Knee Pain Skiing – The Physio Corner

With this topic we start a new series of articles in collaboration with Grant Frost, Australian Physiotherapist based in California. On this episode of the Physio Corner we start discussing knee pain skiing!

More specifically let’s talk about why your knee pain is likely to be more than just a knee issue.

As a passionate Physical Therapist, I’m charged with the responsibility to understand and ultimately solve musculoskeletal dysfunction. When someone presents with a particular complaint, it’s just as important to understand why it’s happened as it is to try and rehabilitate the injury. If we don’t, there’s no genuine guarantee you won’t be back again in the future.

Everything happens for a reason and unfortunately our focus often tends to be too narrow. We obsess over the state of your knee and often forget that it’s connected to other things. Things, that when not functioning correctly themselves, change the way the knee is loaded.

From what I see clinically, the knee should be considered a joint of consequence. One directly influenced by the function of the ankle and hip. It’s also governed by the lower back.

There’s obviously a strong number of accidental knee injuries on the slopes, but what about the remaining non-traumatic ones? You don’t deserve to have a sore knee just because you use it. Especially considering that’s literally what it’s designed for. There’s often more to the story than first thought.

Interestingly, we can also mount an argument that these broader issues may rob you of your inherent ability to buffer the nastier, traumatic moments when skiing – a concept we are yet to truly grasp as an industry.

So please join with me as we unpack the broader perspective associated with most knee dysfunction and injury. We cover the three main areas of concern and discuss why they need to be considered when trying to solve your knee pain.

I hope there’s genuinely an ‘ah ha!’ moment in here somewhere to help you better deal with your knee complaints. Better yet, hopefully it can also help you on your quest to become a better athlete and ultimately a better skier.

Grant Frost is an experienced Australian Physiotherapist currently living in sunny California. This wellness nerd hopes to bring his unique brand of helpful and insightful education to as many people as possible through Your Wellness Nerd.

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