Why Do You Have Knee Pain?

More than 700,000 total knee replacement surgeries every year in the U.S. It's important everyone is educated on how to keep their bodies healthy. It is never going to be a good thing that we're getting used to real wear and tear for our bodies. Besides a traumatic incident to the knee, you shouldn't have knee pain. How? By correcting the Q angle. In the physical therapy world, the Q angle is often overlooked and underestimated

A tight knee is the precursor for many knee issue including ACL tears, meniscus tears, MCL tears, osteoarthritis and even knee replacements. The Q angle stems from a position because of imbalances in the pelvis or the foot and ankle. If your pelvis is out of alignment, meaning one side is higher than the other or it is tilted forward, the hip flexor gets tight.

This causes the femur to rotate internally. in turn, increasing the Q angle. If the knee has poor congruency, this will lead to increased rotational stress of the knee soft tissue including the patella and quad tendons as well as the retinaculum, fibrous tissue that helps to keep the patella in place. 

It could also come from the foot and/or ankle due to improper body mechanics. Next time you walk in the down the street, watch people’s feet. You will see them walking on the outsides of their feet, their feet may seem stiff. I see it all the time.

Both walking on the outside of your feet and poor foot/ankle joint mobility can limit tibial rotation. If the tibia is not able to internally rotate due to limited foot/ankle pronation (especially the midfoot) the femur will internally rotate at a faster rate. Long story short, your Q angle is off, and you need to get to some serious prehab to get it back in line.

Talk to your physical therapist to get specific instructions about how to fix this.