Knee pain in Tree pose

[ritaschwarcz]

#2639

Hello,

I have read through some of the previous asked/answered issues in regards to knee pain but couldn’t find anything that would help my problem.
I have been practicing yoga for years and have started Bikram over a year ago. I go 2-3 times a week to Bikram and do non hot yoga on other days. Yes I try to practice every day. Lately I am having to take some rest days as my right knee is really painful. It’s not painful during walking or anything only when I try to do any positions where the knee/hip turns out. Tree posture with a bind, crossed legged pose, pigeon etc. Not sure if I have caused an injury during practice or what I can do to make the pain go away as it effects my overall practice and life.
I would appreciate any type of advise you can offer….thank you

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#11027

Hi Rita

I hope your knee is feeling a little better over time.

For starters I would only do Tree without the binding. Can you tell me which cross legged pose you were experiencing difficulty in? And in pigeon, can you tell me please the angle your shin is to your femur? Or you could tell me if you are aligned along the length of your mat, whether your shin is parallel to the top of the mat? What angle to the top of your mat is your shin?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[ritaschwarcz]

#11031

Hi Gabrielle,

Thank you for your reply.
I still have the pain unfortunately. It seems to ease a bit by the end of the class, obviously because my body is warm by then.
Easy cross legged position on the floor and yes pigeon pose as well as tree. I am not even close to having my shin parallel to the edge of the mat in pegion as it hurts too much I tried flexing but it makes it even worse. I am working on stretching my thighs more as I hurt that could be an issue as well.
I have spoken to a chiro friend and he says it either comes from my neck or lower back. Both are bothering me. Than again, my lower back could come from my neck as well. I was adjusted a while back by another chiro and had weird headaches for a while and icky clicking. I wonder if he did something not right during the adjustment and all of that has caused and imbalance.

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#11032

Hi Rita

So, if Tree is hurting I need to know if it is the Bikram / Hot Yoga Tree pose or another variety. Is your heel on the hip of the standing leg? Is the lower leg crossing the midline?

For pigeon I would suggest the lower leg starts under the upper leg. If that’s OK, then move it a little out from under there toward the midline. Until we get more understanding, I think no crossing of the midline with your lower leg. Have your hands there to take the weight.

If your lower back is hurting then there could be a core strength issue as well. What did you chiropractor say? I do have a free video that demonstrates a simple and fun exercise to strengthen your back. Take a look!

Let me know how you go

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#11033

Hi Rita

Woops, you replied to the post notification instead of posting on the forum. You wrote:

Yes it is in the bikram version of the tree. I try to keep my heel in the centre of my body as much as possible. Would you ever recommend maybe taking Glucosamine for a while?

You are right to try to keep the foot close to the centre of the body, but unless I am interpreting your words incorrectly, this could be aggravating your knee at the moment.

If your knee is hurting in Tree and in Pigeon, I would suggest that it could be because your lower leg is crossing the midline and causing undue pressure on your knee at the moment. I have had an issue like that last year and with careful attention I was able to return to my normal yoga. But I avoided the ankle going up to the opposite hip for a while.

While glucosamine may make a positive contribution to your body I am not sure you can cure your condition with it. I tend to think it’s an action you can tweak in your functional body movements in and out of yoga.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[ritaschwarcz]

#11038

Thank you will try and keep you posted!

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