnrome (aka Runners Knee)
What is it?
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is an umbrella term used for pain arising from the patellofemoral joint itself (knee cap), or adjacent soft tissues. It is often seen in runners and tends to present as anterior knee pain that tends to worsen with activities such as squatting, sitting, climbing stairs, and running.
What is the cause?
PFPS can be due to a patellar trauma, but it is more often a combination of several factors: overuse and overload of the patellofemoral joint, anatomical or biomechanical abnormalities, muscular weakness, imbalance or dysfunction. Excessive overload and abnormal tracking of the patella are the main reasons behind PFP symptoms.
Signs & Symptoms
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anterior knee pain that is aggravated by activities that increase patellofemoral compressive forces such as:
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ascending/descending stairs,
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sitting with knees bent,
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kneeling
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squatting
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can develop slowly over time or brought on acutely.
What can we do about it?
Physiotherapy and exercise prescibption has been shown ery useful in the management of PFPS. The physiotherapists at Sports and Spine are well equipped to assess and diagnose PFPS. We have a state of the art gym to bring you through your exercises to rehabilitate and address muscle imbalances. Common treatments that the therapists at Sport and Spine Physio use are manual therapy, taping to offload the knee cap and muscle strengthening of the correct muscle groups.