MECHANICAL ASSESSMENT REVEALS #1 CAUSE OF KNEE PAIN

1
MECHANICAL ASSESSMENT REVEALS 1 CAUSE OF
KNEE PAIN
http//www.virtualphysicaltherapists.com/
2
When you are over 35 and have knee pain, an MRI
will likely show degenerative changes. You will
then be diagnosed accordingly patella-femoral
dysfunction, osteoarthritis, meniscal damage,
etc. But this can be utterly wrong over 40 of
the time! Sanshiro Hashimoto, M.D., is an
orthopedic surgeon specializing in the knee and
trained in Mechanical Diagnosis Therapy
(MDT). Mechanical Assessment Reveals Underlying
Root Cause of Symptoms Dr. Hashimoto published
research on a retrospective chart review of 101
of his patients that had complaints of non-acute
knee pain (symptoms for at least one month). The
data collected from the charts showed that 44.6
of the patients had knee pain caused by a lumbar
spinal disorder and not a knee pathology. Even
though the primary complaint was a problem with
their knee, a mechanical assessment and follow-up
treatments found no knee pathology. Instead,
symptoms were referred in over 40 of the cases.
3
MDT is an advanced assessment and treatment
system that all VPT clinicians are
certified. Mechanical Assessment Reveals
Underlying Root Cause of Symptoms Dr. Hashimoto
published research on a retrospective chart
review of 101 of his patients that had complaints
of non-acute knee pain (symptoms for at least one
month). The data collected from the charts showed
that 44.6 of the patients had knee pain caused
by a lumbar spinal disorder and not a knee
pathology. Even though the primary complaint was
a problem with their knee, a mechanical
assessment and follow-up treatments found no knee
pathology. Instead, symptoms were referred in
over 40 of the cases. MDT is an advanced
assessment and treatment system that all VPT
clinicians are certified.
4
Lumbar spine derangement A derangement is a
problem within the joint. A lumbar derangement is
caused by a disc in the lumbar spine (low back)
that is not working correctly because its nucleus
is disrupted from its central position. A disc
bulge is a tear in the disc that does not go to
the outer layer, while a herniation goes to the
outer layer. The disrupted disc can refer pain,
numbness, burning, and tingling down your leg,
including your hip, knee, ankle, and toes. The
location of symptoms depends on what nerve or
soft tissue the disc bulge or herniation puts
pressure on. Another study took it a bit further
and investigated the rate of spinal pathology for
all extremities and found a spinal disorder again
caused a high incidence (43.5) of isolated
extremity symptoms. In this study, the patients
all believed that their specific extremity was
the cause of their problem but responded to
spinal interventions. Another exciting find was
that those with a spinal pathology responded
better than those diagnosed with an actual
extremity disorder.
5
The problem is that it is not common for those
with shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle, or
foot pain to first receive a spinal examination.
Many may not respond to treatment because they
are not treating the correct joint and are
misdiagnosed! Every patient with extremity
symptoms must receive a physical exam ruling out
the spine. Doesnt a low back problem have to
cause low back pain? In Dr. Hashimotos chart
review of the 45 patients with knee pain caused
by a lumbar spine derangement, 31 had low back
pain. But 14 patients did not have any back pain
at all! If you suffer from knee pain and also
have low back pain, theres a 60 chance that
your knee pain is being referred from the spine.
If you have knee pain without low back pain,
theres about a 30 chance that the pain is
referred from the spine. Ruling out the spine
should be the foundation of all orthopedic
assessments. But unfortunately, this is rarely
done, and instead, the focus is on MRI results
and a 3-minute exam. Clearing the spine only
takes a few minutes. For a complete assessment,
seek out physicians and clinicians trained in the
mechanical evaluation (Cert. MDT).
6
Virtual physical therapists

• info.virtualphysicaltherapists_at_gmail.com

• http//www.virtualphysicaltherapists.com/