Lower Back Pain - Knee Flexion

Patients with lower back pain due to lumbosacral nerve root irritation often complain of knee pain. The knee pain may occur with straightening the knee or with bending the knee.

We talked last week about the muscles that straighten the knee and today's topic will be on muscles that bend the knee (knee flexors). However, if there is pain and spasm in muscles that straighten the knee (knee extensors), knee pain can occur with knee bending due to stretching the tight and shortened knee extensor muscles.

To test the strength of the knee flexor muscles, the patient should be on his stomach and he bends the knee on the tested side. The examiner pushes down on the leg in order to straighten the knee.

The knee flexor muscles are:
- biceps femoris (L5, S1 nerve roots via the sciatic nerve)
- semitendinosus (L5, S1 nerve roots via the sciatic nerve)
- semimembranosus (L5, S1 nerve roots via the sciatic nerve)

Jennifer Chu, M.D. emeritus professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, pioneered eToims Twitch Relief Method that utilizes surface electrical stimulation to locate motor points (trigger points). The motor points are then stimulated to induce strong local muscle contractions, termed twitches. This results in reduced muscle pain and discomfort in the areas that were stimulated. The involved pain/discomfort-relieving mechanism is thought to include local muscle exercise and stretch effects.

eToims Soft Tissue Comfort Center® specializes in diagnosis and treatment which ends muscle discomfort and pain.

Other articles by Jennifer Chu

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