The Domino Effect: Solving Knee Pain Without Touching the Knee
March means March Madness basketball is here! Basketball keeps orthopedists busy here in Austin. It’s one thing to play with a hurt ankle or knee recreationally, but playing for a Division I program like the University of Texas while injured? That makes things feel nearly impossible.
Texas point guard Rori Harmon first came to see us this offseason after an ACL injury. Here’s the thing that’ll shock you… her knee pain went away even though we never once touched her knee!
Knee Pain: A Common Culprit
Knee pain is one of the five most common issues we see at Lifespring Chiropractic. That’s because the knee is influenced by so many other areas, especially the hips and feet. This makes it one of the most vulnerable areas for compensation and stress. In fact, most knee problems don’t even start in the knee.
Rori’s Story: A Previously Torn ACL
Rori came to us in the offseason after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year. She tore her ACL and also sprained her MCL and meniscus. At the time, she was about six months post-surgery and looking to optimize her knee and prevent future injuries.
Beyond knee tightness and irritation, she was experiencing neck and shoulder tightness. She was constantly cracking her own neck or excessively stretching to get short-term relief. We also discovered that she had dealt with off-and-on ankle pain, Achilles issues, and plantar fasciitis.
Uncovering the Root Cause
Having worked with so many athletes, especially NFL and Texas football players, I’ve seen firsthand how undiagnosed head injuries impact knee and ankle issues. Suspecting Rori had a past concussion, I asked if she’d ever taken a hit to the head. Sure enough, she had broken her nose last year and suspected she had a concussion, though it was never diagnosed.
Digging deeper, we found that Rori had likely experienced multiple untreated concussions over the years, along with a car accident. Side note: Just resting after a concussion is bad advice!
We ran our neurological INSiGHT scans, which confirmed what we suspected- the domino effect. The scans revealed a significant nervous system imbalance caused by past concussions and car accidents. These events had altered her spatial awareness (proprioception, for the nerds out there), which then led to recurring knee, ankle, and shoulder injuries.
The Plan: Where Miracles Happen
Using our TriChord Method™, we focused on Rori’s nervous system first, then her ligaments and extremities for lasting relief. An important part of her case was avoiding traditional cracking methods due to overstretched ligaments we found in certain areas of her spine.
We built a care plan based on her past injuries and what her nerve scans revealed to determine the “effective dose,” meaning the right amount of adjustments she needed to restore balance. Nervous system focused adjustments, along with home habits like optimizing sleep, played a major role in her recovery.
Sleep is especially important for brain health, so we had Rori start tracking hers and recommended she get more than she was. Within a few weeks, she noticed she was moving much better, even off the court, like when going up or down stairs. She also stopped cracking her own neck because the pressure she once felt was gone.
The Power Within: A Healing Breakthrough
Three months later, Rori felt like a new person.
She says, “I truly think that being here has helped everything around my body, most importantly my nervous system. It’s one of those odd things where you can feel the difference immediately.”
Her mobility improved, her pain disappeared, and she was even sleeping better. She especially loves her foot adjustments now and looks forward to seeing us after games during the season.
If you’re dealing with knee pain, the first thing I’d check is your feet and the shoes you’re wearing. You might also want to grab our free Healthy Feet Guide on our website, it even helps you choose the right shoes. And if you have other symptoms going on, let’s chat!
