Knee injuries are among the most common types of injury, both among people who do sports, and those who don’t. Things like sprains – which affect the ligaments in the knee – happen to most people at one time or another, and usually they are not severe and get better with rest. However, when a serious sprain occurs, it can be incredibly painful and generally will require some supervised rehabilitation to get over.
Things like physical therapy can seem arduous, especially when you are beginning to feel like you have recovered already and aren’t experiencing acute pain any longer. Nonetheless, it is still vital that you stick to your rehabilitation program to the end, and follow it properly. Here we look at why:
Overcompensation
Often, people who are recovering from a knee injury think they are able to walk again normally, but are actually putting extra strain on other parts of their body like their hips and other leg to achieve this. This overcompensation for the injured leg leads to all kinds of muscular and postural imbalances, which over time will lead to things like lower back pain, hip pain, and other musculoskeletal issues. You may not feel or look like you are limping, but without proper exercise to strengthen up your injured leg and get you used to trusting it to bear weight again, it is likely that you won’t return to a normal gait.
Chronic Pain
Serious knee injuries can lead to pain that never truly goes away. Many people experience some knee pain from old injuries even decades after the injury. However, by going through proper rehabilitation, you have the best chance to recover to a mostly pain free state. Yes, you may need to be more careful than you used to be while doing certain activities, or use knee supports during sports, and you may experience some stiffness and twinges (especially when it’s cold), but by working hard on your rehabilitation now, you can definitely reduce the pain you’ll experience in the future by a large margin.
Also Read: How to Deal With Throat Problems
Expert Advice
Every injury is different, and so having an expert like the specialists at Kneecare Clinics supervising your recovery means that your program will be tailored to your situation. Seeing a physical therapist or knee care specialist regularly allows you to understand the progress you are making towards recovery, too, which can be important mentally during what can be a frustrating time. Dropping your appointments as soon as you feel like you can walk better will actually mean you don’t get the custom attention your injury needs, so make sure you keep up your therapy until you get the okay from the people treating you.
As you can see, there are plenty of good reasons to keep pushing through with your physical therapy exercises and attending appointments related to your injury, even once you start to feel like you are back to normal. It can be annoying to have to wait longer to go back to the activities you love, but it will be worth it in the long run!
