Marietta GA Chiropractic Clinics Help Pes Anserine Injuries

First off, what is a pes anserine? No, its not PEZ anserine .

The pes anserine in Marietta GA is one of these areas of the middle upper leg that includes three separate muscles that cross the inner knee joint to insert on the tibia (lower leg bone). They include the sartorious, gracilis, and the semitendinosus. All three muscle tendons insert together and give the appearance when visualized of a GOOSE FOOT. Pes anserine means ‘goose foot’ in Latin.

Together these muscles act as an important stabilizer for the inner knee. These three muscles all insert (connect ) at the inner thigh just below the knee. A cushion exists in the body that buffers this connection and the inner thigh (femur) bone. This buffer is called a bursa.

These three powerful muscles can generate A LOT of force, all directed on one area of the femur. When overused, these muscles create friction (a rubbing if you will, at the inside of the lower knee ). This in turn may and often does create an inflammatory response at the area of insertion, or the bursa. When this area inflames, we call it bursitis !! In this case pes anserine bursitis.

To help alleviate that a bursa is located under the tendon to reduce friction. What does that mean? It means that you can have a variety of injuries in this area. The bursa could get inflamed. The tendon could get irritated or any of the three muscles running into that insertion point can get injured.

Steps to Relieving Pes Anserine Injuries in Marietta GA

What to do when the problem occurs

• Step 1- Traditional R.I.C.E. treatment: Rest: This may sound obvious, but I’m going to say it anyway. An injured muscle/joint will require a decreased activity level to fully heal. The severity of the injury will determine if this is a full rest or more of an active recovery. Ice: while heat may feel better on stiff and sore muscles, ice only during the first 7 days following injury. This will help to decrease swelling, inflammation, and pain. 10-15 minutes is sufficient and you can perform every hour as needed. Avoid direct ice-to-skin contact.
• Step 2- Kinesiology taping: By now you’ve probably seen athletes covered in all kinds of colored tape. Some of you have probably even tried it out. Make sure to read the application instructions first! This stuff should last 3+ days, not fall off in an hour. That means you need to prep the skin so that it is hair-free and clean.
• Step 3 – Getting mobility back The next is going to be to loosen up the injured area. Below I have the treatment techniques set up in levels. As a rule, you must be able to complete #1 without pain to progress to the next level. Be smart! Healing a post-tib injury isn’t about no pain, and no gain. Don’t overdo it in an attempt to speed up your recovery. Begin using the foam roller to work around the injury first. The goal here is to start getting slack into pes anserine without aggravating the injury itself. To do that we need to work up into the thigh to loosen up the inner hamstrings and adductors.

As the tendon/muscle heals, we can really start to go after the muscles using the deeper cross-friction and trigger point techniques.

Lastly, to loosen up the post-tib, we’re going to add muscle mobilizations as well as joint mobilizations at the hip and down at the ankle.

How long do you need to R.I.C.E for??? Until it’s 100% gone.

Dr. Ray Gaskey D.C. CES, PES

Bradford Family Chiropractic in Marietta ,GA