From visit one
Pain
Settle the angry joint.
Hands-on work and smarter loading calm an irritated hip or a swollen knee, so you can move it without paying for it that night.
What We Treat
Hip and knee pain treatment in the East Valley.
Stairs one at a time. A hip that only complains at 2am. Hips and knees share every step, so we test both, then treat whichever one is actually causing this.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like you?
- Taking the stairs one at a time, and always leading with the good leg
- Sleeping on your good side, because the other hip aches all night
- That deep pinch in your groin when you swing a leg out of the car
- Pushing off both armrests to get out of a low chair
- A knee that puffs up the evening after any walk longer than usual
- Parking as close to the door as you can, and planning the walk back
Two or more, and this is already picking your parking spot. Next it starts picking your weekends.
Why It Happens
Hips and knees share the work. And the blame.
These two joints are on the same team, which is why the sore one is often not the guilty one. A knee that hurts on stairs is frequently a hip that stopped controlling the leg, so the kneecap tracks off line every step. Deep hip pain in the groin usually comes from the joint itself, while pain on the outside of the hip is more often tendon and bursa taking a beating from the way you stand. Arthritis muddies it further: stiffness limits motion, weakness follows the stiffness, and the joint gets loaded worse than before.
Backs and ankles get a vote too. Sciatic pain can read as hip pain, and a stiff ankle changes how your knee absorbs every landing. You have been the reliable one for years, the one who carries the cooler and drives everybody, which is why you learned to work around this instead of getting it looked at. That was decent of you. It was not a plan. A cause-first evaluation tests hip, knee, back and ankle in one visit, so the plan targets the joint that is actually driving the pain.
The Honest Truth
A joint you protect is a joint that gets weaker.
If you keep waiting
- The other leg carries the load, and the sore list gets longer, not shorter
- Your walks get shorter, then optional, then something you used to do
- Weak hips and quads leave the joint less protected, so flares come easier
If you start this week
- You find out by the end of visit one whether the hip or the knee is driving this
- Hands-on work on the stiff joint starts at your first visit, not next month
- You get a plan with an endpoint, and stairs are on the list of things it has to fix
Nobody regrets starting too early. Plenty of people regret waiting.
How We Fix It
The same four phases. Hip and knee together.
Every plan has an endpoint. Here is what the four phases look like for the joints that move you.
Once it settles
Prime
Open the motion back up.
Hip rotation and full knee bend come back first, because you cannot strengthen a range you do not have.
Once motion returns
Perform
Build the muscle that guards it.
Glutes and quads get loaded on purpose, one leg at a time, until the joint has real support underneath it instead of guarding.
Before you are cleared
Prevent
Test it on real stairs.
Stairs, hills, squats and the walk you want back get tested under load before we call it done. That is the endpoint, not another appointment.
Rebecca, my lead physical therapist is the best! I can’t tell you how much she’s helped me over the past year. All of the physical therapists there actually worked with me, and they are fantastic as well.
Shared by Bill T. · Moore Physical Therapy, Mesa
Left another physical therapy clinic when his insurance changed
Therapists who actually worked with him, and a year of care he is glad he chose
Switched clinics
Over a year
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking a hip or a knee.
You do not have to wait on one to start. Films show the wear in a joint, and plenty of people walk around pain free with the same wear on their images, so a report does not tell you why this hip or this knee hurts today. Your evaluation does: we test the hip, the knee, the back and the ankle, and watch you walk and take a step up. If imaging changes the plan, we will tell you and help you get it. Self-pay patients can come directly to us without a referral, as Arizona allows direct access for self-pay patients. If you’re using insurance, you’ll need a referral. Not sure what applies to you? Call your clinic and our team will verify it for you.
Joints are not tires. Cartilage is living tissue, and it does better with load than without it, which is why the leg you have been protecting is usually the weak one. Sore during is not the same as damaged after. We pick the range and the load your joint tolerates right now, watch how it responds, and build from there, with a licensed physical therapist directing your care at every visit. If something needs to come off the list for a while, you will hear that too.
You get an estimated number of visits at your evaluation, and a reason for the number. A stiff arthritic knee and an irritated hip tendon are different jobs, and what you want to get back to changes the target. Your plan runs through all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform and Prevent, and you will always know which one you are in and what is left. When the goals are met, you are done, and you leave with the work that keeps it that way.
Still Deciding?
Not sure where to start?
You don’t need to know which clinic or which service is right before you reach out. Start a request, or call the clinic closest to you, and we’ll help you sort out the rest.
- Hours Click Here for Hours at Mesa Click Here for Hours at Gold Canyon Click Here for Hours at Tempe
- Call Us Today Mesa (480) 218-1344 Gold Canyon (480) 982-7948 Tempe (480) 833-7879
5.0 · 866 Google reviews
Let’s start with your name.
Start your request on our secure patient portal. It’s the same place every appointment request on this site goes, so nothing gets lost along the way.
Start My Request (opens in new tab)Opens our patient portal at patients.moorephysicaltherapy.com.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Moore Physical Therapy – Mesa
- 2500 S Power Rd #123, Mesa, AZ 85209 (opens in new tab)
- (480) 218-1344
- Fax: (480) 218-1356
- mesa@moorephysicaltherapy.com
- Mon–Fri 7am–6pm · Sat & Sun closed
Moore Physical Therapy – Tempe
- 2153 E Baseline Road #103, Tempe, AZ 85283 (opens in new tab)
- (480) 833-7879
- Fax: (480) 844-8411
- tempe@moorephysicaltherapy.com
- Mon–Fri 7am–6pm · Sat & Sun closed
Moore Physical Therapy – Gold Canyon
- 6410 S Kings Ranch Rd Bldg 2 Ste 4, Gold Canyon, AZ 85118 (opens in new tab)
- (480) 982-7948
- Fax: (480) 982-9145
- gc@moorephysicaltherapy.com
- Mon–Fri 7am–6pm · Sat & Sun closed