WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — It’s not the bee’s knees at all to have pain there where you bend your legs and it’s important not to ignore it.

There are many things United Regional sports medicine physicians can do and it’s care you’re likely not to get anywhere else.

If you are knee-deep in knee pain, you are not the only one.

“We know from studies that when you walk, you put about four times your body weight across your knee,” United Regional Orthopedic Surgeon Michael Sheen, MD said. “The nice thing about being able to sit down with somebody one-on-one still in medicine is that you can design something just for them.”

From pediatric patients to student-athletes and older people who have worn-out joints, Sheen can help make you comfortable again.

“First thing we do is make a diagnosis then you know exactly what to do if it’s a strain or sprain then it’s just rest, let it heal itself,” Sheen said. “If it’s an injury that occurs surgical intervention then we talk about what surgery might help with that particular injury and it changes with time, things I did 35 years ago, a lot of them I don’t do anymore.”

Medicine has changed and Sheen has been on the cusp of it all.

“Knee replacements, an example for arthritis, 35 years ago would last two years, now they last 30,” Sheen said. “Now you can do a lot of surgery through an arthroscope and scopes are even getting smaller so now they’re nanoscopes, they’re about the size of a needle.”

Before getting to a point of surgery, a patient may be wondering when to seek medical care in the first place.

“When they’re concerned enough, certainly there are situations, they can’t straighten out or bend the knees, somethings blocking doing that,” Sheen said. “If they’re having severe pain and can’t put any weight on it at all and if they suspect an injury that makes the knee feel unstable.”

United Regional has an Advanced Certification which means certifying agencies have come and declared everything the hospital is doing with knee and hip replacements is on the cutting edge of technology.

“In fact, the last reviewer who came through said if I had to have my knee or hip done, I’d have it done here as well as any place like Mayo [Clinic] or anywhere else,” Sheen said.

There are some things you can do at home first though. Think R.I.C.E which stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation.

“You can’t tell initially how bad it is, a lot of times it can be obvious if the knee swells up immediately, or if you can’t walk on it then we know it’s something pretty severe,” Sheen said. “Otherwise it’s usually sprained and strains, you can kind of watch them on your own for a while, just don’t increase activities to give it a chance to get better.”

The most important thing to avoiding injuries is knowing how to prevent them in the first place.

“If we can keep particularly younger athletes strong and understand exactly how to use their bodies, how to protect themselves, how to correctly tackle for example,” Sheen said. “As we all age then there are ways that you have to change what kind of activities they do, some people I recommend they get away from high impact activities at all and switch to swimming, biking, fast walking, less traumatic.”

Simple adjustments to making sure you’re not weak at the knees for good.

When Sheen first started working on knees, people were in the hospital recovering for 10 days and now they’re just there overnight. He said they discovered home is the best place for recovery.

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