Your knee hurts and the MRI shows nothing? Then the cause often lies outside the joint.
Sometimes it is the other way round. The MRI shows a meniscus tear and the explanation seems obvious. Yet the same changes in the meniscus, discs or tendons show up in many people who feel no pain at all. A scan shows structure. It does not show pain.
Where pain comes from
For a long time the model was simple: tissue is damaged, a signal travels to the brain, it hurts. The bigger the damage, the worse the pain.
It is not that straightforward. Pain is produced by the nervous system, from signals in the body and how they are interpreted. Load, old injuries, sleep, stress and worry about your own body all play a part.
So I do not only ask what is damaged. I also ask: why does it hurt now, and what keeps the pain going?
How I work
If your knee hurts, the examination does not stop at the knee. I look at how you walk, stand and bend, where you shift load, and which old injuries still matter.
I pay particular attention to fascia, the connective tissue that runs as one continuous, richly innervated web through the whole body and connects muscles, joints and organs. Anatomy textbooks paid it little attention for a long time. Today researchers are studying what role it plays in movement and pain.
Because I follow these connections, I can treat far from the painful spot. That also lets me start early after an accident or surgery, always in line with your doctor’s instructions, while the injured area itself must not be touched yet.
What this means for you
Sometimes the damaged tissue really is the problem. Sometimes it is overload or a change in how you move. And sometimes the pain stays long after the injury has healed.
My job is to find out which applies to you and to treat that, not only the spot that hurts. If something needs a doctor first, I will tell you straight away.
You have a diagnosis but still do not know why it hurts?
That is the question I start with.
Online booking is in German. The session itself can be in English.