title: The Comfort Zone: Eleven Unconventional Stretches to Stop Knee Pain
author:  Bill Parravano 
description: In December of 1998, Bill sustained a severe knee injury from a skiing accident that required reconstructive surgery on the ligament (ACL) and 2 pieces of meniscus (cartilage) in his left knee. This difficult experience led him on a path to figure out how to relieve the pain, tension, and discomfort in his knee as well as the rest of his body resulting from the knee injury and the subsequent surgery. Bill recognizes both the value as well as the limitations of the current "Western Medicine Medical Model" and has spent the time since his knee surgery "filling in the gaps" between the time after the surgery/physical therapy ends and feeling completely "normal" again. He believes in a comprehensive approach that incorporates different perspectives which allows for a decision regarding knee pain to be made from a place of knowledge and understanding not from a place of fear and "damage control." Bill has studied on a variety of topics such as anatomy & physiology, biomechanics, nutrition, water, exercise, strength training, breathing, martial arts and body work. He has also studied with a wide range of experienced instructors while traveling throughout Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. From all these experiences Bill has developed a comprehensive approach to overcoming knee pain that incorporates water, nutrition, exercise, stretching, and breathing. He believes it is essential to incorporate ALL aspects of this program on a regular basis in order for a complete and full recovery from a knee injury to occur. Bill is dedicated to increasing the awareness and benefits of his comprehensive approach to knee pain to the international public. He now teaches others how to relieve knee pain for themselves through his website The Knee Pain Guru.
zlib_text: Figure 1
  Hamstring Muscles
  View in Detail
  Figure 2
  Hamstrings in Parsvottanasana
  View in Detail
  Figure 1
  Parsvottanasana Against Resistance
  View in Detail
  Protect the Hamstrings in Forward Bends
  Help your students avoid injuries in forward bends by deepening your knowledge of
  the anatomy of the hamstring and the risk factors for overstretching the hamstring
  tendon.
  By Roger Cole
  Perhaps you've felt it. Standing with straight legs, you bend
  forward into Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), and
  immediately sense a nagging pain over one of your sitting
  bones. If you bend the knee on that side, the pain diminishes
  or disappears, but as soon as you straighten it again, the pain
  comes back. As you start to exit the pose, the pain
  momentarily worsens, but then disappears as you go higher.
  Thinking back, you realize that this has been going on for--can
  it be--a year and half already?
  What you are feeling is probably a partial tear in one of the
  two short tendons that connect the hamstring muscl