In this episode, Erica explores new and novel ways to evaluate and treat the knee.

She discusses different approaches aimed at providing a more accurate assessment of the knee.

Join her as she emphasizes the importance of training your vision.

What does "optimal" movement look like for that particular patient?

Does what you see match what you feel?

Are you assessing the knee in a movement that is relevant to the patient?

If someone's right knee is sore when they are walking with that leg behind, then assessing the knee in dorsiflexion and knee flexion is not efficient or effective here.

Train your vision to see what optimal movement looks like. And then put your hands on the femoral condyles and the joint lines to train your own brain to feel what is optimal. That's how you increase your clinical expertise.

Erica also discusses a movement you can evaluate if the patient has a hard time squatting or lunging. Finally, do not discount the patient's prior history. An old untreated hamstring tear from years ago could absolutely be relevant to someone's increased knee pain. Makes sense, right? But we often forget that - do not ignore prior history and its importance to current symptoms. 

A glance at this episode:

• [4:03] Knee pain and its compensatory patterning

• [8:14] Using vision and palpation to assess knee joint movement and patterning for optimal assessment and treatment

• [12:09] Assessing the knee through a body twist

Related links:

• Tough To Treat Website

• Erica’s Course: Decoding the Complex Patient

• Susan’s Pelvic Health Education Subscription

• Access the Transcript