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knee pain after massage

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leosmith
leosmith

About 4 years ago I had a massage in Thailand. At one point the therapist applied high pressure with her thumbs at my leg crease (front of hips). Sorry for my poor location description, but that's part of what I'm here for. I don't know exactly what to call this location or what she was trying to do. Was she trying to massage my lymph nodes? Apply pressure to my femoral artery? Who knows. But she applied a lot of pressure and it really hurt. Trying to remain manly, I only gasped a little and withstood her holding it for 10 or 15 seconds. 

When I started to walk home, I immediately got pain in my left knee. It felt sort of like my knee wanted to give while I walked. It felt similar to the tingly pain you get when your leg "falls asleep"; under my kneecap and extending down through my shin. I feel like I want to drop my foot, but I don't. There seems to be some warmth and tightness radiating up into my thigh too. For some reason I didn't associate this with the massage. The pain continued for several weeks, then dissipated. A few month after I returned to the US, returning to work at a job where I'm seated all the time, the pain came back. Again, it felt like my knee wanted to give. Sharp pain, general weakness. 

I went to see a sports chiropractor. He said my pain description made it sound a little like peroneal nerve damage, but that usually only happens to people that spend lots of time on their knees like carpet layers. He tried the therapy anyway, and it seemed to help. Gradually, over about 3 years of careful knee care and physical-therapy type exercises on my own, my knee seemed to be back to normal.

Until last night. I'm back in Thailand (don't do massage anymore), and I'd been walking around all night, a little tired. I played a game of pool, and sort of threw myself back in defeat; sort of like jumping for joy; bending at the waist, and there was some sort of pop in that same leg crease area of my left leg. My old knee pain was back. Not it's worst ever, but pretty bad.

So I suspect the massage 4 years ago was the cause of this. My questions are how do I discuss this with a doctor or online advisors? What nomenclature should I use? Do you have any idea what it might be? What was she trying to do? What could she have damaged? What can be done to fix the problem?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • moandrieu
    moandrieu leosmith

    Posted

    Very interesting. I had a double knee replacement last October and have had a problem in the area that seems like what you have mentioned. My sister-in-law, who is a licensed yoga teacher recently told me that there is a way, through some massages and exercise that I could most likely get rid of that pain in the crease (groin) area. Perhaps this is part of what the lady was massaging.
  • jodi009
    jodi009 leosmith

    Posted

    Hi Leo,

    I'm a remedial massage therapist (diploma) and I also practice Thai yoga massage. It's hard to know exactly what she was doing without knowing the exact spot she was pressing, but it does sound like what's called a 'blood stop' hold (though it's normally done with the heel of the hand or foot). The theory is that by slowing the blood through the major artery, blood will divert to lesser arteries and help overall health and strengthening of the circulatory system. The other advantage is that when the hold is released, new oxygenated blood will flush the system and aid in refreshing stagnated areas such as varicose veins. 

    As she was using her thumbs she could have gone deeper than required and hit on the femoral nerve, [u]but I must stress that this is purely speculation on my part![/u] You would be wise to seek out a neurologist for a specialist opinion.

    Best of luck,

    Jodi

    • leosmith
      leosmith jodi009

      Posted

      Thanks for that information jodi; I'll try to investigate. Never considered the femoral nerve.
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