Posted 08.21.2023

Are you one of the nearly one-third of Americans who suffer from knee pain? Well, continue to read below to find out a few common conditions that cause knee pain.

Knee pain is the second most common injury that we see behind low back pain. It is also an injury that can easily become chronic if left untreated. What if we told you there was a way to address some of the most common causes of knee pain on your own without injections or surgery.

3 Common Causes of Knee Pain

Patellofemoral Syndrome

Also know as patellar tendinitis or runner's knee. Symptoms are typically pain in the front of your knee underneath your kneecap. The reason this pain occurs is from too much pressure around your kneecap leading to inflammation and pain

The tricky part with this injury is that you need to figure out WHAT is causing that increased inflammation in order to reduce it. Usually patellofemoral syndrome is caused by an imbalance in your body related to poor form or compensation techniques from decreased muscle strength. If your hips, quads, and hamstrings aren't in balance and working in sync this could result in your kneecap tracking improperly leading to inflammation.

SOLUTION: Figure out what is causing the pressure and inflammation in your knee (strength in your hips or a form issue with whatever activity you feel it in) and you will be able to fix your knee pain without any medications or injections and fix it for good.

Illiotibial Band (ITB) Syndrome

The causes of ITB syndrome are very similar to patellofemoral syndrome. The main difference is the pain is on the side of your knee instead of the front. The ITB is a large thick band of tissue (fascia) that runs from your hip to the bottom of your knee on the side of your thigh.

It is pretty common practice to foam roll your ITB when it is painful. Although this can help with your symptoms it does not address the root of the issue. Typically, again it is due to muscle imbalances, which leads to technique compensation when performing your activity (running, squatting, or lunging).

SOLUTION: A proper movement analysis or running analysis is critical in uncovering the root cause of your issue. Often, strengthening your glutes and retraining how you perform your activity will get you started on the right track!

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is part of the natural aging process and the majority of people over the age of 50 have it. Now you can have arthritis and have absolutely no pain but on the other hand arthritis can be very painful and debilitating. Just because you have been given the diagnosis of osteoarthritis does not mean that a knee replacement is in your future and you have to stop all of the activities that you love. 

Arthritis happens when the cushion (cartilage) in your knee wears down over time. You can minimize your symptoms with this condition by continuing to move, restore full knee range of motion and create strength and resilience in your knees. Moving your knees through their full range of motion will increase the synovial fluid (lubrication) in the joint and strengthening your knees directly will delay and even sometimes reverse the breakdown of the cartilage.

SOLUTION: Restore full range of motion in the knee joint (MOTION IS LOTION) and create resilience through strength training (REST IS RUST)!