Knee pain is one of the most common reasons that keep people from doing the activities. Whether it is walking the dog, chasing the grandkids, going to the gym or just simply moving comfortably throughout the day, knee discomfort can hold you back. To find the solution to your knee pain, it is important to understand why your knee hurts in the first place. Here are 9 common reasons for knee pain, and some solutions to help keep you doing more of what you love.
Overuse and Repetitive Strain
Doing too much too quickly, for instance increasing your walking or running distance, or starting a new workout can irritate the ligaments and tendons around your knee.
What Helps:
- Ice after the activity to reduce swelling
- Temporary activity modification, with gradual return to movement
- Supportive footwear or orthotics to help with alignment of the foot, ankle and leg
- Knee sleeve with mild compression to reduce swelling and support the ligaments around the knee
Muscle Weakness or Imbalance
Weak hips, thighs or calf muscles can place extra stress on the knee joints. This increases the strain put on the knee and can cause swelling and pain. This is often associated with people that have a sedentary lifestyle or sit for prolonged periods. Many of the thigh muscles extend across the knee joint, and when they are weak or tight it can cause knee pain.
What Helps:
- Strength training and stretching exercises, especially for the quadriceps and gluteal muscles. (e.g. squats or lunges)
- Balance and Stability exercises, and physical therapy to help strengthen the core, gluteal muscles and upper extremities
Patellofemoral Pain (Runner’s Knee)
Pain around the upper kneecap due to improper tracking of the joint or muscle imbalance. This injury is often seen in individuals who are over training (Marathon or long-distance runners). Other causes are poor foot alignment in gait, weak hamstrings, or tight Achilles tendons.
What Helps:
- Strength training exercises, focused on the hamstrings
- Cold packs/ ice to reduce swelling
- Compression knee braces to support the knee cap
- Orthotics to help align the foot
- Kinesiology tape to secure the knee cap, and offload the soft tissue
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (or OA) is very common in middle and beyond. It is a progressive degenerative joint disease, meaning that the cartilage in the knee slowly breaks down with age. This leads to stiffness, swelling, pain, locking joints and reduced mobility. Age plays a key role in the prevalence of OA, but other factors that can affect OA are obesity, injuries or overuse of the knee joint, or genetics.
What Helps:
- Low -impact exercises like walking or biking
- Weight management, maintaining a healthy weight takes stress of the knees
- Knee braces to offload pressure and reduce pain
- Supportive footwear and orthotics to improve the alignment of the lower extremities
Ligament Strain or Injury
Muscle strains or sprains of the collateral ligaments (“ACL” or “MCL”) from sudden movements or due to sport injuries. This injury can affect any age, especially for those that do sports that have a lot of twisting or pivoting movements.
What Helps:
- Physiotherapy targeted at strengthening the knee
- Knee braces that offload either the ACL or MCL
- Limited activity in acute stages, gradual return to activity
- Possibly surgery to address a tear
Meniscus Irritation or Tear
Common knee injury involving small tears or damage to the meniscus of the knee. Often caused by twisting, or pivoting during sports, however it can be age related. It feels like the knee is locking in place and stiff.
What Helps:
- Knee bracing to stabilize the knee
- Physiotherapy
- Rest to avoid further damage
- Surgery if needed to repair the tear
Poor Foot Mechanics
When a person has flat feet or high arches, it changes the way they walk, and how the forces travel up the lower extremity. Flat feet can cause the rolling inward of the foot or overpronation. This causes excess stress on the knee joint, especially the inside of the knee. While high arches can cause a person to turn outward or over supinate, causing stress on the outside of the knee.
What Helps:
- Proper footwear, like a motion control shoe, that helps prevent the foot turning inward or outward.
- Orthotics help to align the foot properly.
Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome
This is a condition that many people face. The IT Band is a long piece of connective tissue spanning from the upper thigh to knee. When this band is inflamed it causes a sharp pain on the outside of the knee. It is commonly caused by overuse or repetitive motions, such as running or biking.
What Helps:
- Foam rolling the outer thigh and stretching the thighs daily
- Physiotherapy to strengthen the surrounding muscles
- Reduced activity and ice to reduce the swelling
- Knee sleeve to help reduce the swelling
Improper Footwear
Worn out or unsupportive shoes can affect the alignment and shock absorption of the foot and therefore lower extremity. Many people wear the outside of the shoes down first. By not replacing the shoe often can cause you to over supinate and stress the knees.
What Helps:
- Replacing shoes regularly; We suggest every 6 months if worn daily
- Choose footwear suited to the activity
If your knee pain is worsening or persistent and it is limiting your ability to do more of what you love, it is time to connect with a BioPed clinician. They can assess your lower extremities and help guide you towards a solution, whether it is a knee brace, new shoe or an orthotic. BioPed is there to help you get back to doing more of the activities you love.
