Chronic Knee Pain And The Foot To Brain Connection

Andy, a sufferer of chronic knee  pain read my book, Forever Free From Chronic Pain and also took the Rothbarts Foot Questionnaire (that he found within the book) to find out if he had an inherited abnormal foot structure that might be causing his chronic knee pain.

Two of the questions were: 'Do you have pains that come and go in different joints?' and 'Do you have tight and/or stiff muscles?'

Without a doubt, Andy could testify that his chronic knee joint pain definitely alternated between the left knee and the right!  And the swelling in his knee joints without a doubt made his muscles stiff, making it exceedingly difficult to bend his knees.

Ok, so maybe Andy had finally found the cause of his chronic knee pain:  He just might have a Rothbarts Foot. 

Andy went on to read the chapter titled  "The Foot To Brain Connection."  Here he was stumped. How could it be possible for his feet to send messages to his brain?  And why would they want to do that in the first place?  And what does this have to do with his chronic knee pain?

Andy needed to have a broader understanding of how his entire body works so that he could then narrow it down to what was going on in his knee joint.

The human body is not a bag of isolated parts each functioning on its' own.  Instead, each cell, organ and system is reliant on the others for their survival.  And in order to survive, everything sends and receives information to and from your brain.

For example:

1.    The temperature sensitive receptors in your skin send a signal to your brain telling it that your hand is touching something hot.  Your brain responds by telling your hand to retract from the heat source.

2.    Your inner ear equilibrium center sends information to your brain telling it that you are walking on a slope.  Your brain responds by telling your body how to maintain an upright position while walking on the slope, without falling down.
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3.    Your optic (in your eye) nerve sends information to your brain telling it how much light your eyes are receiving. Your brain responds by telling your pupils to dilate or restrict.

4.    The stretch sensitive receptors in your muscles send information to your brain, telling it when a muscle is being used and how much pull tension is being placed on it. Your brain responds by relaxing or tightening the muscles to prevent them from being over stretched or over contracted, while under load (e.g. when lifting an object).

It is the same with your feet and brain.  Your feet send signals to your brain telling your brain the position of your body relative to the ground (your posture). Your brain responds by adjusting your posture so that you can maintain an erect position, even on irregular ground surfaces.

If the signals sent from your feet are correct (due to a normal foot structure) your brain acts on these correct signals, creating a good posture. This means that your weight bearing joints are in their anatomically correct alignment and your muscles function around their physiologically correct resting position.  Your muscles and joints will function at their optimum.

But if the signals sent from your feet are distorted (due to an abnormal foot structure) your brain acts on these distorted signals, creating a distorted posture.  This means that your weight bearing joints are functioning in a mal-aligned position, causing accelerated wear of the cartilaginous caps within those joints (arthritis). The muscles surrounding those joints compensate for the mal-alignment by becoming overly stretched or overly contracted, resulting in muscle stiffness and pain.

The pain will first manifest in the weakest joints of your body.

The Foot To Brain Connection and Andy's Chronic Knee Joint Pain

 

In a nutshell, Andy's abnormal foot structure created bad posture, affecting all his weight bearing joints. The weakest joints in Andy's body were in his knees, due to his excessive weight and construction job where he climbed up and down scaffolds every day. 

When I explained to Andy the Foot To Brain Connection and how it directly related to and created his chronic knee pain it became clear to him that addressing his abnormal foot structure was the answer to finally eliminating his knee joint pain.

Whether your chronic pain manifests as swelling in your knee joints or any other chronic knee pain, why struggle with temporary fixes and treatments that only work in the short term, like physical therapy, cortisone injections and arthroscopic surgery?
 

To find out if you may have one of two common inherited, abnormal foot structures that cause chronic knee pain, take the Rothbarts Foot Questionnaire. 

To read more on the connection between your feet and brain, read: The Foot To Brain Connection

To learn about how your feet help to keep your body well, read: The Link Between Your Feet and Total Body Wellness

As you learn more about my innovative therapy, you may find that addressing and effectively treating your foot structure may be the missing link to ending your long time battle with unrelenting muscle and joint pain.

If you have questions about what's involved in being treated with Rothbart Proprioceptive Therapy, see our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page by clicking here.

If you would like to contact me regarding an appointment to resolve your pain, click here.

Professor/Dr. Brian A. Rothbart
Chronic Pain Elimination Specialist
Discovered the Rothbarts Foot and PreClinical Clubfoot Deformity
Developer of Rothbart Proprioceptive Therapy
Designer of Rothbart Proprioceptive Insoles
Founder of International Academy of Rothbart Proprioceptive Therapy
Author of Forever Free From Chronic Pain