Feet & knees
Heel pain in the morning, achy knees with no injury, and the tissue underneath both.
Feet and knees sit at the end of long lines of connective tissue that run all the way up the leg. Working only at the sore spot is why relief does not stick.
Answers
- Why does my heel hurt when I get out of bed?Overnight your foot rests pointed and the tissue along the sole shortens. The first steps of the day load it suddenly, and that stretch under body weight is what produces the sharp heel pain. It eases as you walk because the tissue warms and lengthens — and it returns because the calf and sole are still short.
- Why do my knees hurt when I have not injured them?The knee is a hinge caught between the hip and the ankle. When the quad, IT band and calf are tight, they compress and steer the kneecap, and the joint takes load it was never meant to carry. That is why knees often ache with no injury at all, and why quad and calf work usually helps more than anything done to the knee itself.