Knee Pain
Knee pain rarely starts at the knee. Assessing the hip, foot and your training load usually explains it.
What is knee pain?
The knee is a hinge caught between two very mobile neighbours: the hip above and the foot below. When either doesn't control movement well, the knee absorbs the difference — which is why treating only the painful joint so often disappoints.
Common causes include patellofemoral pain, patellar and quadriceps tendinopathy, meniscal irritation, ligament injuries, ITB-related pain and osteoarthritis.
Common symptoms
- Aching at the front of the knee, worse on stairs
- Pain after prolonged sitting
- Pain with squatting, kneeling or running downhill
- Swelling after activity
- Clicking, catching or locking
- A feeling of giving way
- Morning stiffness that eases with movement
What causes it
- Weakness in the quadriceps, hip or calf muscles
- Rapid increases in running or jumping load
- Poor movement control in single-leg tasks
- Previous injury or surgery
- Osteoarthritic joint changes
- Acute twisting or contact injury
How physiotherapy helps
Assessment establishes what's actually irritated and why. Treatment then combines symptom relief with progressive strengthening of the quadriceps, hip and calf, alongside movement retraining for the tasks that hurt.
For osteoarthritis, exercise therapy is recommended internationally as core treatment and reliably reduces pain and improves function. For post-surgical knees, structured criteria-based rehabilitation gets you back to sport safely.
- Full lower-limb and movement assessment
- Progressive quadriceps, hip and calf strengthening
- Tendon-specific loading programmes
- Manual therapy, taping and soft tissue work
- Running and jumping technique work
- Post-operative ACL and meniscal rehabilitation
- Osteoarthritis exercise programmes
When to seek treatment
- Pain lasting more than two weeks
- Swelling, locking or giving way
- Pain that changes how you walk
- After a twisting injury or a fall
- Following knee surgery
Frequently asked questions
Let's get you moving again
If this sounds like what you're dealing with, an assessment is the quickest way to understand it properly. Knee Pain responds well to the right plan.