Knee pain
In TCM all pain is due to a blockage in qi and blood flow. Many factors can cause this blockage, including trauma, poor qi and blood flow and circulation problems, alongside internal weakness in your body.
Knee pain can be triggered by external climatic factors such as wind, cold and dampness, which all obstruct the way qi flows. Any underlying weakness in the body, such as qi and blood deficiency, or liver and kidney deficiency, can also cause knee pain. Internal weakness in your body can leave your knee joints being more vulnerable to climatic factors and traumatic injury.
Knee pain due to external climatic factors
Climatic factors block the channels and slow the circulation of qi and blood in the joints.
This type of knee pain can happen when you are exposed to strong winds, cold and damp weather, or if you live in a damp environment. In TCM we often diagnose such knee pain as being a combination of wind, cold and damp, with one of these being more dominant than the other.
External wind predominant knee pain.
Typically, wind predominant knee pain comes and goes and feels worse in the wind. You may also have other symptoms such as chills, fever and headache. With TCM treatment, we include acupuncture points and herbs to help dispel wind, alongside eliminating cold and damp and harmonising the channels in your knees.
External Cold predominant knee pain
Cold contracts muscles and tendons, so your knee pain will be more severe. Your pain will feel worse in the cold and better for warmth. You may experience contraction or spasm in your knee joint muscles. Treatment focuses on warming the channels and dispelling cold. With acupuncture treatment, we will also use warming treatments such as moxibustion and heat lamps.
External Dampness predominant knee pain
Alongside knee pain, you will also have swelling in your knee joint, with numbness and heaviness in your knees; these symptoms will feel worse when it’s damp weather. TCM treatment includes herbs and acupuncture points to stimulate the elimination of dampness, supported with treatments to dispel cold and wind, circulate qi and blood in your knees and sedate pain.
Damp-Heat
This type of knee pain can be diagnosed when either there’s an exterior invasion or an internally generated condition. If the pain is acute with some redness and swelling in your knee joint, alongside a general feeling of being unwell and having caught something, in TCM we will diagnose an external invasion and treat it differently to if it’s an internally generated issue. If it’s internally generated, you’ll also have symptoms such as irritability, a bad taste in your mouth, poor appetite and an occasional fever. In both cases, your knees will be swollen and painful and feel worse for pressure, with a burning hot sensation in your knees. Alongside points to help reduce the swelling and heat in the area, we may include acupuncture points and herbs to deal with any external causes, or alternatively, use a different method to deal with the internally generated damp heat.
Qi and Blood Stagnation
Typical causes of this TCM pattern are traumatic injury, knee operations and overstraining the knee joint. This type of knee pain will have symptoms such as your pain feeling worse at night or when resting and feeling better with movement. Your pain will be stabbing and be in a fixed location. You might also have some swelling in your knees. Traumatic injury is often the cause.
Liver and Kidney Deficiency
This TCM pattern can be caused by a weak constitution, old age, overwork or prolonged sickness. Symptoms include chronic knee pain which gets worse after you have been standing for too long, your knee joint feeling stiff in the morning, joint deformity and weakness in your muscles, lower back and knees. You may also feel tired and dislike being cold. In TCM, we use treatment to help strengthen the kidneys and liver, strengthen the knees and relieve pain.
Qi and Blood Deficiency
Poor diets or eating habits or a long period of ill health can all cause qi and blood deficiency. Excessive bleeding will also result in this TCM pattern. Here, your knee pain will come and go, feel better for rest and massage and worse for doing too much. You may also have a feeling of weakness in your legs and muscles. Alongside these symptoms, you could also feel tired, be short of breath and have a poor appetite. Treatment using herbs and acupuncture will focus on strengthening qi and blood and relieving pain.
At the Jade Centre we see many patients each year to help them to manage their health. Contact us now and book an appointment to get the support you need,
