It might interest you to know that I'm a skeptic. 

As a matter of fact, I rarely take things at face value.  In 2002, I was in school at Northwestern Chiropractic College in Minneapolis.  At the time I was taking a Methods Course on how to treat extremity problems using Chiropractic Adjustments.  I remember when the instructor started discussing the knee.  I was extremely skeptical that the knee could be adjusted.  I felt for a knee to be out of alignment it would be noticeable weak or unable to function.  The person would have to be walking with a limp or unable to bend his or her knee.  The thought of adjusting a knee that could move through its normal range of motion seemed like quackery at best.  This feeling persisted for nearly 4 years.  Then it changed.

Last year, I was treating a middle-aged gentleman for problems that he was having shoulder, low back, and neck.  30 years prior he had had a motorcycle-deer accident that had injured him pretty badly.  In addition to all his other problems he had "bad knees."  He walked with a limp and had done so every day since the accident.

After I had adjusted his spine and all his other extremities he asked me "Hey doc can you look at my knees."  So I did.  I did all the orthopedic tests they teach us in school.  A couple ligaments and the medial meniscus were in rough shape.  No big surprise with such a long-standing condition.  In science sometimes great discoveries come by accident.  I don't know why I did it, but I decided to check the rotation of his Tibia (one of the bones in the lower leg that makes up the knee).  His Tibia was severly restricted from rotating inward.  This was especially noticable when compared to the other knee.

This sparked intense thought.  I searched through the database of info I have stored in my head.  Then I remembered the knee wasn't a "Hinge Joint" it was a "Modified-Hinge Joint."  That meant that the knee not only swung back-and-forth like a gate but it also rotated!  This occurs when you "lock" your knees.  The Femur (thigh bone) pivots as the Tibia (lower leg bone) rotates externally. 

So why is this important?  If your knee can lock, it better damn well unlock before you try to bend it!  If it doesn't you're going to be putting huge amounts of stress into the ligaments and meniscus of the knee.  The joint won't want to move as easily, it will take more wear-and-tear and it will hurt more, it'll hurt when you bend it, it'll be sore in the mornings and after use!  The knee isn't going to be very happy and it's gonna make sure you know it.

So I developed a working hypothesis.  It sounded like this "This man's knee isn't functioning normally because it is having trouble unlocking and when he tries to bend it while it is still locked it damages the knee."

It was at that point I created a new kind of adjustment, one specifically designed to restore the rotation of the knee so that it would bend easier and not cause wear-and-tear on the ligaments and cartilage.  Did it work?  I am glad to say that this man that limped for nearly 30 years now walks without a limp.  The effect was so pronounced that he had people asking him why he wasn't limping anymore.  Today I am happy to say his knees only bother him once in a while and we are able to remedy it nearly everytime with one adjustment.

Since that time I have treated many different kinds of knee disorders.  Many of them have this very same kind of functional disorder, knees that don't fully unlock.  In nearly every case they had full range-of-motion in flexing the knee.  The question is how much did those ligaments have to stretch to achieve that?  That's stretching and join derangement is where the damage comes from.

One interesting sidenote is that if you "toe-out" when you walk it makes it nearly impossible for you knees to unlock successfully.  Point those feet where you're going and not 45 degrees to the side!

My point with this case study is two-fold:  

1. It's easy to be skeptical about things you don't fully understand.
2. Joints beside the spine can have motion restrictions that cause injury also.  Some of those restrictions are so subtle that they may avoid detection by conventional orthopedic tests.

If you are suffering a joint problem in the knees or any other joint in the body you should consider having it looked at by a Doctor of Chiropractic first.  Not last.  Chiropractors can do things to help you heal that other professions cannot, even with the knee. 

If you'd like a consult about the problem you're having, we'd be happy to discuss treatment options.  Just give us a call at the office at (319) 266-7788 or email us at doc@johnsonchiropractic.org