After 6 years of experience treating diverse types of pains, next to back and neck pain, knee pain is the most common site of pain and disability in the legs.
By “disability” I mean a person loses their full range of pain-free movement when knee problems occur, functional strength and their quality of life is dramatically affected.
Knee pain also disturbs sleep because knee pain sufferers eventually abandon active lifestyles which leads to hold more stress so insomnia starts kicking in.
Abandoning active lifestyles also has further consequences as leads to reduced fitness and weight gain, which will further impact their knee problems.
The supportive structures of the knee are susceptible to injury, mainly when a person wrenches it while performing a forceful twisting motion. They occur while slipping on a wet surface, falling directly on the knee or the most common cause I’ve seen: playing a sport; resulting in a potential ligament and meniscus tear.
Prolonged standing can also cause knee pain as prolonged standing positions limit the range of motion and can gradually make the knee joint weaker, making it lose its shock-absorbing capacity. However, prolonged siting also can develop knee pain as the knees bent for an extended period will eventually overstretch and overload the structures in and around the knee, leading to stiffness and pain when rising from a seated position, and if the bent posture continues, the knee might even become painful while sitting.
Poor sleeping posture can also become overstretched and overloaded while lying in a sleeping position, because the knee is bent for an extended period. That’s why some people get up in the morning with pain in the knee, without no an (apparent) reason.
Finally, the most common causes is overweight. Being overweight has been linked to the onset of knee pain by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Studies say that having a body mass index (BMI) over 25 points is associated with an increased risk of knee pain accompanied by loss of function. If a person has a BMI higher than 25, the AAOS suggests a 5 percent weight loss, and this can help decrease knee pain.
As we’ve seen above, pain in the knee can even happen without motion which makes the condition more concerning.
However there is always a reason why knee pain happens.
What you can do at home?
Stretching exercises are the most effective and natural program to treat your knee pain and regain pain-free movement. However these exercises require to perform stretches 10 times every two hours throughout the day until you go to bed. Therefore they require a constant dedication, willpower and time and still, there is no guarantee of complete improvement as this is a life-time program.
The following exercises are taken from Treat Your Own Kneeby Robin McKenzie, a New Zealand-born physiotherapist whose McKenzie Method is currently the most studied diagnostic treatment system for pain. If you’re interested to know any further, I suggest to purchase it on Amazon. Good tips and well explained.
What acupuncture and herbal medicine can do for you?
Although taking ownership of your pain is essential to living a pain-free life, there are various ways to assist you on this matter.
A combo of acupuncture and herbal medicine helps on this problem. Would you like to know how?
Acupuncture leads to small short-term improvements in pain and physical function in knee pain and knee caused by osteoarthritis. However in order to get benefits in the long-term, herbal medicine is required.
In Chinese Medicine, knee pain (non-traumatic which means no accident involved) is related to Liver and Kidney deficiency. The Liver is responsible to nourish the tendons whereas the Kidneys are responsible for the bones. If both Liver and Kidneys are deficient, it means there is a lack of blood going through the tendons (lack of moisture and nutrients) and poor blood circulation in the area creating the perfect storm for causing pain.
The sudden appearance of pain in the knee is the consequence of a long term deficiency. Therefore the cause of the pain has to be assessed accordingly apart of treating its manifestation which is the pain.
Bringing the Liver and Kidneys back to normal take time so the herbal medicine prescription needs to be taken between 3-6 months depending on the case. Just so we can guarantee long-term results of pain-free.
Remember, any body pain resulting from lack of movement is caused by an unbalance. Once we bring your body balance back to normal, the pain goes away.
