STRETCHING EXERCISES FOR REFERRED KNEE PAIN

Referred pain in general

Referred knee pain is just one example of a phenomena seen all over our body.

For pain originating from muscles and joints, bones and internal organs, our brain may only know that the pain has come via a particular nerve.

We may then feel the pain wherever in our body that nerve brings messages from.

One example of this is feeling pain at the tip of our shoulder which has actually originated in our diaphragm (which is the sheet of muscle between our chest and stomach.) These two spots are both innervated by nerves from the 3rd and 4th neck segments.

Pain thus felt at a distance from its' source, is called referred pain.

Along with the pain, a number of other phenomena occur. Swelling due to changes in tiny blood vessels, tenderness over bony prominences, coldness of a limb and color changes, can be seen.

Referred knee pain

Press firmly all over the area between your hip bone (Pelvis) and thigh bone (Femur) at the side. This is the Gluteus Medius muscle.

Push firmly into the upper inner thigh below the inner groin. This is the Adductor muscles.

If you find tenderness, they are almost certainly tight and in need of stretching.

MUSCLE STRETCHING EXERCISES

See the muscle stretching page for a general discussion of these.

These can give immediate relief of knee (and other) pain.

Stretching gluteus medius and tensor fascia lata

Raise your arm on the side to be stretched, above your head.

Now also swing the opposite lower limb to a position away from the side to be stretched.

Now follow with the leg on the side your are stretching, and hook this foot over the other ankle. You should now be laying flat on your back, with your whole body curved away from the side being stretched.

If this causes no pain, unhitch legs and swing the other leg further out before crossing them. If there is too much pain, swing it in further.

Adductor stretch

Keep your body above the other leg, and lower it as you move the leg out sideways.

If you have something about the right height , you can do this sitting, with your leg out sideways.

Try a kitchen chair. Sit facing forwards and shift sideways until this buttock is off the edge of the chair. Now swing this leg round until you feel stretch in the inner thigh. Keep that knee straight.



For both these stretching exercises, hold the positions until you feel the discomfort and tension ease. This will probably take at least 2 minutes. You can then increase the stretch and again wait for the muscles to relax.

Continue this until further stretch is painless or impossible.

Quadriceps femoris - vastus medialis muscle stretch

Press systematically over this inner thigh muscle, about a hands breadth above your knee, for the tender muscle fibers causing referred knee pain.

If you find soreness here, the stretch is one you often see people doing up against a tree.

Lean on something and with your knee fully bent take the ankle in your hand. If this hurts too much, use something in your hand as a sling.

The stretch is performed by keeping your body still as you move the knee backwards. Ensure that you don't lean forward as you move the knee back.

It is also quite suitable to stretch it by simply continuing to press on the sore spots you find. Place one thumb on the other, to make it easier. Press until it softens and hopefully is less tender.


If a muscle is tight and very tender, it may relax but stay just as tender until you remove the pressure.

Hamstring muscle stretching

The back of your knee cap is likely to be tender if this is the problem.

The hamstring muscles don't seem to cause referred knee pain as such.

From referred knee pain page to patella femoral syndrome

after stretching for referred knee pain, strengthen for stability

Betting each way - from knee jt. plus above.

The joint line may now be more tender than adjacent bone, indicating that there is joint pathology as well as referred pain.

Spread of pain from compensation

I use the term to "favour" a knee, when one limps as it is sore. This does no favour to the other knee. In compensating, we increase its work load and sometimes making it sore as well.

It's not good for the first knee either, as the quadriceps muscle wastes very rapidly when we limp, increasing the risk of further damage.

Whatever the reason for your knee getting sore, it's really important to get straight into quadriceps strengthening exercises. Try to walk as normally as you can, as well.

One thing leads to another. One can get a low back problem, referred knee pain, limp because of it and end up with corns and bunion on ones foot.
The limp may be very slight and not really noticed, but be enough to eventually cause weakness of the small muscles of the foot. The forefoot splays out with that result.