Trigger points are like knots in a muscle. this page (http://www.triggerpointbook.com/triggerp.htm) explains it better, but basically they are usually caused by overworking a muscle or sometimes a traumatic injury and while they often don't hurt unless you press on them, they can refer pain to other areas, such as a muscle to a joint. (If this sounds quack-ish, don't worry, if it works it's obvious.)
The vastus medialis is the quad muscle that comes across to the inside of the knee. If I put my hand loosely on my leg while sitting so that the fingertips are on or just above the knee, my thumb lies right about where one of the vastus medialis trigger points are. If you probe around up and down that muscle with your thumbs (or your elbow, since it's hard on the hands) you'll probably find a few really tender spots. Sometimes you can feel a tingling near the painful part of your knee when you press on them too. That causes the pain and also the signature giving out of the knee.
There are two key points for that muscle, one near the knee and one higher up. Then all you have to do is massage them several times a day, deeply but not overdoing it all at once. Again, the elbow can be good, as you don't want to kill your hands. Muscles with bad trigger points are also weak, and don't stretch well, so that can contribute to balance problems or in the long run cause actual knee-joint problems because they pull the joint out of alignment. Karate loads the quads pretty heavily, so it's not a bad idea to check the rest of your quads for trigger points too. If you have them you'll know it. The first time I show people, they usually about hit the ceiling. Oh, and they don't get better with rest--sometimes that even makes things worse.
The good news is you can do the therapy yourself for free. The bad news is that it can recur, but if you keep up with the massage even when your knee doesn't hurt, you should be good for training. The book mentioned in the link above literally saved my butt (and other body parts) in karate training. I can't afford massages or regular PT but when pain crops up usually it's in that book and I can fix it myself. Of course actual joint injuries are possible too, but this is easy to check first, and doctors often miss it.
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Date: 2009-03-05 05:42 pm (UTC)The vastus medialis is the quad muscle that comes across to the inside of the knee. If I put my hand loosely on my leg while sitting so that the fingertips are on or just above the knee, my thumb lies right about where one of the vastus medialis trigger points are. If you probe around up and down that muscle with your thumbs (or your elbow, since it's hard on the hands) you'll probably find a few really tender spots. Sometimes you can feel a tingling near the painful part of your knee when you press on them too. That causes the pain and also the signature giving out of the knee.
There are two key points for that muscle, one near the knee and one higher up. Then all you have to do is massage them several times a day, deeply but not overdoing it all at once. Again, the elbow can be good, as you don't want to kill your hands. Muscles with bad trigger points are also weak, and don't stretch well, so that can contribute to balance problems or in the long run cause actual knee-joint problems because they pull the joint out of alignment. Karate loads the quads pretty heavily, so it's not a bad idea to check the rest of your quads for trigger points too. If you have them you'll know it. The first time I show people, they usually about hit the ceiling. Oh, and they don't get better with rest--sometimes that even makes things worse.
The good news is you can do the therapy yourself for free. The bad news is that it can recur, but if you keep up with the massage even when your knee doesn't hurt, you should be good for training. The book mentioned in the link above literally saved my butt (and other body parts) in karate training. I can't afford massages or regular PT but when pain crops up usually it's in that book and I can fix it myself. Of course actual joint injuries are possible too, but this is easy to check first, and doctors often miss it.