Knee pain

I’m troubled by knee pain as reported here and elsewhere in this blog so a visit to an osteopath seemed in order. The osteopath informed me that one of my legs is longer than the other by one centimetre. Hard to believe but there it is. I couldn’t help thinking “Thank God for metric! If talking imperial the difference might have been greater: half an inch.”

I lie on my side as instructed, (not quite wild-eyed, looking for, yet not wanting to see, the surgical saw) wondering what comes next. Fingers (his) was the answer - prodding and pushing, with great force, the stuff (tissue? ligaments?) in my thigh. This is because I have, as he put it, “Right sacroiliac dysfunction.” Which means, as I understand it, that the right side of my pelvis is rotated to compensate for the fact that a joint isn’t working. This appears to make the leg on that side longer and, misaligned, puts pressure on the knee, (which has also suffered wear and tear) causing, he believes, the pain. By the end of the session, magically, cleverly, my legs are now the same length; metrically and imperially. I have special exercises to carry out in order to strengthen the muscles in that area and I’m boosted by the thought that the pain may disappear in the weeks to come.

He didn’t like the look of my feet though (I’m not too pleased with them either) so he referred me to a podiatrist. I’ve seen him. He’s seen my feet. Done scrapy things to them with a scalpel - ever so gently, such that I hardly felt a thing (and he assured me that was down to his skill rather than me being ankle dead). He cut my toe nails and instructed me how to look after them properly too; essentially, don’t cut them again. Just file them once a week.

A note to myself: (“Pay attention in the rear rank - this is important!”) If I’ve got a problem then don’t delay. Sort it.