Knee Pain Chiropractor San Diego | Runner's Knee, IT Band, UTC

Knee pain chiropractor in San Diego

Most knee pain that is not an injury to the knee itself comes from above or below it: a hip that is not controlling the leg, an ankle that does not bend, tissue that has stopped gliding. I treat the knee and the things driving it, in UTC, with same day openings, evenings and Sundays.

Is this you?

The knee is a hinge between two joints that move in every direction. When the hip or ankle stops doing its share, the knee absorbs the difference, and that is where it hurts. These are the patterns I see most, and where each one usually comes from.

Pain around or under the kneecap with stairs, squats or long sitting: patellofemoral pain, usually tracking driven by a hip that drops and a tight lateral thigh.

Outside-of-knee pain that builds mile by mile: IT band syndrome, almost always a glute medius that is not firing and a stiff hip, not a band to roll harder.

Pain just below the kneecap with jumping or lunging: patellar tendon overload, tight quads, often a stiff ankle underneath.

Inside-of-knee ache in runners and cyclists: pes anserine tissue and hip adductor tightness.

Stiff, achy knees after sitting at a desk all day: hips and quads that have shortened, and knees that have stopped moving through full range.

Knee pain after a car accident from the dashboard or bracing: often bruising plus a hip and low back that locked up with it.

Needs imaging and an orthopedist first, not an adjustment: a pop with immediate swelling, a knee that locks or gives way, inability to bear weight, a hot swollen joint, or knee pain with fever. If the exam points that way, I refer you the same day.

How I treat knee pain

Exam first, then treatment the same visit when the exam is clear. The knee is usually where it hurts; the hip and ankle are usually where the fix is.

ExamRange of motion of the knee, hip and ankle, orthopedic testing to rule out ligament and meniscus injury, and a look at how your pelvis sits with you face down. If the knee itself tests unstable, you get a referral rather than treatment.

Soft tissue workART on the quads, TFL and IT band region, hip flexors, adductors, hamstrings and calves. Heat and e-stim first when the tissue is guarding.

Adjust what is stuckHip, SI joint, lumbar, ankle and sometimes the tibiofemoral and patellar joints themselves, where the exam finds a joint that has stopped moving.

Load it rightTwo or three home exercises, usually hip strength and ankle mobility rather than more quad work, and a plan to keep running, lifting or hiking at a volume the knee tolerates.

How many visits

Most overuse knee pain eases within four to eight visits at once or twice a week, with the home exercises doing a lot of the work between visits. Long-standing patellofemoral pain and IT band problems that have been there for months take longer, because the hip strength that fixes them takes weeks to build. I reassess as we go; if the exam says the knee itself is the problem, you get imaging and a referral rather than more visits. The detailed self-assessment, with what each location of knee pain usually means and the exercises for each, is in the knee pain by location guide.

Monday to Friday9 AM to 7 PM

Sunday10 AM to 4 PM

SaturdayClosed

Same dayOpenings most days

Common questions

Can a chiropractor help with knee pain?

Yes, for the overuse and mechanical knee problems that make up most cases: runner’s knee, IT band syndrome, patellar tendon pain and stiffness from sitting. Treatment targets the hip, ankle and soft tissue problems loading the knee. Ligament tears, meniscus injuries with locking, and unstable knees need imaging and an orthopedist first.

Do you adjust the knee itself?

Sometimes, when the exam finds a knee or kneecap that has stopped gliding normally. More often the adjustments are at the hip, pelvis and ankle, which are usually where the restriction driving the knee pain lives.

Why does my knee hurt going down stairs?

Descending stairs loads the kneecap against the thigh bone several times body weight. If the hip is not controlling the leg and the lateral thigh is tight, the kneecap tracks poorly and the cartilage behind it gets irritated. That is patellofemoral pain, and it responds to hip strength and soft tissue work more than to resting the knee.

Should I stop running or lifting?

Usually not completely. Most people reduce volume or swap the painful movement for a couple of weeks while treatment and exercises take hold, then build back. Pain that spikes sharply or swelling after activity is the exception.

Is knee treatment covered by insurance?

It is billed as a chiropractic visit, which most major PPO plans, Medicare and VA Community Care cover. Benefits are verified before the first visit. Without insurance the first visit is $100 and follow-ups are $75.

Knee pain chiropractor in San Diego

Is this you?

How I treat knee pain

How many visits

Common questions

Fix the cause, not just the knee.