Bill's Story
Bill Parravano,
The Knee Pain Guru
Bill during his competitive Judo days at University of Toledo
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
It was never my intention to become “The Knee Pain Guru”…When I said yes to go skiing with Dr Paul the last week of December ’98, I didn’t realize what a life changing trip it was going to be. I remember going down the first hill, I tried “snow plowing” to slow myself down and then I got too far over the top of my skis. Then I face-planted. I vaguely remember almost passing out and then the waves of nausea. The medics sledded me down to the ski lodge where Dr. Paul (who conveniently, was a Chiropractor) put my dislocated knee back in place. I thought letting my knee rest for a few weeks would make things better, but the knee was very unstable.
I ended up dislocating that knee 3 more times (Judo, Volleyball and Softball) before I went to see Dr. Ellis, the surgeon for the University of Louisville Sports teams. He did the Lachman’s test on my knee and said, “Bill, we can do an MRI of the knee but it would be a waste of money. You tore your ACL.” The surgery was scheduled a month later (June ’99) then the physical therapy (Summer ’99).
Dr. Ellis and the PT did everything they knew how to do, but I still had lots of problems with my knee! Not to mention how my hips and lower back were compensating for my knee and causing new discomforts and tension patterns. I was released from PT by Dr. Ellis when my recovering leg was within 80% strength of my strong one. “Done with recovery” was NOT what I thought it was going to be. I couldn’t kneel, my knee was still very swollen, I couldn’t squat very low and my leg fatigued quickly…
Defining Moments
There were 2 defining moments in the latter part of ’99…First, I was invited to attend a bodywork workshop a friend was hosting. In the opening circle the instructor started with, “Ortho-Bionomy founded by a British Osteopath and Judo Instructor named Arthur Lincoln Pauls. He took the original Osteopathic Concepts of Positional Release and applied Judo Principles to develop an entire style of bodywork.” I was sitting there thinking well I didn’t know squat about bodywork, but I did understand Judo principles!
The second moment was at Judo practice, and YES I was wearing my HUGE Donjoy Knee Brace (pictured). I was coming into a practice throw with my friend, Martin. He did something and tapped my hip. My knees buckled and I fell. Of course, ego had me stand up and say, “Try that again!” And again, he tapped my hip, my knees buckled and I fell again. This time when I stood up, I asked him what he did. To which he replied, “I relaxed your tension” Little did I know that this was my first introduction to the Russian Martial Art, Systema which focused on movement, breathing and relaxation as a way to relax the body, move it into a parasympathetic state (the opposite of fight/flight) and allow it to heal. These 2 areas of study: Ortho-Bionomy and Systema make up the core elements of the Knee Pain Guru programs…
Signature Move
All this blending of techniques and study culminated in me creating a rather unique and highly effective tools set that even children can learn to use to relieve their own pain. Check out this page on What is a Pain Pattern Interrupt (PPI).