Knee pain can be annoying but finding the cause can become difficult to find. Just treating the symptoms is not the best long term solution.

When working properly, your patella (knee cap) should glide straight up and down as you extend and move your leg, With the absence of injury knee pain is commonly due to poor biomechanics.

The 3 most common structural causes are:

1. Flat feet- Pronation

Flat feet causes your gait to change (the way you way you walk).

With flat feet the tibia internally rotates and in turn that causes internal rotation of the femur

This then affects the patella’s normal tracking motion.

Hyper-pronation causes the medial portion of the quadriceps to function differently and leads to muscle weakness.

2. Muscle weakness

We need the muscles surrounding the knee to work in unison ,so the patella of the knee tracks in normal alignment. When there is weakness of the VMO (medial portion of the quadriceps) and tight ITB/Hip flexors the knee cap track’s laterally when we walk and this in turn causes a lot of discomfort in the knee.

Weakness of the gluteal muscles is also a big contributor to knee pain, as they are a large muscle group required for stability.

All of these muscle imbalances can predispose to injury especially in physically active people or injury can occur just doing something simple like walking or kneeling down.

Click here for some help with knee strengthening exercises.

3. Misalignment of the hips and pelvis

Hips and pelvis that are out alignment will cause increased pressure though the knees due to uneven distribution of weight when moving.

We commonly find that patients who have an imbalance in their hips and pelvis/ a short leg will be quite tender to touch on the inside of their knee.

So what can we do to help your Inner knee pain?

– Chiropractic Care to balance hips and pelvis

It is highly important to correct these structural issues through the hips and pelvis as they greatly affect the knees and feet but also cause low back pain, and have a flow on affect to the neck and shoulders.

– Strengthening/activation exercises for the weak muscles.

It’s important to build up muscle endurance and strengthen the quadriceps muscles in the front of your leg, especially the medial portion of the quadriceps (VMO).

You’ll also need to stretch the muscles and tendons that may be tight such as the hamstrings, Hip flexors and the iliotibial band (on the outer side of the leg).

– Orthotics for flat feet/ ensuring that you are wearing appropriate foot wear.

Knee issues can be due to a combination of the above factors. If you have any questions please feel free to message us.

Dr. Britt and Dr. Lisa chiropractors

www.errolstchiro.com.au

Categories Exercise, Knee Problems
 
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