The other day, I treated a young man with a painful knee. He had been tolerating the pain for over a month and it would not go away. What did I do for this young man? I examined his knee for torn ligaments, torn cartilage and I checked the knee cap. He could not recall any incident where he fell on it, hit it or had any other type of trauma to his knee. The only thing he can remember is twisting his knee when turning in bed. He thought it was that that caused his pain because he said he remembered his foot got stuck in the sheets and twisted it to get unstuck.
When I examined his knee, there was a very tender spot where the quadricep muscle and tendon attachment to the knee cap. This is considered a “soft tissue” injury. Soft tissue injuries includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs and cartilage. All of his other ligaments, the lateral and medial collateral, anterior and posterior cruciates were fine. What this young man had was a case of tendinitis.
I discussed treatment options, and compared my exam/ treatment and recommendations to what would happen if he went to an Orthopedic Doctor. The Orthopedic Surgeon would likely take an X-Ray. I explained that if X-Rays were taken, very likely nothing would show up unless there was a fracture which clearly there was not. The cost of the orthopedic exam would have been over $200 for the same exam I performed not including the cost of the X-ray or radiologist fee to read that X-ray. In addition, the orthopedic doctor would most likely write him a prescription for pain pills, instead of suggesting ice/heat/massage for pain relief. If he was still in pain at this point, the Orthopedic Doctor might order an MRI. This would be the same recommendation I would make if I felt it was really needed. However the Ortho would most likely refill the prescription and/or recommend a cortisone (steroid) injection. If he opted to get the steroid injection and it did not provide relief, the Ortho probably recommend yet another injection and then ultimately recommend surgery.
My patient stated he did not want to take prescription drugs, have injections or end up having surgery. Here’s what I did: 1. Trans-verse friction massage for about 5-7 minutes to the area where he was having pain. 2. Checked his pelvis which was uneven at the hips and adjusted the pelvis. 3. I examined and adjusted the rest of his spine. 4. I recommended some orthotics foot supports to stabilize the feet and provide proper alignment to his feet, ankles, knees and hips. 5. I also recommended the use of heat to the painful area for 10-15 minutes several times a day to increase blood flow to the area of pain. 6. Recommended that he perform the transverse friction massage to his knee for a few minutes several times a day. 7. The use of an ice pack or ice massage for 10-15 mins. after any exercise or therapy like the transverse friction massage where he may feel pain or soreness afterwards.
Other natural treatment options available are the use of therapeutic magnets, EMS -electrical muscle stimulation, TENS trans-electrical nerve stimulation, ultrasound, many different analgesic ointments, herbal patches (Salonpas), acupuncture and specific nutritional products like Ligaplex from Standard Process.
I also educated him that tendons and ligaments have a poor blood supply so they heal much slower than a fracture. Depending on the severity of injury, tendons can take a couple of weeks to several months or more to completely heal. It took me 13 months to completely heal a left shoulder injury I had. A fractured bone however, usually only takes 4-8 weeks to heal. This is because bones have a direct blood supply within the bones themselves and ligaments do not.
As a side note, many times when one is a car accident the majority of injuries are “soft tissue” injuries such as torn muscle, tendons and or ligament fibers. Most car crashes are not high impact and do not result in broken bones. There is plenty of research proving that even minor impacts where there may be little or no damage to the vehicle results in injuries to the soft tissues. The unfortunate thing is that the insurance adjustor uses the rational that if there were no broken bones and there was little to no damage to the vehicle then it is not considered as serious and would pay ridiculous amounts of settlements to the victims of these types of “soft tissue” injuries.
My patient left feeling better noting that his knee pain was greatly reduced. He was also grateful that I took the time to teach him how to take care of his knee without having gone through the typical medical treatment of prescription drugs, injections and surgery. He now felt empowered knowing what to do for his knee.
I’ve been seeing a trend where many people are wanting natural treatments because they are tired of the typical medical route of an endless life of prescription drugs, injections, being sent to see this specialist and this other specialist and multiple surgeries many times with little or poor results. I also would like to point out there ARE times when prescription drugs, injections or surgery is warranted and needed. It’s just prescription drugs, injections and surgeries are OVER USED, OVER PRESCRIBED.
The movement for natural healing continues to grow as more people become aware of the many natural treatment options available. My hope for you is that this article gives you a good understanding of how you can learn to self-treat and different natural treatment options.
When I examined his knee, there was a very tender spot where the quadricep muscle and tendon attachment to the knee cap. This is considered a “soft tissue” injury. Soft tissue injuries includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs and cartilage. All of his other ligaments, the lateral and medial collateral, anterior and posterior cruciates were fine. What this young man had was a case of tendinitis.
I discussed treatment options, and compared my exam/ treatment and recommendations to what would happen if he went to an Orthopedic Doctor. The Orthopedic Surgeon would likely take an X-Ray. I explained that if X-Rays were taken, very likely nothing would show up unless there was a fracture which clearly there was not. The cost of the orthopedic exam would have been over $200 for the same exam I performed not including the cost of the X-ray or radiologist fee to read that X-ray. In addition, the orthopedic doctor would most likely write him a prescription for pain pills, instead of suggesting ice/heat/massage for pain relief. If he was still in pain at this point, the Orthopedic Doctor might order an MRI. This would be the same recommendation I would make if I felt it was really needed. However the Ortho would most likely refill the prescription and/or recommend a cortisone (steroid) injection. If he opted to get the steroid injection and it did not provide relief, the Ortho probably recommend yet another injection and then ultimately recommend surgery.
My patient stated he did not want to take prescription drugs, have injections or end up having surgery. Here’s what I did: 1. Trans-verse friction massage for about 5-7 minutes to the area where he was having pain. 2. Checked his pelvis which was uneven at the hips and adjusted the pelvis. 3. I examined and adjusted the rest of his spine. 4. I recommended some orthotics foot supports to stabilize the feet and provide proper alignment to his feet, ankles, knees and hips. 5. I also recommended the use of heat to the painful area for 10-15 minutes several times a day to increase blood flow to the area of pain. 6. Recommended that he perform the transverse friction massage to his knee for a few minutes several times a day. 7. The use of an ice pack or ice massage for 10-15 mins. after any exercise or therapy like the transverse friction massage where he may feel pain or soreness afterwards.
Other natural treatment options available are the use of therapeutic magnets, EMS -electrical muscle stimulation, TENS trans-electrical nerve stimulation, ultrasound, many different analgesic ointments, herbal patches (Salonpas), acupuncture and specific nutritional products like Ligaplex from Standard Process.
I also educated him that tendons and ligaments have a poor blood supply so they heal much slower than a fracture. Depending on the severity of injury, tendons can take a couple of weeks to several months or more to completely heal. It took me 13 months to completely heal a left shoulder injury I had. A fractured bone however, usually only takes 4-8 weeks to heal. This is because bones have a direct blood supply within the bones themselves and ligaments do not.
As a side note, many times when one is a car accident the majority of injuries are “soft tissue” injuries such as torn muscle, tendons and or ligament fibers. Most car crashes are not high impact and do not result in broken bones. There is plenty of research proving that even minor impacts where there may be little or no damage to the vehicle results in injuries to the soft tissues. The unfortunate thing is that the insurance adjustor uses the rational that if there were no broken bones and there was little to no damage to the vehicle then it is not considered as serious and would pay ridiculous amounts of settlements to the victims of these types of “soft tissue” injuries.
My patient left feeling better noting that his knee pain was greatly reduced. He was also grateful that I took the time to teach him how to take care of his knee without having gone through the typical medical treatment of prescription drugs, injections and surgery. He now felt empowered knowing what to do for his knee.
I’ve been seeing a trend where many people are wanting natural treatments because they are tired of the typical medical route of an endless life of prescription drugs, injections, being sent to see this specialist and this other specialist and multiple surgeries many times with little or poor results. I also would like to point out there ARE times when prescription drugs, injections or surgery is warranted and needed. It’s just prescription drugs, injections and surgeries are OVER USED, OVER PRESCRIBED.
The movement for natural healing continues to grow as more people become aware of the many natural treatment options available. My hope for you is that this article gives you a good understanding of how you can learn to self-treat and different natural treatment options.
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