Knee pain comes in a variety of forms spurred on by a variety of conditions.
And all these conditions have very fancy names.
However and regardless of the condition, resolution for knee joint pain involves taking care of the obvious problems first and foremost.
Each of these obvious problems has a name and I have come to know them by name and recognize their approach.
Years of training and experience have allowed the most obvious knee pain antagonists to rise to the creamy top.
Their voices have been heard in many different people.
They are easy to spot and when they are present I always greet them, not as foe but as friend.
I recommend being kind and attentive to the pain.
To hate it, be troubled by it or wish it to go away will only keep you further from the truth.
Ignorance is only bliss when pain or misfortune are not present.
After all, this pain is part of you.
A messenger, if you will, with important news.
Speak kindly, be attentive and listen.
Antagonists, especially those which are painful, aren’t used to such respectful and hospitable treatment.
Sometimes they are taken off guard within the span of initial introductions and disappear taking their pain with them.
Other times they carry messages with them and stay longer so as to be heard.
These antagonists are then messengers for the body.
I suppose I was lucky in regard to my upbringing.
Had I not been vastly younger than my direct and extended family, I may have failed to develop the perspective and skill to quiet the tongue and hone the ears.
It is from this perspective and practice of being attentive to the surroundings and noticing subtle nuances and the connectivity they share with the bigger picture which gives rise to the complex reality lying inconspicuously beneath the external flesh.
There is a language being spoken there.
One simple, yet foreign.
Once translation is understood, be it “sign” language or intuition, sense can be made of a painful knee joint.
First and foremost, listen to the words.
The words coming from the pain.
What do they say?
Not on the surface, but deeper.
Is it sharp and are the words harsh?
Do the words sound as if the knee joint is complaining in a dull, whiny voice?
Are they gruff, grinding and angry?
Just as important and lending more understanding to your knee pain is to watch its behavior as it moves.
Maybe ask it to move again to gain perspective of the big picture…the movement pattern disruptions.
Does your knee pain coincide regularly with specific movements?
Then listen until you think you understand the messages.
Listen and watch until you are able to make connections.
In the least, this attention will help you to fully articulate and explain when you feel pain in the knee joint which will help lead to the “why”.
Here is a list of common knee pain symptoms which I will translate for you.
Your knee pain is telling you your quads (front of the thigh) may be overly tight.
Your lateral (outside) quad muscle may be too strong in comparison to the much smaller medial quad muscle and may be contaminated with hot spots in need of foam rolling and stretching.
You are most likely too “quad reliant” or anterior inclined.
This tells me you are in need of much posterior work with exercises like the dead lift and single leg hip extension.
Your knee cap may be saying your ankles and hips are restricted, weak and in need of strength and mobility.
And if your knee cap speaks in the feminine tongue, pay attention to keeping your knee joint lined directly above your ankle joint especially when bending the knee.
You must resist the urge to allow your knee joint to “cave inward” when attempting movements like the squat and lunge. Push the knees outward and keep the foot-bed firmly planted.
Pain on the outside of the knee
Lateral knee joint pain is likely saying to you your I.T. Band is tight.
This is a symptom not the cause.
The cause is likely tight glutes, especially the external rotators of the hip.
Foam rolling, flexibility exercises and posterior chain exercises are needed.
You may have stiff ankles which can be caused by inappropriate footwear.
You will then need ankle mobility exercises and possibly even barefoot training unless you have extremely flat feet.
You knee says it doesn’t like running on crowned roads.
Learning the art of keeping the entire foot-bed planted during movement is essential.
This technique must be mastered not only with everyday movements but also with symmetrical movements like the squat and dead lift and most importantly, the single leg dead lift.
Feminine lateral knee pain suggests you most likely stand or “hang” on a hip.
Meaning: stand with your weight mostly on one leg and cock that hip outward.
Moms holding their children on their hip do this often.
Pain on the inside of the knee
Your knee pain is telling you strain or damage has been done to the ligaments, cartilage or meniscus.
Your knee is asking you to keep your ankles and hips mobile and strong so they are able to aline the knee joint in accordance to the position of the ankle and hip joints.
Your knee joint is asking you to press outward on knee dominant exercises and movements to unload the painful areas.
Your knee joint says get the external rotators of the glutes mobile and strong to help control the knee joint through it’s movements.
And if your pain speaks loud enough when squatting, it’s telling you to dead lift more often than squat.
Maybe a lot more often.
Numerous connections can be made regardless of the degree or type of knee pain you experience.
But only if you attempt to listen to the language through attention.
These connections provide answers.
These answers shed light on direction.
Direction opens opportunity.
Opportunity gives rise to change.
Rochelle Gravance
LoseTheKneePain
