Knee Pain & Injuries

ProActive Chiropractic provides expert chiropractic adjustments for knee pain and injuries.

Schedule a complimentary consultation or appointment today with one of our highly skilled chiropractors specializing in knee pain treatment in San Francisco, CA.

Injuries include:

ACL/PCL Ligament Injury
MCL/LCL Ligament Injury
Meniscus Tear
Unhappy Triad (combined ACL, MCL, and meniscus injury)
Runner’s Knee

Patellofemoral Tracking
Chondromalacia Patella
Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Arthritis
Tendonitis
Bursitis

BACKGROUND:

Considered as one of the most stressed joints in the human body, the knee is a very complex structure that consists of cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Because of this, a wide variety of injuries can happen to the knee. Age, wear and tear, trauma, and concurrent injuries elsewhere in the body all contribute to knee complaints.

The knee is designed to function as a stable joint, the knee functions to support its neighboring mobile joints, the foot and the hip. The function of the knee highly depends on these joints, which are located below and above it because of all of the muscle structures attached to it.

Runner’s Knee:

Runner’s Knee has been around for decades and is described as tracking of the knee where the patellar tendon tracts out of alignment, most common laterally. Recent studies of live ultrasound imaging and MRI’s have shown the patellar tendon does not laterally track. In actuality, the femur is rotating inwards, creating an illusion that the patellar tendon is moving outward, thus, patellofemoral tracking of the knees. Most people think knee pain derives from some sort of dysfunction in the knee. This is a prime example of how pain is usually coming from the surrounding structures of the joint of interest. Because of this, it is crucial to get full body adjustments like what we do at ProActive Chiropractic.

DIAGNOSIS:

Knee-deep in pain? The doctors at ProActive Chiropractic will help you get to the source. Often, when we encounter patients with knee discomfort, we discover a dysfunctional pattern that is biomechanical. Instead of acting as a stable joint, it turns into a mobile joint. This stresses all the structures around the knee including the ligaments, tendon, and muscles.

Are you sick of going being told that your knee pain is attributed to weak quadriceps? Do you have the strongest quadriceps from the prescribed exercises given by your physical therapist, primary care physician, and orthopedic professional, but still find that you’re experiencing knee pain? Let us help you.

At the first appointment, the Palmer College chiropractic clinicians at our clinic will get a complete history of the complaint(s) and conduct an analysis of your vitals, posture, range of motion, Functional Movement Screening (FMS) or biomechanics, and gait. Subjective and objective findings will be noted and can include: orthopedic testing, palpation, and neurological testing (sensory: dermatome and vibration, deep tendon reflexes; and motor evaluation: muscle testing). Posture scans and 3D foot scans will be taken and thoroughly explained to patients during their second visit – the “Report of Findings” visit. Applied Kinesiology is utilized as a main technique for diagnosing either muscle, ligament, disc, visceral, stress, and/or joint misalignments. If fractures or clinically significant concerns are not found, the doctors will proceed with treatment.

ANATOMY:

The knee comprises of three structures – the femur, tibia, and the patella. The actual kneecap is a sesamoid bone that is attached to the quadricep tendon; it is not fully developed until approximately three years of age. There are four main ligaments of the knee – Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL), Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL), and the Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL). The muscles that connect to the knee include the quadriceps (vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, bastus medialis, and rectus femoris), hamstrings (semitendinosus and semimembranosus), and the muscles of the calf (gastrocnemius and soleus); and the deepest muscle of the knee joint is the popliteus. All of these muscles are responsible for locking and unlocking the knees. The knee is a hinge joint, which allows the leg to straighten and bend, but has limited side to side motion. The knee is the reason why humans are the only primate species that can walk upright because it allows us to fully extend and lock our legs. It is one of the strongest and most used structures in our body and essential in the movements that we use everyday, such as walking, running, squatting, sitting, standing, and bearing weight.

Imaging:

Although we do not have an on-site imaging center, we are partnered with Radnet and SimonMed for all of your X-ray, MRI, CT Scan, and Ultrasound needs! If there are any red flags noted by the doctor, imaging can be necessary before performing any treatment.

Frustrated by the pain and just want ease of mind to know what is actually going on in your body? The doctors at ProActive Chiropractic can provide you with a prescription to get imagining done if it is within reason with the assessment.

Labs:

Sometimes the root of your condition is not structural. Inflammation, allergies, or deficiencies in our chemical make-up can keep us from recovering fully or quickly. We never want our treatments to plateau until you’ve reached your goals.

Our office is conveniently partnered with LabCorp and Cyrex Laboratories to help better understand your diagnosis when needed. If our doctors believe that a blood and/or urine analysis will benefit your health, they will order these labs at generally a lower cost than what your insurance can. Our goal is to get you the most affordable and efficient comprehensive assessment possible to save you time and money.

TREATMENT:

Our team provides the highest quality of care by customizing individual treatment plans for our patients. Through specific chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue work, we can correct structural dysfunctions that contribute to your pain.

At ProActive Chiropractic, we’re considered the bee’s knees of musculoskeletal care! We incorporate rehabilitative tools to ensure a quick recovery. KinesioTaping is utilized to increase stability around hypermobile knee joints. Additionally, patients notice better circulation to the targeted area, reduction of swelling and inflammation, speedy recovery of overused muscles, and reduced muscle cramping.

Graston, which is an instrument-assisted soft-tissue mobilization (IASTM) technique, helps improve flexibility and decrease pain by effectively breaking down fascial restrictions and removing scar tissue between muscles.

Rehab stretches and exercises are also prescribed in order to help strengthen weak muscles that are critical for joint stability and lengthen tight muscles necessary for appropriate functionality.

Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy (CMT):

Scientific evidence proves that chiropractic techniques help patients by restoring joint mobility to provide proper functional movement patterns and balance out the nervous system. This decreases spasms, stiffness, and pain while promoting optimal health.

We have many options to address the structural components that contribute to your pain. We always consider our patient’s preferences first, so when it comes to corrective adjustments, we provide a variety of methods to achieve this goal. Our specialty is manual adjustments. We are experienced in high velocity, low amplitude manipulations to the joints of the body in order to deliver the most comfortable and effective adjustments.

Our one-of-a kind chiropractic tables feature an automated drop piece that utilizes an air compressor to address the joint in both directions in a gentle way. It allows the doctors to adjust front to back and back to front. The drop piece is maneuvered by foot so there are no extra knobs at the side of the table allowing patients to move around comfortably.

Sometimes we discover smaller yet specific adjustments need to be made. For this, we use an innovative device, called the Activator, delivering a small impulse to the appropriate joint. Whether you love or are intimidated by the “cracks,” the doctors at ProActive Chiropractic will adjust to your preference while still administering the adjustments needed.

Graston Technique and Fibroblaster Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) Tools :

When joints get stuck, the soft tissue structures around them suffer as well. When the muscles and connective tissues around the joint are not moving and gliding along each other, scar tissue and fascial distortion occurs. We have multiple tools of different sizes and shapes to help address these issues.

Graston is a patent protected, innovative instrument that assists in soft-tissue mobilization, improving flexibility and decreasing pain by effectively breaking down fascial restrictions and removing scar tissue between muscles. Proactive Chiropractic is Graston certified and a Preferred Provider®.

Fibroblaster IASTM Tools help our doctors diagnose and treat patients by providing controlled microtrauma to break scar tissue and fascial restrictions to restore full range of motion to keep you in the game.

Functional Custom Orthotics and Shoes:

There are three main arches of the foot: the medial longitudinal arch, the lateral longitudinal arch, and the anterior transverse (metatarsal) arch. These three arches work together as a strong and supportive tripod, called the “plantar vault,” that helps evenly distribute our weight to obtain the maximal shock absorbency throughout our body to protect our bones, nerves, and joints. The first place most people feel imbalances in the feet is in the knee.

The “righting reflex” or the “labyrinthine righting reflex” automatically corrects the orientation of our bodies so that our eyes are always level. The feet are the foundation in all of our weight-bearing activities so when they are not level, we subconsciously tilt different structures in our bodies to keep our eyes level. This results in overcompensations and under-compensation in various muscle groups. For example, if one arch is collapsed, that knee will internally rotate, which externally rotates the hip, rotating the pelvis, forcing the shoulder to drop on that side, resulting in our head tilting. This domino effect starts at the feet, but directly affects all the other joints of our bodies. This is why leveling out your feet is so essential in overall body health.

In our office, we have paired up with the world’s leading provider of individually designed custom orthotics to use state-of-the-art technology to analyze the three arches of the feet, making sure the forces you put on them are distributed properly. If the 3-D foot scan detects an unleveling in any of the arches, customized orthotics will be manufactured just for you to rebalance your entire body. They fit a variety of shoes depending on your activity level, how much your feet sweat, and the kind of shoes you want them in.

We never want to sell you anything that does not serve you. If your custom orthotics need to be tweaked to your liking or you do not like them for any reason after wearing them for 45 days, we will remake your orthotics or give you a full refund. Put your best foot forward and try them out! You have absolutely nothing to lose!

Therapeutic Exercises:

Our journey to improve your health and wellness does not stop when you leave the office. At ProActive Chiropractic, we honor a mutual collaborative effort by our doctors and you, our patients. While in our office, we believe it is our job to manually correct the underlying source of your pain by adjusting and performing techniques that you would not be able to do on your own. We then encourage you to perform customized rehabilitative exercises at home, in the office, or at the gym to better hold the adjustments made. We believe in a team approach where the doctors will align and balance patients on the table, and patients do their part in building the right habits, muscles, and strength to hold those adjustments. These specific exercises help relax painfully tight muscles and build strength to key muscles groups which are imperative for spinal support.

We understand that educating our patients on their condition and teaching them how to prevent it is key to success. We want our patients to know when to come into the office and when they can fix ailments on their own. Our goal is always to save you time and money.

So many people think that if they can keep up with the latest Barry’s Bootcamp, Orange Theory, Rumble, P90X, Barre, Pilates, or Jiu Jitsu workout, that they have the proper strength to be out of pain. “I can deadlift 500lbs, run a 4.6 second 40-meter dash, and kill it in all my workout routines, so why am I in pain?!” The truth is that these people are great at compensating. To complete these workouts, they may be using their muscle groups improperly. These workouts are often complex and work on the big “show-me” muscles that are usually overcompensated anyways. When the doctors at ProActive Chiropractic break these big muscle groups apart and muscle test each individual muscle, these athletes are often surprised at how “weak” their muscles are when separated from another.

We constantly want to be a part of the newest workout routines, machines, tools, and fads. But is it good for us? These new trends are made to hype up new training licenses, not necessarily because they have been researched and proven to help improve health.

The exercises given at ProActive Chiropractic are designed to focus on the smaller, undercompensated muscles that support the joints, ligaments, and deep muscles that help with posture and overall performance. The truth is that new workouts emerge for purposes of more certifications to promote the fitness business. They consist of complex movements that people cannot efficiently achieve without going back to the basics. You crawl before you walk, right? Same concept.

Sure, you can perform these complicated exercises, but are you using the right muscle groups to perform them, or are you creating more of an imbalance and thus pain? Are you breathing correctly and can your brain connect to all the different muscles of your body so that one muscle group is not taking the brunt of the work for another muscle group? The doctors at ProActive Chiropractic will let you know! They will literally show and teach you the tools to perform these exercises properly, leaving you pain-free and even improve your posture.

Understand that these are not glamorous, complex exercises you see at your workout class or on the newest feed on your IG or TikTok account. However, they are needed, effective, and present a challenge in that you have to rehabilitate your brain to connect to muscles that it has been neglecting for a long period of time. Check out some of our favorite therapeutic exercises on our YouTube channel!

We are excited to help you get back to the movement you love, and by performing the prescribed exercises given by our doctors, we will get you there in no time!

Kinesiology Tape:

Kinesio Taping is a rehabilitative taping technique to increase stability around hypermobile joints. Additionally, the tape offers better circulation to the injured area, reduction of swelling and inflammation, speedy recovery of overused muscles, and reduced muscle cramping in and around the knee.

We use different types of kinesiology and medical tape to suit your needs. When using tape as a brace, the doctors at ProActive make sure to give you the support you need while also allowing the surrounding muscles to properly engage so that your own muscle and body becomes a natural brace for itself as a result. Depending on allergies, sport, and how much you sweat, the doctors will use their expertise to know which tape and style of taping is needed for you!

NormaTec:

Come check out the most advanced rehab and recovery solution in just one small package! Whether you are trying to maintain a healthy workout routine or training for the Olympics, the NormaTec is your go-to to decrease inflammation and soreness in and around the knees. NormaTec’s cutting edge compression systems are the ultimate in recovery to fit your needs.

NormaTec sleeves have been scientifically proven to enhance the body’s natural ability to recover, increase circulation, reduce pain, rejuvenate muscles, boost flexibility, and clear out lactate and metabolites. The benefits of NormaTec are so significant that 97% of professional teams rely on its technology to train harder and achieve more. Check out what the buzz is all about.

At the end of the day, this device feels like a nice massage. Our patients usually find time in their busy schedules to come in, kick up their feet, relax, and meditate or look over emails while receiving all the great benefits of NormaTec.

Posture Pointers:

“Sit up straight!” “Don’t lock your knees!” “Chin up, chest out, abs in!” We have all heard these cues from our parents, partners, coaches, personal trainers, fitness instructors, and doctors. Being conscious about the way you sit, stand, and perform exercises is a start, but what if the structures of your body simply will not allow you to get in that perfect posture position? What is perfect posture anyway?!

The doctors at ProActive Chiropractic take the time to educate patients on proper posture and how to achieve it. We analyze patients’ posture and functional movement mechanics, address the under and overcompensated muscles and structures to allow for proper range of motion and movement, and give patients the correct postural exercises to address the deep muscles that support the skeletal system.

Ergonomics:

Each new patient in our office will receive a comprehensive posture evaluation and 3-dimensional foot scan, revealing potential hidden problems that could go unnoticed. In addition, we offer virtual ergonomic assessments at a much lower cost than a traditional in-office ergonomic assessment with a full printout of findings and recommendations for you to keep.

Equally important to diet and exercise, understanding how your body is commonly positioned against gravity can help doctors find the underlying issue with chronic pain.

Proper ergonomics allows for better productivity, promotes great posture, lessens fatigue, and decreases the pain that comes from repeated movements.

Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT):

Research on Low-Level Laser Therapy reveals that it is a non-invasive and efficient method to reduce healing time after any sort of injury around the knee— with zero side effects.

At ProActive Chiropractic, we offer laser therapy using devices from the world leader in Low-Level Laser Technology, Erchonia. Thousands of reliable studies have deemed these lasers to be safe and successful in pain management and recovery.

Similarly to how plants use sunlight for energy to grow, the cells in our body convert the non-thermal photons of the laser into energy, which is then used to heal the damaged tissues faster.

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Has your injury gotten you weak at the knees? Visit our expert chiropractor for knee pain in the San Francisco Financial District area. Call today at 415-762-8141 or schedule an appointment online now.