Three Tips to Relieve and Prevent Knee Pain
Try Other Avenues Before Going Under the Scalpel
As a massage therapist in Salt Lake City, I have seen runners, bikers, hikers, crossfit goers, and the average Joe come in with knee pain. Many get quite a surprise when a specialized massage relieves this pain.
Most of these clients have been told to take advil, rest, and if it doesn’t get better, they should talk to a surgeon. While some might need surgery because of major ligament and meniscus tears, the average person has knee pain from trigger points in the muscle or fascia. Tears in the ligaments can also be caused by movement imbalances; lengthening of short, tight fascia will help address these imbalances, even after surgery. (photo by rachel)
3 Different Ways to Relieve Knee Pain
1. Pain on the Outside of the Patella (knee cap) is often attributed to Vastus Lateralis trigger points. This is one of the easiest places to do self massage with a foam roller. If you have knee pain, the first thing you should invest in is a foam roller. For this kind of knee pain, lay on the side of your thigh on the foam roller and roll from your hip to your knee. Check out youtube for helpful ways to use your foam roller. Tight inner thigh muscles can also contribute to pain outside the knee, so you can also carefully foam roll your inner thighs, to see if that helps.
2. For Pain on The Patella : The main point referring to this area is hard to get to without help, but you can try sitting in a chair, putting a tennis ball where the x is indicated on Rectus Femoris and pressing gently down on the ball until you feel some tenderness. Hold for a few secs, and repeat until the tenderness subsides a bit. If you’re experiencing this pain, please call to see if I can help; it’s a difficult point to access on your own.
3. Inner Knee Pain is usually caused by a tight IT Band, running along the outside of your thigh and attaching into 2 important muscles at the hip- Gluteus 
Maximus & TFL. The IT Band is hard to change without relieving the tightness in the TFL, Glut Max, and surrounding fascia. Lengthening the TFL might require some assistance, and is difficult to attempt on your own, but using a racquet, tennis, or lacrosse ball on the top of your hip in the area of Gluteus Medius could do the trick. If anything, it might relieve some low back pain occurring on your sacrum.
You’d lay on the ground, knees up and place the small ball just below the top of one hip. You then roll on your side on the ball, and play around with moving the ball until you find a tender spot (a trigger point) and hold there for a minute. Find another spot and repeat, and don’t forget the other side, even if it’s not bothering you. This should release some of the fascia connecting into your ITB, but it might not be enough if it’s your TFL that’s too short.
A number of factors contribute to knee pain, and it’s important to seek a skilled massage therapist or Structural Integrationist if you’ve stopped doing physical activities because of pain. Myofascial massage and trigger point therapy techniques are extremely helpful for relieving postural imbalances, so pain doesn’t reoccur, and the original movement pattern can be corrected. Sometimes all it takes is 1 or 2 specialized massage therapy sessions (including some personalized self care) to get you back up and running!
So don’t fret… Pain is just your body’s call to action. Do something about it, have hope, and try a few of these tips to get you on your way to healthy knees!
Hi Leah
I have pain on the right knee which is real tender point on the outside of the patella.
So…do I push the tennis ball into the rectus femoris at the top of my thigh to relieve pain at the outer patellar Leah?…….. I have also tried working the ball on my knee while laying face down…..but at the side is a difficult angle to get at.Then I tried pushing into a wall while standing.
Thanks.
Do you have any video of that? I’d love to find out more details.