the knee guru

1. Bending the knee with a gentle pressure from the back of the knee acts as a mobilisation with movement. This technique can stretch the soft tissues around the knee joint to help improve the range of motion (most likely flexion/bend). This is easily measured and compared. This technique reflects the work and theories developed by Brian Mulligan.
2. A sustained direct pressure applied to the crease behind the knee joint can create an acupressure effect similar to that of acupuncture. This technique has been in use for just over 2000 years. The painful stimulus causes a reduction in primary pain by using different branches of the nervous system. Short term pain relief is achieved via a distraction mechanism using the pain gate theory at a spinal cord level. A longer lasting effect is achieved by the stimulation of the brain to produce endorphins. This natural chemical production will also supplement the post yoga experience. Acupressure is not as deep as the needle version but can still hit the acupuncture point located there (Bladder 40).
3. Direct pressure to an area of increased tension/thickening within a muscle or a “trigger point” can cause that muscle to relax and reduce its tension. There can be such trigger points located in either the muscles at the bottom of the hamstring, back of the knee or top of the calf muscles. All these areas can be influenced pressure from the nee-ji.

The practice of trigger point release was researched and developed by Travell and Simons among others.