Knee Pain or Something Else?

Pain in your knee?orthotics, we need to check out the hips and pelvis.
Sometimes when you have knee pain and you'veThe first thing to do is to manage the cause. In
been to see specialists and nothing seems to be theother words we need to re-orientate the pelvis to
answer, you do wonder whether you'll end upreduce the leg length discrepancy. To do this we
needing divine intervention. With biomechanicshave to reduce the muscle spasm in the outside of
becoming more widely understood, we now knowthe hip (in a muscle called piriformis) to allow the joint
that by sorting out your biomechanics, we can oftento re-orientate itself. The best way to do this is by
reduce the need to get down on your knees andperforming 'anti-spasm' exercises for the muscle.
pray. The affects our biomechanics have on ourStretching or flexibility work just won't cut it. You
body and the vicious circle of injury and pain it canneed to return the muscle to normal function, not
cause is one of the main reasons knee pain can bejust stretch it. Once the spasm is eradicated as much
recurrent.as possible, then the leg length typically returns to
A rotated pelvis for example can go unnoticed fornormal length. Now you have a level playing field. If
many years until the compensations start to causethe symptoms have not subsided and if you still over
problems. This abnormal pelvic position often causespronate, now you can safely have orthotics
one leg to appear longer or shorter and the bodyprescribed, as any remaining foot biomechanical
must compensate for this. Typically one way itproblem will be inherent to the foot. Rehab on your
compensates is to overly flatten (pronate) the footknee will now have a better chance of working for
of the longer leg to shorten it, another way is toyou, if it's still necessary.
bend the knee more.To fully complete your rehab talk to your local physio
Unfortunately both of these options will increase theabout exercises to stabilise your knee and pelvis. In
load on the knee. If the foot over pronates, it willother words exercises that allow your muscles to
cause the leg to internally rotate excessively. Thiscontrol your pelvis and knee without them needing to
rotation force will often be absorbed at the knee,go into spasm. Part of this process is achieved by
which can result in pain. If the knee bends too muchso-called 'core stability exercises', but also you need
during mid-stance phase, this will de-stabilise the kneeto speak to your physio about plyometric exercises
and it will naturally want to rotate inwards. If this isfor pelvic and knee muscles that you can do in the
combined with an already over pronating foot, thegym.
problem is exaggerated. Both of these situations areAs a result of one of the largest studies in
likely to cause knee pain. Certainly if knee painbiomechanics by Galileo Active we can all benefit
already exists this type of load will prevent it fromfrom assessing our biomechanics, in the comfort of
settling down, even if it isn't the main cause of theour home. They have developed a CD ROM
problem.software program that helps you asses your
Managing these biomechanical issues is critical if yourbiomechanics with the software prescribing the
knee pain is to be managed and allow you to returnexercises needed to remove these biomechanical
to long term running. Bearing in mind that 60% of theproblems and in turn help manage and prevent the
biomechanical problems with your feet are due totypes of knee injuries we're talking about in this
compensations for faulty hip or pelvic biomechanics, itarticle.
is important that before we start thinking about