What is causing my knee and calf pain?

There are many issues that can cause pain to radiate from your knee into your calf and vice versa. It isn’t always easy to determine what exactly is causing your pain. However, physical therapists can help you diagnose the cause of your pain. 

Knee pain is especially common among Americans, and a study reveals that 40 million Americans reported knee pain in 2012. Helping you determine the cause of your knee and calf pain is just one way a physical therapist can help you. These specialists also offer techniques that can help decrease your pain. 

Common issues that can cause knee and calf pain

People experiencing pain in their knee and lower leg could be suffering from a variety of issues. Physical therapists are acquainted with many of these issues because they’re trained to treat conditions that affect the human musculoskeletal system. This system includes the structures of your knee and lower leg. 

A few of the common issues that could be causing discomfort in your knee and calf include: 

• Shin splints
• Patellar tendinitis
• Calf muscle strains
• Knee ligament injuries
• Knee osteoarthritis

Ways your physical therapist can help treat your knee and calf pain

Once they determine the cause of your pain, your physical therapist will build you a therapy plan to treat it. Therapy plans are typically unique to each patient, and they can contain therapy techniques such as: 

• Therapeutic exercises designed to strengthen muscles in your calf that support your knee. 

• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) sessions intended to reduce tension in knee and calf soft tissue. 

• Dry needling designed to reduce pain by creating a local twitch response in knee and calf soft tissue. 

• Joint mobilization that can help improve knee mobility and reduce knee discomfort that’s radiating into the calf. 

Turn to Advent PT for help treating knee and calf pain

Not sure where to turn for help with your pain? Our team of therapy specialists at Advent Physical Therapy can help you treat discomfort in your knee and calf. We’ll start by doing a free screening intended to reveal the source of your pain. Next, our physical therapists will build you a personalized therapy plan designed to reduce your pain and stop it from returning. 

Is your pain keeping you stuck at home? That doesn’t mean our therapists can’t help you! We offer at-home care and virtual therapy services that are specifically intended to help you treat your pain from home. 

Contact our team today for more information about how we can help treat your leg pain or to schedule an initial appointment.