Explaining Knee Pain

Here’s a video to demonstrate what we do in our offices for patients experiencing knee pain:

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Why do I have knee pain?

The body is designed to have both stable and mobile joints.  Some injuries occur due to the lack of stability or an increase in mobility of a joint.  Understanding how the knee relates to other structures in the body is the key for explaining knee pain, and how it evolves.

Understanding relationships in the body

If we look at the lower extremity, we have the ankle, knee and hip joints.  The ankle and hip are considered mobile joints and the knee is considered a stable joint.  We often see people in the office that have knee pain, but have never injured their knee in the past.  They ask us, “Why does my knee hurt when I never injured it?”.  Often this is due to loss of mobility in the ankle and/or hip.  If the ankle and/or hip lose mobility, then the knee will make up for the lack of mobility.  This may or may not make sense to you, but either way you are probably wondering how to eliminate your current knee pain.  The answer points back to the concept of stability and mobility.  Knowing which of these is affected is what permits explaining knee pain, and how it may have developed.

Treatment for knee pain

We tend to give strengthening exercises for the knee to help support the joint and make it more stable.  We also give stretching and mobility exercises for the ankle and hip to make them more mobile.  Soft tissue treatments are also performed when applicable! If you have knee pain you can TRY THIS TEST or watch the video below to see if your ankle mobility is part of the problem.

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