Buckling Knees
Recently I had a patient ask me about her right knee randomly collapsing when walking or descending steps. This is more common than most people may think. Sometimes this is an early sign of bad things to come. Read below for more 411.
Knee buckling for many instances has everything to do with muscular timing. Timing to the knee and hip provide stability when your foot hits the ground. The causes of mistiming or misfiring can run from serious to mild. Here are a few reasons why:
- Your pelvis is rotated on either side creating a functional leg length difference. If you are misaligned at the pelvis you may have increases stresses at the low back, hip, knee, ankle, and/or foot. Over prolonged periods of time you can wear out these joints and have prolonged pain. How do you fix it? The hip flexor has an inclination to rotate a side of pelvis out because it is dominant. It becomes dominant due to poor gait, sitting all day, or poor running form. Not to mention your butt is probably flabby and it is also weak in comparison to the hip flexor. You cure this with the hip flexor stretch and hip extensions as well as abdominal bracing all shown in my exercise tips page.
- You have a true anatomical leg length issue. The answer is a heel lift to make up for the difference from one side to another.
- Your vastus medialis obliquis or VMO is weak due to the above reasons and does not help stabilize your knee at the right time. It’s a very important muscle. See my knee exercises on exercise tips.
In all instances, you should seek professional opinion from a physical therapist and see where the real source is.
Have a wonderful and healthy day!
Dr. Justin