Oregon Exercise Therapy
SCHEDULE YOUR FREE POSTURE EVALUATION!
  • Free Posture Evaluation
  • How It Works
    • Therapy Options >
      • Zoom/Skype/FaceTime Exercise Therapy
    • FAQ
    • OET News Archive
  • Advanced Training for Therapists
    • Education Workshops
  • Testimonials
  • About Matt
    • Contact Me
    • Recommended Products >
      • Therapy Equipment
      • Books and DVDs
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Exercise Equipment
      • Cool Stuff
  • Blog

Pope Francis and Overcoming Sciatica and Knee Pain

10/13/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Pope Francis stumbling while climbing on a plane from NY to Philadelphia
Picture
Picture
Pope Francis has apparently been suffering with knee pain and sciatica for quite some time and has had several trips and stumbles because of the pain and instability. Pope Francis has also had to limit his walking and standing because of pain. I want to give Pope Francis and anyone else reading this article some insights into what causes knee pain and sciatica and how to become pain free. ​
​
If you have knee pain and go to your doctor, he or she might say your knee pain is caused by: osteoarthritis, a meniscus tear, patellofemoral pain syndrome, ACL tear, or that you might soon need a knee replacement. All these diagnoses explain what is damaged in your knee, but not why the damage occurred. Of course your doctor might have suggested treatments or surgeries, but most of these are aimed at the damage and not the cause of the damage. Epidural steroid injections might help relieve pain in the short term, but they do nothing about the cause of the pain and the FDA has issued warnings about the dangers of getting them. Having an arthroscopic partial meniscectomy might "clean up" the torn meniscus, but studies have shown results are no better than no surgery at all. ​​

Cause or Symptom?

The key to becoming pain free is to find and address the underlying cause of the damage and pain -  not just the symptoms. To find the cause of the pain we need start with a basic understanding of how the human body works:
  • Pain is a signal from the body telling us that something is causing-or is going to cause-damage.
  • The body breaks down for a specific reason (not merely age, genetics, bad luck, etc). 
  • Damage is caused by stress and strain coming in three different forms: 
  1. Compression: forces applied in the same line and in the same direction
  2. Tension: forces applied in the same line, but in opposite directions.
  3. Shear: forces applied in parallel line, but in opposite directions. 
  • The human body is designed to have it's parts (bones, muscles, nerves, connective tissues, etc) arranged in a specific alignment relative to each other and gravity. (We call this Design Posture)
  • The body works as a unit. 
  • Every cell in the body is responding to stimulus 24 hours a day every day of our lives. Changing the stimulus causes changes in cell structure and function all the way to the DNA level. 
  • The human body is a living organism and can and will heal itself if given a chance.

Position vs Condition

Knee pain is caused by the body losing postural alignment, which causes faulty movement mechanics and increased stress and strain on tissues of the body leading to damage and pain. An ACL tear is caused by dramatic shearing forces at the knee joint because of misalignment and instability of the knee. Surgery to repair the ACL might sound good, but the ACL can easily and often is re-torn because the postural mis-alignment is never corrected. 

Patellofemoral pain syndrome is from excessive tension on the patellar tendon and ligament. This is caused by postural alignment imbalances up and down the body, especially in the ankle and hip. What is often forgotten is that the body works as a unit and the excessive tension can be because the opposite hip is weak thus increasing the load on the now painful side. 

Osteoarthritis in the knee is caused by compression and shearing on the meniscus over time (often decades). Most people with an arthritic knee who are told they are "bone-on-bone" and need a knee replacement are told or think it's because of age, genetics, or overuse. The patient and the doctor often forget to ask the followup questions and think critically about the osteoarthritis. 
  • If the arthritis is because of my age, how old is my other knee?
  • How can genetics be to blame if I only have arthritis in one knee?
  • If running is to blame for my arthritis, how come every runner doesn't have arthritis?
  • Why is the meniscus gone on the inside of my knee and not the outside?
Doctors and patients find it is easy to get caught up in the details of an X-ray or MRI and forget to look at the rest of the body. Looking at someone's overall postural alignment it is usually easy to see why only one knee has pain, or why the damage is on one side of the knee and not the other. 

Sciatica, a painful sensation that started in the lower back and runs down the back of one or both legs, is caused by postural mis-alignment also. The spine is designed to align vertically from the front on top of a level pelvis and below level shoulders. From the side the spine should be in a smooth and slight s-curve. Sciatica is usually caused by either the pinching of the sciatic nerve in the lower back or in the buttocks. The sciatic nerve can be compressed in the lower back by a herniated disc, degenerative disc, stenosis, or spondylolisthesis. All of these are caused by postural imbalances up and down the body including thoracic kyphosis, anterior or posterior pelvic tilt, hip elevation or rotation, and forward head posture. 

The key to alleviating sciatica pain and knee pain is to identify and correct the postural alignment imbalances in the spine, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. If you would like help in figuring out what your posture imbalances are and what you can do to correct them, contact me for a free posture evaluation and consultation, and I'd be happy to help you. 

Related articles/videos:
Egoscue and low back pain
Spondylolisthesis and Egoscue
Low back pain video

How to fix chronic knee pain with posture exercises
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    About Matt Whitehead

    I'm an Egoscue Institute certified Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) and Advanced Exercise Therapist (AET), certified personal trainer, PatchFitness performer, FiveFingers wearer, trail runner, mountain biker, dad, music lover, environmentalist, and wanna-be slam dunk champion. I will be providing you with the latest posture exercises to help you live, play, and be pain free.

    Archives

    January 2023
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    February 2021
    February 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    Beliefs
    Chronic Pain
    Emotions
    Exercise
    Health
    Play
    Posture
    Sports Injury

WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY

I really just wanted to express my gratitude for what you do and your great help. And, great help it was!! When one is in constant great pain for as long as I was and so desperate for help...words cannot express what I want to say....how can I thank you enough? You helped change my life. 
– Carrie
I feel soooo limber and free in my hip movements and relaxed in my low back. Outstanding and I'm very impressed with the pdf's and the videos, great support to the client. Wonderful job, keep up the great job. – Mike
It is amazing! I've been in pain for 5 years and worked with other therapists and no one has been able to help me. Working with you I am 95% pain free! It feels so good to not have any pain and be able to walk and do things I haven't been able to do for years. Thank you so much! - Joni
Storybrand Website Design by Red Door Designs
Photos used under Creative Commons from mynameisharsha, Jon Grado