Knee and Ankle Pain Treatment in Collierville: A Drug-Free Path to Pain-Free Movement

Knee and ankle pain affects roughly one in four adults, limiting mobility and diminishing quality of life. At Ideal Health Solutions in Collierville, Dr. Glen Burford combines chiropractic care, physical therapy, and primary healthcare under one roof to identify the root cause of your knee or ankle pain and correct it — without surgery, steroids, or long-term medication. With 38 years of experience treating musculoskeletal conditions, Dr. Burford delivers lasting relief by treating the whole body, not just the joint that hurts.

Why Your Knee or Ankle Pain May Not Be Coming From Where You Think

When your knee aches going up stairs or your ankle throbs after a short walk, the natural assumption is that the problem is in the joint itself. Sometimes that is the case. But more often than you might expect, knee and ankle pain originates somewhere else entirely — a misaligned spine, a tilted pelvis, tight hip muscles, or an old injury that changed the way you walk without you even realizing it.

Your body operates as an interconnected chain. The spine supports the hips. The hips control how force travels down through the thighs. The knees absorb that force with every step, and the ankles and feet provide the foundation underneath it all. When any link in that chain is out of alignment, the joints above or below it compensate — and compensation over time leads to inflammation, cartilage breakdown, and pain.

This is why treatments that focus only on the painful joint often provide temporary relief at best. Pain medication dulls the signal. A cortisone injection reduces swelling for a few weeks. But if the structural imbalance driving the problem is never addressed, the pain keeps coming back. Dr. Burford's approach at Ideal Health Solutions starts by evaluating the entire musculoskeletal system to find the true source of the problem — not just where it hurts.

Common Causes of Knee Pain

The knee is one of the most complex and heavily used joints in the body. It bears your full body weight with every step, absorbs impact when you run or jump, and rotates slightly with each stride. That workload makes it vulnerable to a wide range of conditions.

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common causes of chronic knee pain, particularly in adults over 50. As the protective cartilage that cushions the joint wears down over time, bone begins to contact bone, producing stiffness, swelling, and pain that tends to worsen with activity. A 2025 meta-analysis published in PLOS One examined data from nearly 10,000 patients and found that non-drug therapies including exercise, bracing, and physical rehabilitation were more effective for knee osteoarthritis pain than pharmaceutical approaches — and without the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular side effects associated with anti-inflammatory medications.

Beyond arthritis, knee pain frequently results from ligament injuries such as ACL or MCL tears, meniscus damage, bursitis, tendonitis, and conditions like runner's knee or IT band syndrome. Sports injuries, repetitive motion from work, and even prolonged sitting can all contribute to knee dysfunction. Dr. Burford regularly treats these conditions at his Collierville clinic using a combination of chiropractic adjustments, rehabilitative therapy, and structural correction.

Common Causes of Ankle Pain

Your ankles are the foundation of your entire skeletal structure. Every step you take generates force that travels up from the ground through the ankle joint and into the rest of your body. When an ankle is not functioning properly, it creates a ripple effect that can cause pain in the knees, hips, and even the lower back.

Ankle sprains are among the most common musculoskeletal injuries, and many people underestimate their long-term impact. A sprain that does not heal correctly can leave the joint unstable, causing the ankle to roll or give way repeatedly. Over time, this instability changes your gait pattern, shifting stress onto the knee and hip on the same side.

Other frequent causes of ankle pain include plantar fasciitis, which produces sharp heel pain especially in the morning; Achilles tendonitis, which affects the back of the ankle and lower calf; and arthritis, which can develop in the ankle joint just as it does in the knee. Shin splints, stress fractures, and nerve compression are additional conditions that Dr. Burford evaluates and treats as part of his comprehensive lower extremity care.

The Spinal Connection Most Patients Never Consider

Here is something most people do not realize: the nerves that control sensation and movement in your knees and ankles originate in the lower spine. The lumbar vertebrae and sacral region of the spinal column house the nerve roots that travel down through the legs and into the feet. When a vertebra is misaligned or a disc is pressing on one of these nerve roots, it can produce pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness anywhere along the path of that nerve — including the knee and ankle.

This is one of the reasons patients with chronic knee or ankle pain sometimes find that medications and even knee-focused physical therapy fail to provide lasting improvement. The problem is not in the knee at all. It is in the spine. Dr. Burford's training at Palmer College of Chiropractic and his 38 years of clinical experience give him the expertise to identify these connections and address them through precise spinal adjustments that restore proper nerve function.

Patients who have been treated for sciatica or lower back pain at Ideal Health Solutions often report that their knee and ankle symptoms improve as well — because correcting the spinal issue resolves the downstream effects.

How Ideal Health Solutions Treats Knee and Ankle Pain Differently

What makes Ideal Health Solutions different from a typical orthopedic office or standalone chiropractic clinic is the medically integrated model. Dr. Burford does not simply adjust the knee and send you home. He conducts a thorough evaluation that includes your spinal alignment, pelvic balance, gait pattern, and the condition of the joints above and below the area of pain. When appropriate, he uses specialized X-rays to identify structural issues that standard exams often miss.

From there, your treatment plan draws on multiple disciplines working together under one roof:

• Chiropractic adjustments to restore proper alignment in the spine, hips, knees, and ankles — reducing nerve interference and redistributing mechanical stress across the joints

• Physical therapy to strengthen the muscles that support and stabilize the knee and ankle, improve flexibility, and correct movement patterns that contribute to joint wear

• Primary healthcare from Dr. Annette Caple, DNP, FNP, who can evaluate co-existing conditions such as arthritis, gout, diabetes, or circulatory issues that may be contributing to your joint pain

• Soft tissue therapies including electrical muscle stimulation, trigger point therapy, and traction to reduce inflammation, break up scar tissue, and promote healing

• Rehabilitative exercises tailored to your condition that you can perform at home to maintain progress between visits

  
  

This integrated approach means you do not have to drive to one office for your chiropractic adjustment, another for physical therapy, and a third for your primary care evaluation. Everything is coordinated in one location by a team that communicates about your care in real time.

Why Drug-Free Treatment Matters for Joint Pain

The conventional approach to knee and ankle pain often begins and ends with medication. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen are typically the first recommendation, followed by prescription-strength options or corticosteroid injections if the pain persists. While these interventions can reduce inflammation and provide short-term relief, they do not fix the structural problem causing the pain — and long-term use carries real risks.

Research from the American Chiropractic Association shows that chiropractic users have 64 percent lower odds of receiving an opioid prescription compared to non-users. At Ideal Health Solutions, Dr. Burford's philosophy is straightforward: find the cause, correct it, and let the body heal. This drug-free, surgery-free approach has been the foundation of his practice since 1986, and it aligns with growing clinical evidence that conservative, non-pharmacological care produces better long-term outcomes for musculoskeletal pain.

For patients with knee osteoarthritis in particular, the research is encouraging. The 2025 PLOS One meta-analysis found that exercise-based rehabilitation and bracing outperformed drug therapy for pain reduction and functional improvement — exactly the type of integrated care that Ideal Health Solutions provides.

When to See a Chiropractor for Knee or Ankle Pain

Many people wait far too long before seeking treatment for knee or ankle pain, hoping it will resolve on its own. While minor soreness from overexertion may improve with rest, persistent or recurring pain is a signal that something structural needs attention. The longer you wait, the more the body compensates, and those compensations often create new problems in the hips, back, or opposite leg.

You should consider scheduling an evaluation if you experience any of the following: knee pain that worsens when climbing stairs or standing from a seated position, ankle pain or instability that limits your ability to walk comfortably, swelling or stiffness in the knee or ankle that does not improve within a few days, clicking or grinding sensations in the joint, or pain that has not responded to rest and over-the-counter medications.

Dr. Burford welcomes new patients at Ideal Health Solutions with a new patient special that includes a consultation, examination, two X-rays, and a report of findings with first treatment for just $99. This initial visit gives Dr. Burford the diagnostic foundation to determine whether your knee or ankle pain is a local joint issue, a spinal issue, or a combination — and to build a treatment plan that addresses the true cause. Learn more about what to expect at your first chiropractic visit.

The Connection Between Lower Extremity Pain and Other Conditions

Knee and ankle pain rarely exists in isolation. Patients who experience lower extremity joint problems frequently deal with related conditions including sciatica, lower back pain, neck pain from compensatory posture changes, and general joint pain throughout the body. An ankle injury that goes untreated can alter your walking pattern enough to trigger hip pain, which then shifts stress to the lower back, which then affects the neck. The body is that connected.

This cascading effect is exactly why Dr. Burford evaluates the whole patient rather than just the joint that hurts. If you have been in a car accident or suffered a whiplash injury, the impact forces can affect not just the spine but also the knees and ankles. Dr. Burford's Advanced Certification from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego in Whiplash and Brain Injury Traumatology — a credential conferred to only 100 physicians annually — gives him specialized insight into how trauma affects the entire musculoskeletal system.

Key Takeaways

• Knee and ankle pain often originates from structural imbalances in the spine, hips, or pelvis — not just the joint itself.

• Medications and injections may temporarily reduce symptoms but do not correct the underlying cause of the pain.

• A 2025 meta-analysis of nearly 10,000 patients found that non-drug therapies outperformed pharmaceutical approaches for knee osteoarthritis.

• Chiropractic users have 64 percent lower odds of receiving an opioid prescription compared to non-users.

• Ideal Health Solutions in Collierville combines chiropractic care, physical therapy, and primary healthcare under one roof for coordinated, drug-free treatment.

• Dr. Burford evaluates the entire musculoskeletal chain — from the spine to the feet — to find and correct the true source of your pain.

• New patients can take advantage of a $99 new patient special that includes consultation, exam, X-rays, and first treatment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a chiropractor really help with knee pain?

Yes. Chiropractors are trained to evaluate and treat the entire musculoskeletal system, not just the spine. Chiropractic adjustments to the knee, hip, ankle, and spine can restore proper alignment, reduce nerve interference, and relieve the structural imbalances that contribute to chronic knee pain. At Ideal Health Solutions, Dr. Burford also incorporates physical therapy and soft tissue treatments for comprehensive care.

What types of ankle pain does Ideal Health Solutions treat?

Dr. Burford treats a wide range of ankle conditions including chronic ankle instability from old sprains, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, arthritis, shin splints, and nerve-related ankle pain that originates in the lower spine. Each treatment plan is individualized based on the findings from your evaluation and X-rays.

How is chiropractic treatment for knee pain different from seeing an orthopedic doctor?

An orthopedic approach typically focuses on the joint itself and may lead to cortisone injections, prescription medications, or surgery. A chiropractic approach looks at why the knee is under stress in the first place — evaluating the spine, pelvis, hips, and ankles to identify the structural cause. Dr. Burford's goal is to correct that cause through natural, non-invasive methods so the knee can heal on its own without drugs or surgery.

Will I need X-rays for knee or ankle pain?

In most cases, yes. Dr. Burford uses specialized X-rays as a key diagnostic tool to evaluate spinal alignment, joint spacing, and structural integrity. This imaging helps him identify problems that a physical exam alone may not reveal and ensures your treatment plan targets the actual source of your pain.

How long does it take to see improvement?

Many patients notice improvement within the first few visits, though the timeline depends on the severity and duration of the condition. Chronic issues that have been developing for months or years typically require a longer course of care than recent injuries. Dr. Burford will outline a realistic treatment timeline during your report of findings after the initial evaluation.

Can knee or ankle pain be related to a car accident?

Absolutely. The forces involved in a car collision can affect joints throughout the body, not just the neck and back. Bracing against the floorboard during impact, hitting the dashboard, or having your foot on the brake pedal can all cause knee and ankle injuries. Dr. Burford is a certified personal injury doctor with specialized training in crash mechanics and is experienced in diagnosing and treating accident-related lower extremity injuries.

Do I need a referral to see Dr. Burford?

No referral is needed. You can schedule directly with Ideal Health Solutions. New patients receive a consultation, examination, two X-rays, and a report of findings with first treatment for the $99 new patient special.

Dr. Glen Burford - Ideal Health Solutions is located at 346 New Byhalia Road, Suite 3, Collierville, TN 38017.