Is Knee Pain and/or Arthritis a Concern?

A recent study from Baylor University discusses findings relating activity, osteoarthritis and knee pain. The study highlighted that walking helped prevent and reduce pain.

Although the study followed people over the age of 50, it shows that people who walk frequently had less pain at the outset. In other words, get moving!

In an effort to stay active, many of our clients find their joint pain is reduced as Bridging® resets the muscle relationships between your feet, legs and core.

Our goal is to help you stay active at every age!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, and caregivers who fill the role of Dad! One of the joys of fatherhood is playing with your kids, but when you are side-lined with joint pain, no one is happy.

Knee pain in particular is frustrating

Does this sound familiar? You may have had your knee checked to rule out something serious. All the scans are clear, but it still bothers you.

The pain is manageable with Advil or Tylenol. Stretching and strengthening only help so much. Overall it has you wondering, “Is being active causing more harm than good?”

The answer is maybe. Here are two aspects to consider:

• Misaligned interconnections at the knee can create more stress the more you use it.
• Stress can also cause the inflammation that gets labeled as osteoarthritis.

Both of these can change with Bridging®.

Three reasons for knee pain

There is a saying in therapeutic circles that the knee is never the issue, it’s the victim. Often an injury somewhere else messes up the alignment at the knee, and this is what causes the pain.

Here are a few of the likely suspects:

1. An ankle incident
2. Falls onto a hip, low back, or core
3. Auto accidents from the side or at an angle

Read more below to understand why these stress the knee. The good news is that a session or two of Bridging® will usually let your knee feel better, allowing you to get back into the action!

Three common culprits behind knee pain

No matter the age, we find some simple reasons for knees to be thrown off their game. Some are intuitive, but a couple are not.

• Ankle Incidents: Often this is a sprain, but doesn’t have to be that bad. You might have planted your foot wrong (with cleats or a high heel) and it tweaked the ankle. Although you didn’t think anything more about it, the trauma may have been just enough to throw off the coordination of the ankle to the knee. This results in stress to the knee.
• Falling: You slipped or got pushed, and fell onto your hip or shoulder. Why would this affect your knee? The fall left a torque in the core or lower back, which shifts the pelvis, causing an odd angle to the knee from the hip. Again, the stress on the knee is what causes the pain.
• Auto Accidents from the side or an angle: You are buckled into your car and have air bags, but a hit from the side can cause issues. Why would you end up with knee pain? A side or angled impact will cause a unique twist between the legs and the core, because of the unique torque from the impact. The seatbelt holds the pelvis secure, but the side force will torque the legs at the hip. This throws off the alignment at the knee, leaving you with stress and pain.

Yes, these all can change pretty quickly! Understanding the root cause helps us know which movements were affected and provide valuable clues to reset your muscle coordination.