Medial and Lateral Knee Pain, Pelvic Instability and Glute Inhibition - Acute Cause vs Root Cause
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 มี.ค. 2020
- // WHERE TO FOLLOW ME //
Website: elishaceleste.com/
Substack: humanfreedomproject.substack....
Learn Kinetix with me: kinetix.academy/
// 2023 CHANNEL UPDATE //
I’ve moved on from Mobility Mastery (self fascia release) in order to focus on teaching Kinetix, my method of root cause discovery for pain and dis-ease that involves partner fascia release as a “diagnostics” (and regeneration) tool. Kinetix is a complete scientific methodology that I teach to friends, partners and professionals alike inside The Kinetix Academy.
My other primary focus will be the launch and growth of a new podcast and Substack community called The Human Freedom Project.
// NEW CONTENT ON TH-cam //
Sometime in 2023 I will return to TH-cam with HFP podcast episodes and content created to help you know and understand yourself as a whole organism made of body, soul and spirit. This content will feature the Kinetix methodology, pain science, fascia secrets I’ve learned from 15+ years in private practice, neuroscience and evolving beyond the brain, trauma and the body, and more! I’m excited to go on this new adventure with you.
********** // VIDEO DESCRIPTION // *********
Knee pain - whether lateral knee pain, medial knee pain and even pain under the kneecap - can all be traced back to hip and pelvic instability; and often, when there’s pelvic instability or one hip has become destabilized, the gluteus medius gets involved to stabilize.
What does all this mean? Let’s break it down:
Lateral knee pain is often a result of knotted up (dense/restricted/adhesed) fascia in the outer part of the gastrocnemius muscle. The gastrocnemius is a calf muscle responsible for plantar flexion (pointing your toes) and is used in most full body human movements.
The knot (or fascia adhesion) that forms in the outer part of the calf muscle can pull the patella (kneecap) off track, resulting in a bone on bone feeling. This is often when sharp knife-like knee pain occurs.
Medial knee pain is often the result of fascial restriction (and even “knots”) in the quad/adductor junction, very often specifically a muscle called the VMO (vastus medialis oblique, a quad muscle that attaches medially at the knee joint).
Pain under the kneecap can be a result of fascial restriction in the popliteal fascia, where the plantaris muscle attaches, and occasionally can be the result of low quadriceps fascial adhesions.
What do all of these patterns have in common?
A pelvic instability scenario where your brain tells your gluteus medius (primary hip stabilizing muscle) to contract neurologically (a brain command) 24/7 to keep your pelvis stable.
Gluteus medius is a hip complex and glute muscle that is the primary hip stabilizer while walking, lunging, running, hiking, standing…
Gluteus medius internally and externally rotates the hip, flexes and extends the hip and helps in deceleration during the swing phase of gait (walking). Because the gluteus medius can perform SO many opposing functions (it’s unusual that a muscle can flex and extend the hip for example), the possible compensations are numerous.
Have you ever heard of “lazy glutes”? It means the gluteus medius (or maybe gluteus maximus) has stopped firing on command.
Why would the gluteus medius stop activating?
The human spine relies on a stable pelvis, like a tree relies on its roots in order to stand tall and free. If you cut the roots off the tree, it would have a hard time standing upright, no?
So what destabilizes the human pelvis?
Most of the time, it’s a result of fascial imbalances in the lower body, particularly the big muscles of the thigh: quads, quad hip flexors, IT Bands, adductors, hamstrings…
We sit, stand, play sports and live life lopsided.
Ultimately, pelvic instability is detected by the nervous system, which relays that info to the brain so you can decide if the threat is credible and if so, what to do about it.
What this means for you if you’re experiencing knee pain:
If you have lateral knee pain, the cause could be as simple as fascial restrictions in your calves due to running or hiking and winding up those tissues. This could occur due to overuse, unhealthy gait patterns and structural alignment. But, it could be as complex as pelvic instability, resulting in stacking compensations (first your gluteus medius, then your IT Band, then your outer calf fascia which all attempt to keep you stable until they can’t compensate anymore).
If you have medial knee pain, it could be a sign of overusing your adductors, or it could be because your adductors are “catching” you during walking, running, hiking, working out when you have no gluteus medius activation.
Gee, where do you have all this knowledge from? You top all other therapists I've seen here on youtube 🙂
Thanks Stephan, glad you're here!
OMG! I feel amazing I’ve been in pain since October and my leg feels lose and pain free
Thank you!!!!!
I needed knee surgery in my teens and it was a mystery what caused the knee damage. Thanks to your video it’s clear the cause was instability upstream, which none of the orthopedic doctors or physical therapists ever mentioned. I definitely have pelvic instability, and inward knees rotation . Looking forward to the course. Thank you and blessings!
Glad this is helping you understand your body better!
Is it possible to open the course again, this is just what I need... Have been dealing with knee pain for 5 years
Legend
So inserting when just did the calf stretch the left knee pain eased up and my left boots check twitched ( my left cheeck has alway been smaller) a little and my left ankle feels a little tight and lower back love handle area feels a little so. So I guess it's all related lol
Excellent, informative video - perhaps you could help me. I suspect I've got glute inhibition on my left side. I've been having medial knee pain for quite some time now; my left calf/back and side of knee/hamstring is always tight; single leg squats and exercises on this side are more difficult; and I was told years ago I have a knot on my piriformis, which I think I've still got. If it helps diagnose, I also hear a snapping sound in my RIGHT hip when I lower my RIGHT leg, lying down. Do I want to be stretching my hip flexor on the left side? strengthening the glute? stretching the glute? What can I do throughout the day to remedy the issue - is there a cue or exercise to get it firing? If this is the issue of course (but all signs seem to point to this). Your help would be very much appreciated! I should add that I'm a former athlete, still very active and training.
Did it also cause pain in the left foot as well around the arch and heels. Can anyone relate? Please let me know. The pain started in my left foot and lower back then to left glute inhibition and finally left knee pain
I've just come back from the physio's tonight because of my knee which is giving way, swollen and has even bled out through the joint over my knee cap. He did all the tests and everything is intact but I can't lower and sit or stand again very well onto and off a chair using just one leg. He reckons I have a weak gluteus medius! I totally never expected that! I thought I had a tear in my PCL or ACL !!! I have a brace to stabilise the knee and I'm going to do exercises. I'm in Australia.
I'm glad you're connecting some dots! Personally, I would never choose to brace a joint of mine. I recently ruptured my MCL (knee) and tore a few tendons, and I never wore a knee brace. Braces can cut off blood supply which an injury needs to heal, it limits range of motion which we need to sense our own body, movement patterns and needed adaptations to injury, and it trains us to move in unnatural ways. And if you're wearing a brace while trying to get your gluteus medius firing, I have doubts about that actually working in a lasting way. What happens when you train yourself with the knee brace, and then take it off? So this isn't advice, I just like to offer different perspectives than are typically offered with traditional injury recovery.
@@ElishaCeleste Thanks, that's something I will keep in mind! I hope your MCL is feeling good, now :)
Thank you so much, as usual great content. I have a pain on my right knee - it shifts between lateral and medial and the pain is on and off. Right now, I’m battling chronic lower back pain which I had for over 10 years and now include pain in piriformis and glutes. My PT said it’s from my tight psoas but now seeing your video, it might be from pelvic instability. Thoughts please?
Hi Lorna - if you have knee pain and low back pain, chances are really high you have pelvic instability. And, the psoas muscle can tighten neurologically to protect your spine in the case if pelvic or spinal instability, so...your PT might be right AND you could be in pelvic instability. My opinion is that releasing the psoas won't solve the problem, because it's so rarely the cause of instability. Usually, the psoas is a compensation muscle, or one that your brain is trying to use to create stability. The SOURCE of the pelvic instability is usually in your legs. I'll be covering all of this in depth in my free training (link to sig up is in the description under this video).
Love your teaching. Any suggestions on what can be done for over compensation due to even a small difference in leg lengths?
Hi David - do you know for sure your legs are actually different lengths? (You can only know this for sure when someone x-rays your bones and measures their lengths). Your soft tissue can pull your hips out of alignment, causing one hip to appear higher/lower. Most of the time this is due to fascial restriction in the adductors. What kind of compensations are you referring to?
@@ElishaCeleste Hi. Yes i know for sure. It was due to an operation i needed. But i do believe it goes a bit shorter over time due to tissue or muscles tightening. I would have a lot of tightness in my back and legs. Always feel like i need to stretch.
Alicia~ what about pain that's directly behind the knee (on back of leg directly behind knee), to the point where you have great difficulty high bending, let alone being able to get down on your haunches? I fell hard on my hands & knees 18 months ago & getting down on haunches is agony. Please suggest a possible cause & solution.
For pain directly behind the knee I would recommend looking at your high calf fascia (you can use the softball like I do in this video), the low hamstrings, and back of knee. But if your pain primarily shows up only when you try to bend your knee, then I'd go to your quads, which may have tightened to protect you during the fall.
@@ElishaCeleste Will Absolutely Do This, Thanks❣❣
Would gua sha scraping expedite the release....
Hey Robert, great to see you here! I'm not a huge fan of gua sha (not against it per se either). I think the benefits would only be for the superficial fascia/lymph. Fascial density/restriction is usually in the deep fascia of the muscle, which can't be changed with gua sha in my opinion (and, if it could be - would also include a lot of bruising). Compression and shearing the fibers is more effective for releasing fascia. Gua sha is probably great for moving lymph and bringing proprioception to an area, as long as it doesn't include bruising.
@@ElishaCelesteThanks for responding!! I use the ASTYM tools on clients and see amazing results by breaking the adhesions from holding patterns of injury or repetitivenss...hope you're well!!!
Will you be doing the course again?
Hi! YES, I do plan to do the course again. There will be an option soon to do the course self-paced (without any live support), and I may open it again with live support in the next few months, either late summer or fall. The best way to stay up to date is to sign up for the waitlist in the description box of this video.
@@ElishaCeleste Hi oh my gosh, thank you or your response -- this sounds great! I'm on your e-newsletter but I'll definitely sign up for that. Online college (due to the pandemic) messed up my posture and what you describe in this explains me 1000%. I have such a hard time activating my glutes now, and have especially weak glute meds. Thank you for everything!
I have knee pain both lateral and medial, depending on the moment as the pain moves around depending on whether I’ve been sitting or standing alot. Also I work in a lab with concrete floors. I need this type of help head to toe.