Have you ever looked down and noticed that your knees bow outward when you stand, or that they angle inward and touch even when your ankles are apart? If so, you might be dealing with a condition called genu varum (bowlegs) or genu valgum (knock-knees). Most people brush these off as cosmetic quirks or something kids grow out of — and a lot of the time, that’s true. But when knee misalignment sticks around into adulthood, it can quietly create problems throughout your entire body, especially in your spine.
You might be wondering, “What do my knees have to do with my back?” It’s a fair question, and the answer has everything to do with how your body works as a connected chain. When something is off at one level, the rest of your body has to pick up the slack. That’s exactly where upper cervical chiropractic care comes into the picture. At Desoto Upper Cervical in Southaven, MS, Dr. David Hall and Dr. Troy Reistroffer use a whole-body perspective — starting with the upper cervical spine — to address the subluxations and compensatory patterns that conditions like bowlegs and knock-knees can set into motion.
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So What Exactly Are Genu Varum and Genu Valgum?
Genu varum, the medical term for bowlegs, is a condition where the knees curve outward while the ankles stay close together. If you stand with your feet touching and there’s a visible gap between your knees, that’s classic bowleg positioning. It’s completely normal in babies and toddlers and usually straightens out by age three or four. When it doesn’t — or when it develops later in life — it can throw off your weight distribution, stress your joints, and force your posture to compensate in ways that travel all the way up to your spine.
Genu valgum, or knock-knees, is the opposite pattern. Here, the knees angle inward and may even touch or overlap while the ankles stay spaced apart. Mild knock-knees are also common in early childhood and tend to resolve on their own. But when knock-knees persist or show up later in life — often due to injury, arthritis, or obesity — they can trigger a chain reaction of musculoskeletal issues that reach far beyond the knee joint itself.
How Does Knee Misalignment Affect Your Spine?
Your body functions as what biomechanics experts call a kinetic chain. Every joint, every muscle group is connected to the next, and when one link is out of alignment, the links above and below have to adjust. Think about a building with an uneven foundation — every floor above it is going to be a little off, too. Your knees sit at a critical junction between your feet and your hips, and when they’re misaligned, the effects ripple upward through your pelvis and directly into your spine.
Pelvic Tilt and Uneven Hip Alignment
Both bowlegs and knock-knees change the angle at which force travels through your legs into your pelvis. Genu varum tends to create an outward rotational stress on the hips, while genu valgum pushes the hips into more of an inward rotation. Either way, the result is often a pelvis that becomes tilted or rotated. That directly affects the alignment of your sacrum — the triangular bone at the base of your spine — and once the sacrum shifts, the lumbar spine above it has to compensate. This is how subluxations start forming throughout the spinal column.
Compensatory Spinal Curves and Subluxations
When your pelvis tilts because of knee misalignment, your lumbar spine often develops a compensatory curve. Why? Because your body is always trying to keep your head and eyes level — it’s a survival mechanism. But that compensation comes at a cost. Those abnormal curves place extra stress on spinal joints, discs, and surrounding soft tissues. Over time, this leads to vertebral subluxations — misalignments of individual spinal vertebrae that interfere with nerve function and restrict normal joint movement.
Here’s what many people don’t realize: these subluxations don’t just stay in the lower back. The compensatory pattern often continues climbing upward into the thoracic spine and even into the cervical spine. That’s why someone with bowlegs or knock-knees might experience low back pain, mid-back stiffness, neck tension, and headaches — all stemming from the same underlying issue. This is one of the reasons Dr. Hall and Dr. Reistroffer at Desoto Upper Cervical focus so closely on the upper cervical spine. When the atlas vertebra at the top of the spine is out of alignment, it can amplify the compensatory patterns that originate from problems further down the kinetic chain.
Muscle Imbalances and Chronic Tension
Knee misalignment also creates significant muscle imbalances throughout the legs, hips, and trunk. With bowlegs, the outer thigh and hip muscles tend to become tight and overworked while the inner thigh muscles weaken. With knock-knees, the pattern often flips. These imbalances don’t stop at the hips — they extend into the core stabilizers and spinal erector muscles, further contributing to abnormal spinal mechanics and making you more susceptible to subluxations.
Common Symptoms of Spinal Subluxations Related to Knee Misalignment
A lot of patients who come into our Southaven office don’t initially connect their knee alignment with their spinal symptoms. But once we evaluate the full picture, the connection often becomes clear. Here are some of the most common issues that develop as a result of spinal subluxations linked to genu varum or genu valgum:
Chronic low back pain that doesn’t seem to respond to rest or basic stretching. Hip pain or tightness on one or both sides. An uneven gait or walking pattern that causes fatigue or joint soreness. Mid-back stiffness and reduced range of motion. Neck pain and tension headaches resulting from upper spinal compensation. Sciatica-like symptoms caused by nerve irritation at the lumbar or sacral level. Difficulty standing or sitting for extended periods without discomfort.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s worth having your alignment evaluated from the ground up.
How Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care Helps with Bowlegs, Knock-Knees, and Related Subluxations
What sets upper cervical chiropractic care apart is its whole-body approach. Rather than just chasing symptoms, Dr. David Hall and Dr. Troy Reistroffer at Desoto Upper Cervical evaluate how your entire structure functions together — from your feet and knees all the way up through your pelvis and into the upper cervical spine. Using precise techniques like Atlas Orthogonal and Orthospinology, they’re able to identify and correct subluxations with exceptional accuracy.
Comprehensive Postural and Biomechanical Assessment
Everything starts with a thorough evaluation. Your posture, gait, leg alignment, pelvic symmetry, and spinal curvature all get assessed to understand exactly how your knee condition is affecting the rest of your body. This typically includes range-of-motion testing, orthopedic evaluations, and detailed imaging to visualize the alignment of the spine and pelvis. At Desoto Upper Cervical, precision imaging is a key part of the process — especially when evaluating the upper cervical spine.
Targeted Chiropractic Adjustments to Correct Subluxations
Once the areas of subluxation are identified, targeted adjustments are used to restore proper alignment and joint mobility. For patients dealing with bowlegs or knock-knees, the focus often includes the lumbar spine, sacroiliac joints, and pelvis — the areas most directly impacted by lower extremity misalignment. But here’s where the upper cervical approach really shines: by also addressing misalignments at the atlas (C1) and axis (C2) vertebrae, Dr. Hall and Dr. Reistroffer help restore balance to the entire spinal column from the top down. The Atlas Orthogonal and Orthospinology techniques they use are gentle, precise, and remarkably effective at reducing nerve interference and improving overall spinal function.
Extremity Adjustments for the Knees, Ankles, and Hips
Chiropractic care isn’t limited to the spine. Gentle corrections applied to the knee joint, ankle, and hip can help improve alignment and reduce the compensatory stress being placed on the spine. While chiropractic care may not fully reverse a structural knee deformity in adults, it can significantly improve joint function and reduce the downstream effects on the rest of the body.
Corrective Exercises and Rehabilitation
Strengthening weakened muscles and stretching tight ones is essential for lasting improvement. For bowlegs, this often means strengthening the inner thigh and hip adductor muscles while stretching the outer hip. For knock-knees, the focus shifts to the hip abductors and lateral stabilizers. Core strengthening exercises are also commonly recommended to support better spinal stability and help hold your adjustments longer.
Custom Orthotics and Supportive Recommendations
Because knee misalignment is often influenced by what’s happening at the feet, custom orthotic insoles can be a valuable part of the overall care plan. Correcting pronation or supination at the foot level reduces the rotational forces traveling up through the knees and into the pelvis, helping to prevent recurring subluxations. It’s all part of addressing the full kinetic chain.
Why a Whole-Body Approach Matters
One of the most important things to understand about conditions like bowlegs and knock-knees is that they rarely exist in isolation. Your body compensates constantly, and a problem at the knee creates a ripple effect that can be felt in the ankles, hips, lower back, mid-back, and neck. Treating only the site of pain without addressing the root biomechanical cause usually leads to temporary relief followed by recurring problems.
That’s why the approach at Desoto Upper Cervical is so effective. By addressing spinal subluxations — including those in the upper cervical spine — correcting joint restrictions, restoring muscle balance, and supporting proper foot mechanics, Dr. Hall and Dr. Reistroffer provide a comprehensive strategy for managing the effects of genu varum and genu valgum on the spine and overall health.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can chiropractic care fix bowlegs or knock-knees in adults?
Chiropractic care may not fully reverse a structural bone deformity in adults, but it can significantly improve joint function, reduce compensatory stress on the spine and pelvis, and relieve the pain and stiffness that often accompany these conditions. Many adult patients who visit Desoto Upper Cervical experience meaningful improvement in comfort and mobility through consistent care.
How do I know if my knee alignment is causing my back pain?
If you have visibly bowed or knock-kneed legs and also deal with chronic low back pain, hip stiffness, or uneven posture, there’s a good chance the two are connected. A chiropractic evaluation that includes postural analysis, gait assessment, and spinal examination can help determine whether your knee alignment is contributing to your symptoms.
Are bowlegs and knock-knees common in adults?
While both conditions are most commonly associated with childhood development, they can persist into adulthood or develop later in life due to factors like arthritis, obesity, bone disorders, or previous injury. Adults with persistent genu varum or genu valgum should be evaluated for associated spinal and joint dysfunction.
What does a chiropractic adjustment for the knee feel like?
Extremity adjustments for the knee are typically gentle and well-tolerated. You may hear a small popping sound similar to what occurs during a spinal adjustment, and most patients feel an immediate improvement in joint mobility along with a reduction in tightness or discomfort.
How often should I see a chiropractor if I have bowlegs or knock-knees?
The frequency of visits depends on the severity of your condition and the extent of spinal involvement. Many patients begin with more frequent visits to address acute subluxations and pain, then transition to a maintenance schedule to support long-term alignment and prevent recurrence. Dr. Hall and Dr. Reistroffer will develop a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs.
Can children with bowlegs or knock-knees benefit from chiropractic care?
Yes. Pediatric chiropractic care is gentle, safe, and can be very helpful for children whose knee alignment isn’t correcting on its own or is causing gait issues and postural compensation. Early intervention can help prevent the development of spinal subluxations and muscle imbalances that become harder to address later in life.
Take the First Step Toward Better Alignment at Desoto Upper Cervical
If you or someone you care about is dealing with bowlegs, knock-knees, or unexplained back pain that might be connected to lower extremity misalignment, we’re here to help. At Desoto Upper Cervical, Dr. David Hall and Dr. Troy Reistroffer specialize in identifying the root cause of spinal subluxations and providing natural, effective care using the Atlas Orthogonal and Orthospinology techniques.
Call us today at (662) 393-4848 to schedule a consultation. Our clinic is conveniently located at 1134 Church Rd W, Southaven, MS 38671. Let us evaluate your alignment from the ground up and put together a personalized care plan to get you moving, feeling, and functioning at your best. You don’t have to live with pain — Dr. Hall and Dr. Reistroffer are ready to help.
