Knee Buckling? Here’s A Possible Reason Why (& Massage That Can Fix It)

Dr. Amy Konvalin, physical therapist, gives her insights:

It’s not about your knee

Or at least, it’s often not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it arguably is or isn’t (like the golgi tendon reflex misfiring in cases of hypermobility, which involves the Golgi tendon organ which is at least near the knee—see the “learn more” section for more on that). And sometimes it’s really nowhere near, for example:

It’s in your hips: when there has been no direct injury or trauma to your knee, dysfunction in the muscles of your hip or foot can contribute to, if not outright cause, knee problems. The hip is a particularly common source of knee buckling.

It’s often specifically about the gluteus medius, because increased tension or dysfunction in this muscle on the side of your hip can increase tension through the IT band and contribute to a sensation (or indeed, actual consequence) of your knee giving way, particularly when walking or climbing stairs.

Dr. Konvalin recommends not massaging the IT band itself (while myofascial massage is generally considered a worthwhile thing, in this case she argues it can worsen matters by aggravating it and causing the attached muscle to become more tense rather than less), and instead recommends massaging the gluteus medius directly.

• How to find your gluteus medius: place your hand on your hipbone and slide it downward beneath the bony ridge. The area beneath that ridge contains your gluteus medius, which extends toward the prominent part of your thigh bone.
• How to massage it: tender areas can be gently massaged with your hand, either over your clothes or with lotion directly on your skin. Tender spots can indicate areas of increased tension. You can also use a ball (e.g. tennis ball or similarly-sized made-for-purpose massage ball), to increase the pressure without increasing the feeling of friction.

She does recommend to work on each tender spot for no more than one minute. If you have several tender spots, each can be addressed separately. And yes, just do this “little and often”; you want a sustainable change, not the anatomical equivalent of trying to tenderize yourself with a meat-hammer.

For more on all of this and even a visual demonstration (Dr. Konvalin often avoids those even when they would be helpful), enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

The Best Exercise to Stop Your Legs From Giving Out ← this is about stopping a Golgi tendon reflex from misfiring and causing you to fold like laundry when you were doing nothing more challenging than walking along

Take care!