What a Pain in the Knee!

Knee pain is something that a lot of people suffer from; the knees being one of the bigger joints in the body that take a lot of punishment. Sometimes knee problems are structural from damage in the knee or from misalignments in the low back or upper body, in which case, this needs to be addressed by other therapies such as Physiotherapy, Osteopathy, Chiro etc. But in my case, I suspect the pain was coming from a combination of inflammation from my diet and the onset of “yikes” arthritis.

After 8-9 sessions I noticed...

After 8-9 sessions I noticed that the pain in my knees had significantly reduced to the point where I didn’t have any pain for a week or two. The pain did return at about half the intensity but as I continued to give myself reflexology, I noticed that the duration of the knee pain became shorter and less intense until the pain went away entirely.

It’s always important to see a doctor to diagnose any of these issues but this was during Covid and in my case I haven’t had a family doctor for at least 20 years. My knee pain onset pretty suddenly in 2021, I went for an hour-long walk (not abnormal for me) and by the end of it I could feel a strange pulsating in my femur and tibia – the place where the leg bone and shin bone meet. Not long after my knees started to get a bit swollen and constantly achy. One day I stood to turn, and I could feel a grating in my right knee, which was the start of about a year of constant pain, swelling and inflammation.

Like the Tin Man of Oz, I could feel the rust settling into these two joints and wished fervently for some oil to ease the ache – topical creams, CBD oil and sometimes Advil would help take the edge off, but I couldn’t fool myself, it wasn’t getting better.

I started my reflexology class in June of 2022 and as a result received 4 sessions in a row. In the meantime, I had also been treating myself as practice for an additional 4 or 5 sessions. After 8-9 sessions I noticed that the pain in my knees had significantly reduced to the point where I didn’t have any pain for a week or two. The pain did return at about half the intensity but as I continued to give myself reflexology, I noticed that the duration of the knee pain became shorter and less intense until the pain went away entirely. I haven’t had an issue since and continue to receive Reflexology about once or twice per month. I haven’t really altered my diet either other than to reduce the consumption of alcohol, so the only real change was the introduction of Reflexology.

Since I didn’t have anyone diagnose me, I can’t be 100% sure if this was purely an issue of inflammation – my knees swelled to 1.5x their normal size – or if it was the onset of arthritis as I believe it was, but it did show me how my feet often reflect the pain that’s occurring in my body. When my knees flare up, I will often feel it in what we call the Knee/Hip/Thigh reflex on our feet and the sciatic reflex both shown in Figure 1. The sciatic nerve descends from the low back through the torso, down through the leg and lands in that spot before branching into the toes. When you are feeling a twinge in your knees these spots can be rubbed using your fingers or knuckles. You can use a massage oil or cream when you do this, working with moderate pressure along the edge of the foot moving upwards to the top of the foot – working in the triangle between the knob of bone you’ll find on the outside edge of your foot and your heel. Listen to your body, if this is too painful, back off the pressure. Always work both feet as the brain will sometimes reverse signals but typically pain in the right knee can be addressed on the right foot and vice versa.

I’ve seen many people improve their knee health through reflexology, or a combination of diet/reflexology and other therapies. And again, it’s important to see a doctor and/or Therapist to rule out structural issues first as pain in the knee can sometimes be a result of some physical issue. But, in the case of a chronic condition like arthritis I’ve always assumed that medication or surgical intervention was the only treatment option and it scared me to think of knee replacements and the complications they entail. It’s truly a relief to know that I’ve found my oil can!

Figure 1: Knee, Hip, Thigh reflex labeled #70 shown in the pink triangle and the Sciatic points #71 noted by the purple circles. Foot chart courtesy of TemplateLab.