An Overview Of Knee Pain, in Three Dimensions.
When I am examining knee pain, the first thing I do is make sure that I am the appropriate doctor for care: are there any tears in cartilage greater than a micro tear? Are there any breaks or chips in the bone, and are the joints arthritic more than slight amounts in diagnosis? If none of these previously diagnosed scenarios exist that would suggest that a patient is outside of my scope of care, I set about analyzing the knee from the three perspectives familiar to a kinesiologist: the structural, chemical, and emotional/spiritual perspectives.
The physical perspective involves the actual joint of the knee, including the alignment of the bones that come to "meet" behind the patella, or knee cap. When these bones are misaligned even by the smallest degree, it throws off the center of gravity of the body and that subtle shift can refer pain to sites throughout the body. The alignment of the pelvis, femur or thigh bone and the two lower leg bones, the fibula and the tibia, and the feet also need to be evaluated, as well as the Q angle, or the amount that the patella moves when the knee is "in use". I find that when the patella doesn't move as well on one side as the other, I need to look to the contracture of the quadriceps contraction has much to do with diet, so change might be indicated here or the thigh muscles in the front of the thigh, on that side finally, improper function of the popliteus muscle behind the knee is important to assess for the stability of the knee. Often this muscle is indicated in many presentations of knee pain.
If the knee is red or otherwise inflamed, the chemistry of the body usually includes an opportunistic infection that needs to be addressed with herbs, or in some cases, an antibiotic. Being an herbalist, of course, the natural route is most often my first choice, but there are times when an antibiotic is indicated. If the knee is not red or inflamed, I begin checking the various muscles tendons, and ligaments around the knee and their connections to organ function in the body. The quadriceps muscles are very reactive to the small intestines, the hamstrings to the bowels, the calf muscles to adrenal function, and the tendons and ligaments to gall bladder function. At times, these organs need a bit of extra help in the form of short-term supplementation, and that in turn allows the soft tissue that correlates to release, reset and function better.
I would be remiss to leave out the emotional/ spiritual aspect of knee pain, which is a first chakra affair. First chakra, or first energy center, has to do with grounding, or how well the patient is handling the demands of that person's particular life. Some questions to ask this person to answer might be: are you where you want to be in life? Do you have a sense of your place or your identity in the world? Do you feel truly supported in your life? Other issues include, but are not limited to, judgment of oneself and/or others, abandonment issues, and taking full responsibility for the creation of one's own life.
Lots of love to you…
Lisa Avila
