Sometimes a Horse is a Zebra

You would think that a complaint of knee pain would be pretty straight-forward. After all, the patient was training for a marathon and running several miles each week and, very likely, straining the knee. Some adjustments, some good nutrition and supporting supplementation, and off you go.

But is it really that straight forward? I did not accept that it was when this 28 year old female patient walked into my office. She was a conditioned athlete who was accustomed to running long distances. Nothing had changed in her routine that would have resulted in knee pain. Sure, she was training for a marathon, but so what? Her other knee was fine.

My first step was to test all of the muscles around the knee. After all, muscles move and stabilize a joint. Muscle imbalances were found. The IT band, which goes from the hip to the knee, and the gluteus medius, which is the main stabilizer of the hip, were both weak. Because these muscles were weak,the knee was not properly stabilized. And, hence, the knee pain. Well, yes. But, why were the muscles weak in the first place?

Further testing of the nervous system revealed spinal subluxations that caused impingement of a nerve and the subsequent weakness of the gluteus medius muscle. (It's like putting a kink in the garden hose and the water stops flowing. Put pressure on the nerve and the message doesn't get to the muscle, and the muscle doesn't work. Same concept.) But, what caused the spinal subluxation? And, if the nerve interference was causing weakness of the gluteus medius muscle, could that same nerve interference affect other systems of the body? I think so.

In fact, further examination revealed that the patient had uterine fibroids and had been menstruating non-stop for 3 months. Could this internal dysfunction cause a reflex back to the spine and be the cause of the subluxation that ultimately set up the muscle imbalances and subsequent knee pain? I think so.

So, my treatment protocol for knee pain, a musculoskeletal condition, now involves addressing uterine fibroids, a condition associated with estrogen dominance. To only recommend nutritional supplements to reduce pain and inflammation in the knee would merely be a treatment of symptoms and would not address the cause of the knee pain.

Because the knee is the presenting symptom, I do recommend anti-inflammatory nutrients that include fish oils, bromelain, turmeric, and vitamin C with bioflavanoids. However, critical for overall health and healing are the nutrients that I recommend for the uterine fibroids... because sometimes knee pain is more than just knee pain.


References:

Nisolle M, Gillerot S, Casanas-Roux F, Squifflet J, Berliere M, Donnez J. Immunohistochemical study of the proliferation index, oestrogen receptors and progesterone receptors A and B in leiomyomata and normal myometrium during the menstrual cycle and under gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist therapy. Hum Reprod. 1999 Nov;14(11):2844-50.