Knee Pain
The most common causes of knee pain are tight IT (iliotibial) bands or a pronated or flat foot. This worksheet is designed to help correct both of those scenarios. You should recognize that the majority of these pain syndromes are the result of a compensation, except in the case of trauma.
Pain in the outside of the knee usually results from overly tight IT bands. The two muscles that tense the IT band are the gluteus maximus and the tensor fascia latae or TFL. These muscles are tight because the gluteus medius, the muscle designed to stabilize the hip, has shut down, causing a compensatory tightness of the other two muscles.
Outside of the Knee Pain:
Stretch the glut max and TFL. Do 3 sets of a 30 second hold for each stretch twice daily.
- Glut Stretch: Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Cross the affected leg over the opposite knee. Grab, with both hands, the thigh of the leg with the opposite leg crossed over it. Pull back on the thigh gently, feeling the stretch in the buttocks on the opposite side.
- TFL Stretch: (you need to be able to perform a posterior pelvic tilt before performing this stretch). In the lunge position and your chest up. Angle the affected leg so that the foot is behind the foot of your opposite leg. Perform a posterior pelvic tilt.
Activate the glut med. Repetition is mastery. Repeat the exercise for 20 reps once or more per day.
- Clamshells: Lie on your side with your back, shoulders, hips and feet against the wall. Keeping it in the bent position, take your top leg and touch your knee to the wall.
Integrate the lower kinetic chain.
- Standing on the leg with the knee pain, lift the opposite leg and tap your foot around the face of an imaginary clock, returning to the other foot with each tap. Repeat 7 times as often as you can.
Make sure you find a chiropractor who can adjust the lower extremity to ensure that joints are moving properly. Activating and strengthening muscles around improperly moving joints can create even greater problems.
Inside of the Knee Pain:
Stretch your calves. Do 3 sets of a 30 second hold for each stretch twice daily.
- Calf Stretch: While standing close to and facing a wall, step backward with the leg that you want to stretch. Keeping your back leg straight, use the wall to help press your heel to the floor. The further back you move your leg, the greater the stretch. Repeat the stretch in the bent knee position. To stretch the outside of your calf, move your back foot outwards one foot width, slightly turn your foot inward, roll your foot and press your heel to the floor.
Activate the anterior and posterior tibialis muscles. Repetition is mastery. Repeat the exercise for 20 reps once per day or more.
- Ant. Tib. Activation: Stand with your feet staggered so that the heel of the foot about to perform the exercise is next to your toes of the other foot, roll your foot so that the outer surface of your foot touches the ground. Curl your toes while rocking back on your heel and lifting your forefoot.
- Post. Tib. Activation: Stand at arm’s length from the corner of a door jamb or wall with your toes up against the wall. Move the foot closest to the corner one third the distance back toward the corner. While keeping your arm straight and making sure you have a good grip lift your outside and tuck it behind the calf of the leg that remains on the floor. You should look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Slightly rotate the foot on the ground inwards while rolling your weight over the inside of your foot. Perform a calf raise while maintaining weight over the inside of your foot, pressing your foot downward and outward.
Integrate the lower kinetic chain.
- Standing on the leg with the knee pain, lift the opposite leg and tap your foot around the face of an imaginary clock, returning to the other foot with each tap. Repeat 7 times as often as you can.
If you aren’t already a patient of the office, consider this, in order for any of the above exercises to work properly, the joints should be able to move through their fullest range of motion to reap maximal benefit and the muscles need proper nerve supply to optimally function. A simple 10 minute computerized scan that measures spinal inflammation and muscle tension will tell you if you’re a good candidate for care at our office. Inquire at the front desk for an appointment.