23
December
2020
|
08:29 AM
America/New_York

Is Your Knee Pain Worse at Night? A Physical Therapist Explains Why That Might Be

POPSUGAR reports on the causes of knee pain at night and solutions for relief according to HSS physical therapist Zachary Rogers, PT, DPT, CSCS.

"I would suggest seeing a physical therapist, a physiatrist, or your primary care physician if you are experiencing knee pain at night," advised Rogers, as there are different conditions that can cause that pain, and only a trained expert can make that call. "Osteoarthritis is the musculoskeletal condition I see most often in my clinical practice that can present with worsening pain at night," noted Rogers. "However, any knee condition that is associated with increased inflammation can present with increased pain at night. Some examples could be patella femoral pain syndrome, patella tendonitis, quadriceps tendonitis, and medial or lateral meniscus tears,” he continued.

Another reason that knee pain can feel more uncomfortable at night is due to increased activity levels during the day that are outside the person's exercise or functional capacity. "This can be seen when someone is accustomed to running one mile per day for exercise but then one day that person decides to run three or four miles without proper training or gradually building up to this distance,” explained Rogers.

Additionally, there are some things you can do at home to help relieve your knee pain. "When dealing with knee pain at night, I recommend applying an ice pack to the knee before bed for 15-20 minutes to help soothe the pain," said Rogers. "A lot of times ice before bed will be sufficient to help reduce the knee pain at night." Alternating between a heating pad and an ice pack could also be helpful if ice alone isn't doing the trick. "One can use a heating pad on the knee for 15-20 minutes about an hour before bed and then use an ice pack on the knee for 15-20 minutes right before bed. Sometimes the alternating combination of heat and ice before bed can be helpful to soothe knee pain at night,” he added. Gentle stretching of the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves may also help in reducing knee pain at night, concluded Rogers.

Read the full article at Popsugar.com.