The knee bones connected to the…

By Tara Cabassi

Remedial Massage Therapist

A common theme in the clinic amongst my clients over the last 6 months has been, “I am getting, or I have had” a knee replacement.

It got me thinking as to why. Upon to chatting to one of my Physiotherapist colleagues, he reminded me that it the most replaced joint of the body. But I can’t help but wonder why.

As a Remedial Massage Therapist, one of our philosophies is to treat the whole person, or to look at the big picture, not just one area that is causing pain. Whilst we may feel pain or discomfort in a certain spot, sometimes the cause of the pain may be coming from somewhere else.

The knee joint primarily moves in two directions, we bend and straighten, or for proper terminology, we flex and extend. When our knee is in a bent position, we can also medially and laterally rotate our lower leg, the tibia bone.

The joints on either side of the knee are the hip and ankle, and these are both quite mobile structures, which allow movements for in various planes.

Our hip joint can flex, extend, abduct (move away from the midline) adduction (move towards the midline) and medially and laterally rotate.

The hip joint is also very important for stability during walking. Often when we have weak gluteus (bottom) muscles, this can lead to instability in the hips, which can mean the knee joint needs to work harder to keep us stable.

The feet and ankles are a highly mobile structure, made of 33 joints and 26 bones, not to mention all the muscles and tendons that help create the movement. It is very easy for our feet to become a bit rigid and lose its proper function. This is possibly due to us wearing shoes all the time. However, this again, could mean our knee needs to work harder to keep us stable.

Looking at the surrounding joints to the knee and ensuring they are functioning properly may help eliminate and decrease your knee pain.

Now, don’t get me wrong…knee surgery is needed in some cases! However, if surgery is something you are hoping to avoid, perhaps you can chat to our team about looking over your knees, as well as your hips and feet, to ensure they aren’t adding to any knee issues.

The whole team can help you here. The Physiotherapists can assess your function and provide exercise that may help your hips and ankles. Your Remedial Massage therapist can also analyse and assess and provide various massage techniques that may help loosen taut muscles and help restore function. Our Podiatrists will be able to assess your foot function and ensure all those joints are working well. And our Exercise Physiologists can give you specific exercises to get your body moving properly. All these things can also help if surgery is required, for pre and post operative care.

Don’t keep putting up with pain in the knee, come and see our team at 4 Life Physiotherapy in Mandurah or Pinjarra. Give our lovely reception team a call on 95835200 to book today.