Knock-Knees & Bowlegs

knock knees largeIf your legs form an x-shape, and perhaps touch each other at the knees when you stand, or, more extremely, bump each other as you walk, you are said to have KNOCK-KNEES. 

If your legs are curved out at the knee area, with space between them (like a cartoon cowboy), you have BOWLEGS.

Knock-Knees and Bowlegs misalignments can cause a host of structural problems for your body, and can be corrected by The Vance Stance®.

Although knock-knees and blowlegs may seem very different, we will discuss them together as they both have their origins in severe shortening of the legs. They each cause big trouble elsewhere, and they each have similar routes to correction. You may think these conditions cannot be corrected, as they "must be heredity, and just the way you were made". Happily, this is not the case. Dr. Bonner has helped thousands of clients change the alignment of the lower body to straighten out the legs.

Painful conditions often related to having bowlegs or knock-knees include knee pain, hip tightness or pain, inflexible and/or weak ankles, and very tight hamstrings. Also, pain in the small of the back, sciatica, scoliosis, and foot problems like bunions and hammertoes all have connections to crooked legs. Crooked legs also play a part in upper body misalignments, such as kyphosis (Dowager’s Hump), tight neck, forward head and TMJ.

Movements in The Vance Stance that will help you correct the entire leg tightness that is making your legs bow or knock include:

  • Heel Drop on Stairs (page 94-95), which begins the opening needed at the back of the leg.
  • Hands On Floor, Legs Straight (page 88-89), which extends the new Achilles length all the way up the leg to the hips.
  • Leg On Railing (page 112-113), which lengthens the entire back side of yourself.
  • Cross-legged Sit: Head To Floor (page 130-131), which connects the newly-opened feet and ankles to legs and hips, thereby creating an opening to the top, outside part of the legs and hips.

(You can also see the Tight Hamstrings section for more exercises.)