KNEE

End Tightness, Pulling, Painful Grinding

Restore fluid-like movement, prevent major injuries.

Problem:

Imbalance: the less mobile exterior knee muscles, tendons & fascia are, the more tension there is on interior ligaments, meniscus & bone condyles.

Minor Injury - Exterior strains, abrasions & tears; causing swelling (bursa-excretion).

Treatment:

All tissues that envelope knee must be loosened, de-adhered & mobilized, so they can glide easily through their full range of motions. For most people this specifically includes:

1. moving the tendons that run down both sides of the knee (gastrocnemius, biceps femoris & I.T.Band) toward the kneecap.
2. moving both sides of the wide ligament running from kneecap to shinbone (patellar ligament) away from & then back toward midline of knee.
3. moving the muscle at very top of the back of the knee (popliteus; feels like a horizontal lump half the size of your thumb) upward & slightly toward outside of knee (or whatever combination of directions until it loosens significantly).
4. de-adhering the dense deep clump of thigh muscles just above top of kneecap (rectus-femur, vastus medialis & lateralis).

Notes:

     Basic traditional physical therapy alleviates pain and symptoms, but usually not the many little mechanical displacements that lead to repeated irritation and infection.

     De-adhering & mobilizing muscles & tendons along the outer side of thigh, especially the big bulky thigh muscles (vastus lateralis & intermedius) and the tendons at the top of shin bone (tibia), reduces stress on the I.T. Band (iliotibial tract), allowing it to move more smoothly, without the friction that causes I.T. Syndrome.

     Every individual is different, needs specific advise— an athlete learns which muscles are particularly important for him to personally stretch as part of a warm-up routine; likewise one must learn which parts of his own knee tend to need a little extra help getting loose and how best to do this.

     Minor knee injuries point out mechanical weaknesses & anatomical displacements; ignore their signals and major injury is nearer and nearer— don’t play with fire, de-adhere and reposition before it’s too late.

Major Injury – interior ligament & meniscus tears; needing surgery.

Treatment:

Don’t wait, don’t worsen injuries; get the surgery you need immediately. In the modern world one should have physical therapy before and after surgery; twisted muscles & tendons should be massaged & repositioned rather than left to stiffen in their trauma-cramp-postures. This reduces swelling & allows knee to decompress. This is what I call de-traumatizing the knee before surgery, and it dramatically decreases the time a knee needs to heal after surgery.

Notes:

     Relatively minor meniscus tears often sliver; small broken pieces slip around, often for many years, slowly wearing down the ends of the bones (femur condyles), making them vulnerable to bone bruises (edema).

     People with regular knee pain should learn how to check for bulging menisci on each side of the knee (femur-tibia joint). Minor discomfort there is a warning.

     Knee injuries are possible at any time, but de-adhering and mobilization greatly improve a knee’s ability to absorb a powerful blow (momentum received by flexibility means no tearing).

     Knee health is a combination of healthy tissue & range of motion-- strength should be built upon these 2 building blocks.

     Strength with limited mobility is a knee vulnerable to major injury.

     People rarely notice just how much knee mobility has decreased, until it is freed!

Benefits:

1. restores appropriate interior-exterior push-pull balance.
2. loosens and frees (de-adheres) muscles, tendons & fascia enveloping knee.
3. restores fluid-like smoothness to knee motion.
4. immediately increases knee flexibility.
5. immediately decreases knee vulnerable to injury.
6. immediately increases knee stability, and thus rapid strengthening.
7. increases quickness and agility.
8. frees knee to function in its ideal range of motion; best for long term health.
9. dramatically improves mobility of previously injured knee.