How Physical Therapy Helps Athletes Avoid Stiffness After A Knee Injury

The glut of knee injuries that occur in athletes are often very painful and may trigger a variety of struggles in many competitors, such as an inability to perform at their highest level. For professional athletes or those who would like to be professional, this type of stiffness and inability to perform may be detrimental to their career, though physical therapy may help them avoid lifelong complications.

Knee Injuries May Trigger Persistent Stiffness

Suffering from a knee injury is something that happens to a lot of athletes because of the importance of this joint in performing many athletic actions, such as pivoting to avoid a tackler on a football field, jumping to make a basketball shot, or leaping through the air in a track and field competition. The extent of the knee injury may vary in many people, some of whom may recovery fairly quickly.

Unfortunately, this knee injury may cause stiffness in the joint after it occurs, and even after a person thinks they have recovered. Unfortunately, this stiffness may make it very hard for a competitor to succeed at the highest level because they'll be unable to get the full range of motion and strength that they want from this joint. As a result, physical therapy may be a necessary care method for many.

How Physical Therapy May Help

Physical therapy is designed to focus on specific health issues in a concentrated and beneficial manner. For example, this therapy option can help a person after knee surgery by working within their limits to slowly extend their mobility. The idea here is to push a person just beyond their capabilities and comfort, forcing them to stretch their knee out a little bit more every day to get positive effects with their treatment.

They start out by examining a person's range of motion and coordination, asking them to push themselves as far as they feel comfortable. Then, they create a series of exercises — including various stability routines that help to make a knee stronger. Typically, these types of routines start in a doctor's office so that they can track a person's pain and adjust the intensity of their exercises to avoid unnecessary strain or worsened conditions.

Often, physical therapy for an injured knee will take several weeks or even a month or more to properly execute because the changes to the knee must be done slowly and persistently to avoid triggering more injury. Thankfully, many of these routines can also be done at a person's home with the help of various types of tools and recovery devices that minimize their suffering and enhance their recovery.