I thought I would write this post today because lots of people are gearing up for the Vancouver Marathon coming up in May. In the last 2 weeks I have noticed a handful of patients coming in complaining of knee pain. They are aware the likely cause is increased running as they train harder for the upcoming marathon. However, two of these patients have presented in my office saying their family doctor diagnosed them with a "torn meniscus". Their doctor has gone on to say that this type of injury is very common in runners and they will have to stop running in order to relieve their pain and allow their knee to heal, if not surgery is the answer.
Misdiagnosis in both cases! The patients in question were understandably concerned about the news their doctors gave them and came to me to see if I could offer any assistance. As with any patient who visits my office, I perform a thorough physical exam including orthopedic tests. Orthopedic tests are tests designed to specifically rule out possible causes for a patient's pain. For the knee in these cases, I performed what is known as Ober's test. The result of Ober's test in both these patients revealed injury to the Iliotibial (IT) Band. This is a long band of connective tissue that runs from the side of your hip, down your thigh to the side of your knee. If overused, it can come under stress and become injured or inflammed. Often times causing pain on the outside of the knee.
The common course of care in a medical clinic is to order an MRI for these patients. However, an MRI is so sensitive that a majority of the time, it will reveal tears in the meniscus (a cartilage lining within your knee joint). But the catch is, the tears may not be the reason for pain. "Nine times out of 10, it's normal wear and not the source of the pain," says Ronald Grelsamer, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Mt. Sinai Hospital of New York. Surgical treatment "will lead away from the real problem."
So what's the solution? After suggesting a slight change to the patients' training routine, home stretches and Chiropractic adjustments, they saw improvements in a short amount of time. The recommendations included interval training such as running for a minute, walking for two. Icing the affected IT band as soon as training was over to limit the amount of inflammation training induced. Appropriate stretches to alleviate tension on the IT band. Finally, we also used Chiropractic adjustments to re-align and stabilize the pelvis and knees. This was done because both patients noticed pain more on one side compared to the other side. This in turn affected their running motion or 'gait' which only made the problem worse. I explain it like riding a bike. Imagine if one of the wheels was severely bent and warped. How well do you think you could ride that bike? Probably not very well, but even if you could, I bet your ride would be very uncomfortable. Now think of your pelvis and two legs/hips. Same idea.
Moral of the story is, Chiropractors don't just treat your back. I'm routinely encountered by patients who see me for issues separate from their backs and they get great results! Not only that but they are so relieved that there are other options for them. So the next time you are suffering from problems with your joints, whether it be in the neck, shoulder, knees, ankles or back, ask a Chiropractor!
Even better, if you're in the Commercial Drive area of East Vancouver, come visit the clinic or check out the website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC HERE!!!
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