Lateral Knee Pain
Recently a patient sought after my treatment for his right knee pain. The patient didn't recall when the problem came about but it's been going on for about a month apparently. The pain is situated on the outer side of the right knee joint.
This is the area of the lateral collateral ligament, a ligament together with its opposite, the medial collateral ligament, helps to the stabilize the knee, and makes even the simple task of walking possible. Upon palpation, the precise area of pain is focused directly on the upper section of the ligament where it attaches to the femur.
By comparison the affected area has obviously pronounced swelling that the other side does not have. The pain spot feels extremely sore when pressed. I gave the patient two acupuncture treatments in close proximity and now the problem has almost completely resolved itself. I instructed him to also take his activities lightly so as to not re-aggravate it again.
Knee issues are a common problem in clinic. This case presents more of a simple example because it is a recent occurrence and merely confined to the exterior of the joint, rather than inside. Despite this, the knee is rather a complex mechanism, and involves so many ligaments and structures that it is often hard to imagine so much is needed just to make the task of walking a natural movement. Yet two examples tell us otherwise.
The first is babies, who may spend a year or so learning just to walk. The other example is traditional watches, the simple-looking portable instrument on our wrist that only ticks and tocks to tell us time. Yet entire industries have been created by this simple but actually highly complicated instrument because believe it or not the extent of the intricacies and number of tiny little gears within the small gadget would baffle anyone.