That Pain in Your Left Knee Might Be Caused By Your Right Shoulder

The amazement and wonder of the human body has been the single most analyzed and scrutinized topic since the inception of thought. How do we work? How do we break? What were humans like 10,000 years ago and what will we be like 10,000 years from now? These questions have promoted amazing advancements in conclusions through research but unfortunately we have barely scratched the surface of the human body’s function and unlimited potential.

One field of study in massage therapy that has created tremendous understanding is Kinesiology. Kinesiology is the study of the body in motion in addition to the effects of the body in relative space affected by forces such as gravity. We have learned that the 206 bones and 640 muscles in the body were perfectly designed to function as a cohesive unit as opposed to hundreds of individual structures. These muscular patterns which have developed as an intricate pattern of layers and angles allow us to move in an array of complex ways. However, with this gift comes the potential for dysfunction.

Even though most of us take it for granted, our gait is a vital function of our everyday lives. The process by which we walk and run can provide great benefits or crippling injuries. Humans ‘cross-pattern’; meaning when your left leg comes forward your right arm comes forward. One of the reasons for this principle is because of balance but another reason is crucial for optimum movement.

The primary muscle used to propel us forward is called the gluteus maximus which is located in the back of your hip; it is the largest muscle in the body and contracts to pull your leg straight back resulting in your body moving forward. Interestingly, even though this muscle directly controls the hip, it inserts into a bone and connective tissue slightly lower than the knee. This provides additional length… the longer the muscle, the more powerful a contraction. One of the other attachments for this muscle is a large web of connective tissue in the small of the back; that tissue allows the gluteus maximus to attach to the latissimus muscle that travels all the way to the opposite shoulder. When we are walking or running, both muscles will stretch together and contract together. This allows for a longer and more powerful contraction from one shoulder to the opposite knee.

If you can grasp that concept, imagine some mild shoulder discomfort or swelling the day after you engage in some gardening or golfing. When you injure anything in the body the first inclination is to protect the area by not moving it. So, you would naturally guard that shoulder from moving. That lack of movement in the latissimus causes your gluteus maximus to contract a little bit harder with every step because now it does not have its partner muscle to assist with the gait cycle. The average person takes 12,000 steps per day (6,000 per leg) resulting in overuse and dysfunction that travels to the gluteus maximus’ attachment on the outside of the opposite knee from the shoulder injury.

An average massage therapist asks the most basic of questions to their clients and then usually ‘chases symptoms’. In this case, the client would complain about knee pain resulting in many therapists treating the client’s knee. A properly educated and diligent massage therapist would run through a battery of assessment sequences and eventually ‘chase causes’. If this client’s shoulder injury is not treated, the knee pain will persist.