OH NO! KNEE PAIN
The knee bone may be connected to the shin bone, but that’s not the cause of the pain.
I know you know this, but let me say, your body is amazing. It is a dynamic mechanism in which nothing happens in isolation. That said, dysfunctional movement patterns in one area, if left uncorrected, will negatively affect neighboring areas. This can begin a chain reaction, which may trigger pain in parts of the body you had no idea were connected.
What does this mean to you? The knee pain you may feel after a walk might have less to do with your knee and more to do with how muscles around your pelvis are (or aren’t) working. Then again, a lack of mobility in your ankles or muscular imbalances in your lower legs could be the culprit. And why are your shoulders so stiff? All you did was sit at work all day. Do you see where this is going?
The Site of the Pain Is Rarely the Source
In order to better understand the interconnected nature of the body, let’s look at the long-term consequences of misaligned movement from your feet up to your shoulders. The example we will use is not so unusual. Maybe you’ll recognize someone you know.
What we are going to begin with is what is referred to as “knock knees.” You are probably familiar with the inward roll of the knees this term describes, but let’s check out what’s happening above and below the obvious. Along with this condition there is a rolling-in of the ankles and feet. Also, the arches will be collapsed. Painful? Maybe, but remember this: the site of the pain is rarely the source of the pain.
What’s the cause of the problem? If this is you, your glutes (famous in song and story as booty) are underactive. That is, they aren’t working like they should. So, the muscles on the top and interior of your thigh have to work harder to compensate. This leads to more than sore thighs as it also affects the movement of your leg bones, which adds to the stress on your IT band. Voila! You get to enjoy IT band pain with a side order of tight hamstrings and reduced mobility in your ankles.
The IT band or tract is a superficial sheet of fascia, which runs vertically along the outside of your thigh from your hips, past your knee and attaches on the top portion of your shin bone.
Oh No! Knee Pain
If all of this is happening, you might also have pain under your kneecap. This is the “mysterious pain” you may feel after a run or wearing new shoes or a day spent walking on concrete sidewalks. What’s happening is the lateral displacement of the kneecap relative to the thigh bone.
Your kneecap (patella – makes me think of Nutella!) is a floating bone held in place by a tendon and ligament, so it is supposed to move. In fact, your shin bone (tibia) and thighbone (femur) rotate in relation to one another at the knee. Excessive rotation, especially repetitive movement with less-than-optimal patterns can leave the knee out of alignment, even when you’re at rest.
So, you’ve probably figured out that the movement of your knees is linked to the function of the muscles and bones above and below. More specifically to this example, if your knees are bending inward this will aggravate the inward roll of your feet. The unhappy result is more stress on the ligaments and meniscus in your knees and a greater likelihood of knee pain and injury.