FROM THE KNEE TO THE NECK

    A puzzling type of knee pain in teens was the topic of a recent Canadian research study. The knee appeared normal on physical exam and x-ray. However, nerve irritation was found in the low back. Spinal manipulation proved effective in resolving the knee pain in these young patients.¹

    A Massachusetts doctor of chiropractic recently published the case of a 54-year-old woman who had suffered from knee pain for 5 years. Medication did not help. The chiropractic exam revealed nerve irritation at one of the pelvic joints (the sacroiliac). Chiropractic adjustments to both the knee and the pelvis resolved 5 years of knee pain in 2 weeks.²

    Perhaps the most interesting knee case in the chiropractic literature was reported by a Georgia research team. A 25-year-old man was involved in a whiplash accident. Six months later, an old knee injury began to bother him again. The knee pain was resolved after seven chiropractic adjustments to the upper neck. This case may be explained by whiplash-related irritation to the spinal cord. Just as severe neck injury can paralyze the legs, milder neck injury may cause more subtle problems, such as knee pain.³

    In examining the knee, a diligent doctor of chiropractic considers the nerve pathways from the knee right up to the neck.

¹ Sweating RC, et al. Anterior Knee Pain and Spinal Dysfunction in Adolescence. Journal of Manual Medicine, 1989; 4: 65 - 68.

² De Franca GG. Proximal Tibio-fibular Joint Dysfunction and Chronic Knee Pain and Low Back Pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 1992;
15: 382 - 387.

³ Brown M, Vaillancourt P. Case Report: Upper Cervical Adjusting for Knee Pain. Chiropractic Research Journal, 1993; 2: 6 - 9.

© 1996, All Rights Reserved.
Marion Todres, M.A., D.C. and Charles Masarsky, D.C.