Skip to main content

Lateral Knee Pain Solutions: It's not really your knee!

I usually take a "bottom-up" approach to assessment, which means that we look at the full kinetic chain from your foot's contact with the floor and then work up to the top. Today, we are just considering a painful spot that can develop on the outside of either leg near the knee. There is a tendon that runs along the outside of our legs, starting at the hip near the hip flexor muscles and runs down along the thigh right next to the knee and close to your hamstring muscle. This tendon is called Illiotobial band or IT Band for short. The IT Band is a tendon, not a muscle, so its job is to stabilize the knee either when extended or flexed, depending on trunk position. Basically understood, it keeps you stable while walking, jogging or running.
theragrid.com
A common source of discomfort related to inflammation of the IT Band is felt either at the hip or on the outside of the knee. One thing I have learned from professionals about IT Band rehabilitation is that there really isn't a stretch for this part of the leg. You end up stretching the hip muscles or muscles in the lower leg, and not much at the spot you want to address. The best method for relaxing these trigger points is to foam roll those spots.

As you can see from the video, you simply roll back and forth along the side of the leg. If you find a particularly tender spot, try holding the roller there for no more than 15 seconds. Applying pressure releases the tension in the muscle and tendon. If you don't have a foam roller, make sure you start with a softer roller to get started. I personally recommend Power Systems for their different types of rollers.

For more information on this topic: Contact Me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Fiber for FItness (or just fitting into clothes)

The average American diet simply does not have enough fiber. White enriched flour has almost no fiber content. The most popular veggies are tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, and cucumbers, which have almost no fiber content (or vitamin content for that matter). Fiber helps regulate the digestive system (especially soluble fiber) by moving lipids (i.e. fats) through the blood stream and helping regulate sugar absorption. Insoluble fiber helps move bulk through the intestines, easing constipation and maintaining healthy acid levels. You should also try to manage the sugar and fiber intake, especially for weight loss. Less sugar equals fewer calories which always contributes to weight loss. Check out the chart below for examples Other great ideas are some of the whole fruit smoothies such as Bolthouse Farm products which use whole fruits and not juices. Fiber in your diet is an easy way to lose weight without making huge changes, so get started!
1 comment
Continued »

Exercise- Some Motiviation Required

It requires some thought in to why we do and don't do things. Exercise was not really much expected of the average person when there was so much labor to do around the home and job. Our evolution from labor based to service based industries has created a need for us to generate time for activity. Hence- our need for motivation. Exercise in ancient Greece, for example, was an ingrained part of the religion and culture. The Gymnasium was dedicated to physical perfection, but also developed into a meeting place of philosophers and educators. In some ways, exercise is a motivator today for people to look attractive, impress their friends, potential friends, or just to make people notice them. Vanity can motivate. Sometimes, it's just about pride. The thought of having to buy new clothes to make room for more of you is just not pleasant (especially when you see the selection available). In fact, some studies have demonstrated that monetary incentives have helped people lose
Post a Comment
Continued »

Body weight, reexamined...

The constant battle with the scale can be unending and unnerving. Before you even consider using it as your guide to a healthy weight, you should really consider the alternatives: Body fat percentage : this is the most accurate measure of health and fitness. It means a low weight or lean person can have too much body fat and still have the potential for many ailments associated with being "overweight" including Type II diabetes and osteoporosis, for example. A heavier person with normal body fat percentage would actually be better off. Technology allows us to measure body fat percentage through a bioelectric resistance pad, which are those silver pads you can find on some scales. Make sure you purchase that kind of scale because it really appraises you of true progress- more lean tissue and less fat. See how you fall out on the chart below: Waist-to-Hip Ratio: this is another effective way to measure how much fat has accumulated around the abdomen. As a general rule
Post a Comment
Continued »