Is the knee bend part of the hokey cokey impossible for you? Is reaching anything off a bottom shelf in a shop tricky? Have you found yourself bent down in the kitchen and had to lift yourself up using the work tops? I’ve never been a big fan of my knees, and I think they are taking revenge for my uncharitable thoughts.

We realise how important a function our knees have when they stop doing what they should naturally and without complaint.

To obtain relief from knee pain, we need to be able to identify the cause of course. It is more often than not diagnosed as osteoarthritis, but this is only one possibility.

If it is an arthritic joint, or if your knees are swollen or feel hot to the touch, then inflammation is present. For this, the enzyme serrapeptase is second to none. If you are not aware of having injured yourself, then chances are your knee pain is diet inflicted.

You will likely be inhabiting an overly acidic body and/or one that is lacking the correct mineral balance. Many people take in far too much calcium and not enough magnesium. Calcium ‘calcifies’ and stiffens the joints. Using magnesium oil or lotion on the knee area will correct this and relieve the pain.

Changing your diet to incorporate many alkaline foods (plant based) will certainly help with this, and will not do any harm if the cause originates elsewhere.

Operation Placebo

Aside from shovelling out drugs, standard medical care will suggest an operation for many knee conditions. Yet this way to deal with knee pain has been shown to be less than satisfactory.

Dr. Joseph Mercola reported in 2014 on a study conducted in Finland, using 146 patients with knee problems caused by wear and tear as opposed to acute injury:

“Researchers divided patients into two groups. One group received the standard surgery, and the other received a ‘sham surgery’ — in other words, a fake or placebo intervention where no actual surgery takes place.

The study excluded people with knee arthritis, because they tend to not benefit as much from meniscus surgery, and the researchers wanted to ascertain if the surgery helps under ‘ideal circumstances.’

The sham surgery involved the physician’s making an incision and poking around without any actual cartilage shaving or cutting. Many of the patients were given epidural anesthesia, so they were awake, making it necessary for surgical staff to use their ‘theatrical talents’ to pull off a believable sham surgery.

The outcome? One year later, both groups reported equally favorable responses to the procedure — primarily, reduction in knee pain. In the end, the researchers concluded that the real knee surgeries offered no better outcomes than the sham surgeries.”

By contrast, Dr. Mercola’s suggestions are to “adopt a disease–preventing lifestyle.” He believes “appropriate exercise is key to preventing and relieving knee pain… supplements are particularly helpful, such as Vitamin D, MSM, Astaxanthin, Turmeric.”

Possibly the Most Overlooked Reason for Knee Pain

Your knee pain could be caused by your psoas muscle. A muscle I had not heard of until about 18 months ago, but am now very familiar with. Despite putting in so many hours’ worth of exercise over the years, I’ve never been much interested in names of muscles.

I am however now reformed, and what I have not researched on the psoas in the last year, is probably not yet written! The psoas is a large muscle in 2 parts (this is a simplified explanation as a diagram is needed for a more detailed version.) It links the legs to the trunk of the body, reaching from the lower vertebrae like an inverted V, down either side to the hip joints. It controls the muscle along the front thigh and across the pubic area.

If the psoas is contracted, it causes the thigh muscles to likewise contract. Even if this is minimally out of sync, it will have a secondary effect on the rest of the body and its alignment. Walking poorly due the slightest misalignment will put pressure on the knee joints – leading eventually to knee pain.

Yet Another Stress Effect

I know what this knee pain feels like, as I have it. Mine is an extremely puzzling story, and not one I can explain in full unless I write a book! Certainly it took a long time for my knee pain to arrive after the initial injury I sustained. If the cause is psoas related (you will need to see a good osteopath to have this confirmed), then it needs addressing at the root, as well as using topical relief with magnesium.

A tight psoas is linked to chronic stress. Often we don’t realise what a state of stress we are living in, having become so used to it. I was astonished to be told this was my problem by my osteopath. Amongst other things, Rescue Remedy was prescribed. Although I have often used this in times of acute stress, I was surprised to think it could help now. However, it dramatically demonstrated its relaxing effect as I went from not being able to walk up or down stairs normally, to being able to do exactly that, just 2 days later.

When the body is exhibiting pain anywhere, it is telling you to change something. Not by having it cut out or with bits of metal replacing bone. Not by taking drugs to reduce swelling, but by altering your life. It can take time to discover the cause of the pain, but this is worth the effort, as then you can work on bringing the correct natural remedies for knee pain into play, so you can once again dance the hokey cokey.

If the psoas is the cause, exercise can worsen the situation. An osteopath will work on the energy flow within the body and release trauma held in tissues, which will allow the psoas to relax. It is definitely linked to the adrenals and nervous system, so these need supporting, by lots of rest and calming deep breathing.

Final word. Don’t accept your knee pain as part of growing older. Recall the placebo operation. What you think becomes what you believe, becomes what you feel, becomes what happens. One of the most potent natural remedies for knee pain is you, and the untapped healing abilities you hold within.

If you have anything you’d like to ask or share about knee pain, please use the comments section below.