Have you tried all the therapies and done all the things but you’re still having that nagging knee pain? A traditional physical therapist is trained to assess and treat one joint above and one joint below the area of “dysfunction”. In the case of knee pain, your hip, knee and ankle would typically be assessed. That’s great if it’s a hip, knee or ankle issue. However, in most cases you need to keep looking higher to get to the root of the knee issue.
Many organs in your abdominal cavity are held in place by “visceral ligaments”, but this is not the case for your kidneys! Your kidneys can actually become subluxed and lose all connection with the liver and the diaphragm, this is called, Renal Ptosis. There are 3 degrees of Renal Ptosis. The kidneys track along the Psoas Major muscle and if they start to descend in the abdominal cavity they can be contributing to tightness in the hip flexors. The kidneys can also compress important nerves that innervate the pelvis and legs.
It’s important that you seek a physical therapist trained in treating Renal Ptosis using manual techniques called, Visceral Manipulation (VM). Call our experts at Restorative Physical Therapy and we will do a thorough evaluation and create a plan of care specific to your needs.