Knee pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints, especially in people living with osteoarthritis. It can affect mobility, independence, and overall quality of life.

The Clinic has over 30 years of experience of treating painful knees, the impressive results are achieved by using the impressive relaxation reflex the body has.If the deep tissue of the body are more relaxed then the techniques imbed the new flexibility  to a deeper level. Few practitioners use the ‘Dive Reflex”, with gentle manipulation. The ‘dive reflex’  is the body’s response to a ‘diamagnetic’ material which the ones used in the clinic are water and copper.

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The Common View of Knee Pain

Knee pain associated with arthritis typically involves:

• Joint pain and stiffness.

• Swelling of the tissues around the knee.

• A grinding or grating sensation as cartilage wears away.

While there is currently no cure for osteoarthritis, conventional treatments aim to manage symptoms and include:

• Weight loss and lifestyle changes.

• Low-impact exercise such as swimming or cycling.

• Physiotherapy and strengthening programmes.

• Medication or injections.

• In some cases, assistive devices or surgery (Hunter & Bierma-Zeinstra, 2019).

Osteoarthritis itself involves the deterioration of cartilage, the cushioning tissue between bones in the joint. As cartilage wears, bone shape can change, bone spurs may form, and inflammation of the joint lining (synovitis) can develop.

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Why Do Knees Deteriorate?

Knees, like all materials under load, are vulnerable to wear when friction and stress exceed the body’s ability to repair tissue.

Interestingly, people who are hypermobility-prone (very flexible connective tissue) appear more likely to develop early arthritis (Celletti & Camerota, 2013). At first this seems counterintuitive – why should flexible people wear out sooner?

The likely explanation is that hypermobile individuals are also more prone to anxiety and autonomic dysregulation(Eccles et al., 2012). This increases inflammatory reactivity and raises muscle tone around the joints. Elevated resting muscle tension leads to compressive forces across the joint, which accelerates wear and tear, particularly in the knees.

Addressing sympathetic nervous system overactivity in hypermobile arthritis sufferers is therefore crucial. Reducing this background muscular tension may help restore healthier joint mechanics.

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What Needs to Change?

To manage the cumulative process of arthritis, three goals stand out:

1. Improve the repair cycle – ensure tissue repair is faster than inflammatory breakdown.

2. Reduce mechanical load – limit repetitive impact and shock on the knee.

3. Lower autonomic tension – calm the sympathetic nervous system to prevent excessive inflammation.

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Inflammation and the Nervous System

Inflammation is not just a local joint problem; it is closely tied to nervous system regulation. Chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) heightens inflammatory signalling and slows repair (Chovatiya & Medzhitov, 2014).

By down-regulating sympathetic drive and enhancing parasympathetic activity, the chronic element of inflammationmay be reduced, giving repair mechanisms more space to operate.

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Shock Absorption in the Lower Limb

Knees are not designed to take the full impact of walking or running on their own. Surrounding tissues – bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments – normally absorb and dissipate shock.

If these tissues are stiff, more force is transmitted directly into the knee joint. By restoring flexibility, particularly in the bones and connective tissues of the foot, leg, and thigh, shock can be redirected away from the knee (Sharma et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2020).

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What to Expect in Clinic

• Reducing alarm tension: Techniques focus on calming the autonomic nervous system, especially tension held in the head and upper body.

• Restoring flexibility: Gentle manipulation makes the bones and tissues of the lower limb more supple. As bones are freed, attached muscles instantly become more flexible, allowing ligaments and tendons to absorb more shock.

Clients often describe leaving treatment feeling lighter, looser, and more flexible.

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Why This Works

Rigid materials transmit vibration sharply; flexible materials spread and absorb it. The same principle applies to the body. By increasing tissue flexibility, less stress is concentrated in the knee joint.

One effective way to achieve this is by triggering the mammalian dive reflex – a primitive survival response activated when the face or body contacts water. This reflex reliably shifts the body into a parasympathetic state, reducing muscle tone and promoting relaxation (Panneton, 2013). When combined with manual techniques, the new flexibility can be embedded into the tissues, improving long-term shock absorption.

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Takeaway

Knee pain is not just “wear and tear”. It is the result of:

• How well your tissues repair,

• How much inflammatory pressure is present, and

• How effectively surrounding tissues absorb impact.

By calming the nervous system, reducing inflammation, and restoring tissue flexibility, it may be possible to protect the knee and improve long-term function.

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References

• Celletti, C., & Camerota, F. (2013). The multifaceted and complex hypermobility syndrome (a.k.a. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type): Evaluation and management through a rehabilitative approach. Clinical Cases in Mineral and Bone Metabolism, 10(2), 108–116.

• Chovatiya, R., & Medzhitov, R. (2014). Stress, inflammation, and defense of homeostasis. Molecular Cell, 54(2), 281–288.

• Eccles, J. A., Beacher, F. D., Gray, M. A., Jones, C. L., Minati, L., Harrison, N. A., & Critchley, H. D. (2012). Brain structure and joint hypermobility: Relevance to the expression of psychiatric symptoms. British Journal of Psychiatry, 200(6), 508–509.

• Hunter, D. J., & Bierma-Zeinstra, S. (2019). Osteoarthritis. The Lancet, 393(10182), 1745–1759.

• Panneton, W. M. (2013). The mammalian diving response: An enigmatic reflex to preserve life? Physiology, 28(5), 284–297.

• Sharma, L., Kapoor, D., & Issa, S. (2016). Epidemiology of osteoarthritis: An update. Current Opinion in Rheumatology, 28(2), 160–167.

• Zhang, W., Doherty, M., Peat, G., Bierma-Zeinstra, S., Arden, N., Bresnihan, B., … & Bijlsma, J. (2020). EULAR evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 79(6), 685–695.