An Interview with Bill Parravano, The Knee Pain Guru

Click the Play button above to listen. Below we have excerpts from the conversation.

Clinical Beginnings

My clinical background had a less than glamorous beginning.

There was no intention of going in this direction back when I first injured my knee. The journey essentially started with the dislocating of my left knee four times doing things I love like skiing, judo, volleyball, and softball between December of 1998 and May of 1999. At that point I thought, “Maybe I should go see a doctor to find out what’s going on with my knee?”

It didn’t make sense all of a sudden finding myself screaming on the ground clutching my knee. This wasn’t what I had envisioned for my life.

My Knee Surgery

At the time, I lived in Louisville, Kentucky. I went to the best orthopedic surgeon I could find. His name is Dr. John Ellis. He works for the University of Louisville sports teams. All of the basketball and football players for the Louisville Cardinals would go to see him. I go to Dr. Ellis and I’m thinking he might tell me something good. He did one of those tests, where he tugged and twisted my knee to test the ligaments. He put my leg back down on the examination table and said, “Bill, we could do an MRI, but it’d be a waste of money. You tore the ligament in your left knee, your ACL.”

I had this sinking feeling in my stomach, as if the world just ended. My main love was judo and I loved throwing people. That was my deal. That’s all I wanted to do and was really disheartened. Up to that point I never had a major surgery. It took a moment to digest what was going on. I said, “Okay, when’s the soonest we can do this?”

That was just a very low point in my life.

After the surgery I started physical therapy. Dr. Ellis told me, “As soon as your left knee is within 80% of the strength of the right knee, I’ll give you the green light for normal activities.”

My Recovery Goal

My goal, the finish line, 80%. That’s all I need to get; I can test my quad strength on their machines. I’m working my butt off, I’m going to physical therapy three times a week, religiously. I’m doing the exercises, doing exactly what Dr. Ellis and the physical therapist tell me. When I go for the last appointment with Dr. Ellis before he’s finally ready to release me and says, “Okay, great. I’ll get you set up with the DonJoy® rep to get you fitted for a titanium knee brace.”

My Life at 29 Years Old

This was not what I thought life was going to look like after the surgery, and the doctor “fixed” what was wrong with my knee. This was the finish line for the conventional medical model and where my journey began to heal my knee. I needed to find what’s going to work, because I just couldn’t accept the fact my body was going to feel stiff and achy the rest of my life. I was compensating in my hips and lower back, and get fatigued and tired. My legs would get exhausted by mid to late morning. I didn’t sleep well at all. The knee didn’t feel like it belonged to me. This ultimately led to a new path which changed the direction and course of my life. To study and learn how to get my knee back to “normal.”

I was 29 at the time and I felt like I was in my eighties. Exhausted and sweating most of the time. Just going up the steps was a challenge. It was not a pretty sight.

At that point I knew ‘there’s gotta be something better than this. This can’t be it.’

Early Education – Ortho-Bionomy

I started studying,