Knee pain relief in San Francisco.
Knee pain is almost always a hip problem. The knee is caught in the middle, absorbing forces it was never designed to handle on its own. Dr. Garrett finds where your body is out of balance and teaches you how to correct it yourself.
The knee is where the pain lives. But it's almost never where the problem starts.
The pattern nobody has explained to you
Your knee is a hinge. It does what the hip above it and the foot below it tell it to do. When parts of your hip stop doing their job, the knee starts absorbing rotational forces it wasn't built for. That shows up as pain around the kneecap, along the outside of the knee, or deep inside the joint. Most treatments look at the knee directly without asking why it's under so much stress in the first place.
Why strengthening your quads hasn't worked
The standard approach to knee pain is quad strengthening. But if your hip isn't controlling how your thigh bone rotates, you're just loading a misaligned joint harder. You end up with stronger legs and the same faulty mechanics. The pain stays because the pattern driving it hasn't changed.
Why braces and injections don't last
Braces redirect force temporarily. Cortisone reduces inflammation temporarily. Neither one changes the movement pattern that's overloading your knee in the first place. When the brace comes off or the injection wears off, the same forces return because nothing upstream has changed. The Amari Method addresses both ends at once: what's overworking releases, what's underworking re-engages, and the knee stops taking all the load.
This is exactly what your first session finds.
Book your first session — $225→First session guaranteed · In person SF or virtual
Where knee pain actually comes from.
The knee is a transmission point. What's above it determines how it moves.
Your hip isn't controlling your thigh bone.
When the muscles on the side and back of your hip aren't doing their job, your thigh bone rotates inward with every step. That inward rotation pulls the kneecap off its natural track and creates stress on structures that weren't designed for that load. This is the single most common pattern Dr. Garrett sees in people with chronic knee pain.
Your IT band is overworking.
The IT band runs from the hip to just below the knee. When the hip isn't stable, the IT band picks up the slack. It tightens, creates friction on the outside of the knee, and becomes painful. Foam rolling the IT band can feel good temporarily, but it doesn't change the fact that the hip still isn't doing its job. The tightness comes right back because the cause is still there.
Your knee is absorbing forces meant for other structures.
Whether your pain is patellofemoral, IT band syndrome, meniscus irritation, or general achiness that gets worse with stairs and running, the pattern behind it is identifiable. Dr. Garrett assesses how force moves through your hip, knee, and foot and finds the specific imbalance creating your symptoms.
What happens in your first session.
Full assessment, guided protocols, and a take-home practice. 60 minutes.
Assessment
Dr. Garrett assesses how your body moves. Where it's overworking, where it's shut down. He's looking at your whole body, not just the part that hurts.
Guided protocols
Using simple props (yoga blocks, foam rollers, gymnastic rings), Dr. Garrett guides you through protocols adapted to your body in real time. You're not lying on a table. You're moving, finding positions where your body starts to rebalance itself.
What changes
Most clients feel a noticeable shift during the first session. The overworked areas release. The underworked areas start to re-engage. You feel the difference before you leave.
Take-home practice
You leave with a short practice for what was worked on that session. About five minutes. You do it on your living room floor. It maintains the changes and keeps your body moving in the right direction between sessions.
Virtual sessions work well for knee pain. Dr. Garrett assesses your movement patterns and alignment via live video and guides you through protocols in real time. Most clients notice improved knee mechanics and reduced pain during their first virtual session.
People who came in with the same thing.
One visit with Dr. Garrett gave me better results than three months of physical therapy.
I've spent decades not listening to my body. Retirement gave me the time. Dr. Garrett showed me how.
Most clients feel a difference in their first session.
Book a session with Dr. Garrett. If you don't experience noticeable relief, we keep working with you until you do, at no additional charge.
Common questions.
If something isn't here, ask on a free discovery call. Dr. Garrett answers everything before you book a paid session.