Lower limb pain, whether it be hip, knee, ankle or foot pain can be very frustrating as it often interferes with our daily or sporting activities and in extreme cases can be very debilitating.
There are many causes of lower limb pain, finding the cause is the key to resolving the problem. At Eccleston Physiotherapy Clinic our Charted Physiotherapist will take a detailed history of the problem and will carry out an assessment to diagnose the cause of the pain. Following the assessment, the physiotherapist will discuss the cause of the problem with you and create an individual treatment plan to suit your needs.
Common causes of lower limb pain
Hip and Thigh
Muscle Strain – A strain is a muscular tear or rupture to any one of your muscles; it can occur at several places around your hip and thigh – Groin (usually adductors) back of thigh (usually hamstring) and front of thigh (quadriceps). A strain usually occurs with high speed activities such as kicking, change of direction or sprinting.
Hip Osteoarthritis – Hip osteoarthritis is a joint disease that mostly affects your hip joint cartilage. Healthy articular cartilage allows your hip joint bones to smoothly and painlessly glide over each other and also helps to absorb any shock forces not dispersed by your hip muscles. In hip osteoarthritis, your top layer of articular cartilage breaks down and wears away. Muscle weakness, and the resultant hip joint instability associated, is thought to contribute towards the deterioration of your hip joint cartilage.
Hip Labral Tear – The hip or acetabular labrum is a ridge of cartilage that runs around the rim of your hip joint socket. Its purpose is to make the hip socket deeper and more stable. The labrum can be torn from its attachment and cause pain, clicking or catching.
Sciatica – Sciatica describes pain felt along the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back, down through the buttock, hamstrings and into the lower leg. Pressure on the sciatic nerve from a herniated disc usually causes sciatica. Otherwise joint inflammation, compression of the nerve from bony arthritic growths or a locked facet joint in the lower spine can commonly cause sciatica.
Tendinopathy – Tendon injuries can develop in many different parts of the hip and thigh. Essentially where ever there is a tendon that attaches a muscle to a bone. Most commonly groin (adductors) or hamstrings (back of thigh / buttocks). A tendon injury may seem to happen suddenly, but usually it is the result of many tiny tears to the tendon that have happened over time.
Knee and lower leg
Knee Ligament injury – A ligament is a short band of tough fibrous connective tissue that connect bones to other bones around a joint. Major ligaments of the knee are 4 Cruciate Ligaments; ACL (Anterior), PCL (Posterior), LCL (Lateral) and MCL (Medial). You can injure a ligament through a sharp change in direction, landing wrong from a jump, or blunt force hit to the knee, such as in football tackle.
Patella Tendinopathy – is an overuse injury affecting your knee. It is the result of your patella tendon being overstressed. A common name for it is Jumper’s Knee. Pain is felt at the front of the knee below the knee cap. Usually made worse by running, jumping and sometimes prolonged sitting. Usually there are a number of causal factors that can be addressed.
Meniscus Tear – Your knee meniscus is a fibrocartilage that separates thigh bone (femur) from your shin bone (tibia). It is commonly referred to as your ‘cartilage’. Each knee joint has a medial meniscus and a lateral meniscus which help with stability and shock absorption. In the younger population, your knee meniscus is usually torn traumatically, by a twisting on a slightly flexed knee. In the older adult, the tear may be due to a natural age-related degeneration of the meniscus or a rough arthritic femoral bone surface tearing into the softer meniscus. Signs and symptoms of a meniscus tear can include pain along knee joint line, swelling, clicking, popping, locking and the knee giving way.
Knee Replacement – Or knee arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace the weight-bearing surfaces of the knee joint to relieve pain and disability. It is most commonly performed for osteoarthritis, and also for other joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Surgery can be performed as a partial or a total knee replacement. In general, the surgery consists of replacing the diseased or damaged joint surfaces of the knee with metal and plastic components shaped to allow continued motion of the knee. Post surgery requires specific rehabilitation to restore movement, strength muscles and improve balance.
Shin Splints – is a common complaint, especially among participants of running sports. The term ‘shin splints’ is used to describe shin pain along the inside or front edges of the shin. Shin splints are caused by overstraining of your muscles where they attach to your shin. The most common cause is overuse or overtraining associated with poor foot and leg biomechanics. Shin splints can be caused by a number of factors which are mainly biomechanical (abnormal movement patterns) and errors in training.
Ankle and Foot
Sprained Ankle – occurs when your ankle ligaments are overstretched. Ankle sprains vary in their severity, from mild ‘twisted ankle’ or ‘rolled ankle’ sprain through to severe complete ligament ruptures, avulsion fractures or broken bones. Repeated sprains can occur and become more problematic. Specific rehabilitation can improve recovery and prevent reoccurrences.
Achilles Tendinopathy – is a term that commonly refers to inflammation and micro tears of the Achilles tendon or its covering. It is an overuse injury that is common especially to joggers and jumpers, due to the repetitive action and so may occur in other activities that requires the same repetitive action. There is usually a combination of biomechanical factors that contribute to Achilles Tendinopathy that need to be addressed.
Plantar Fasciitis – is a common source of heel pain. You’ll typically first notice early plantar fasciitis pain under your heel or in your foot arch in the morning or after resting. Your heel pain will be worse with the first steps and improves with activity as it warms up. Unfortunately if nothing is done to address the problem the pain can worsen until there is pain all the time. The good news is that plantar fasciitis is reversible and very successfully treated. Treatment is aimed at reducing the pain and addressing the causal factors.
These are just a few of Lower Limb problems we see and successfully treat at Eccleston Physiotherapy Clinic. Be sure to book in for a full assessment of your problem and start your recovery.
