Knee Pain

Most knee pain occurs because there is a problem with the function of the hip or foot. The knee can be injured when the Gluteal muscles of the hip are weak and the hip flexors are tight. Also weakness of the muscles in the foot can cause a dropped arch which will lead to a rolling in of the knee, this is compounded by weak Gluteal muscles.

At Back In Form we look at the whole body from the ground up and head down. We will assess whether foot problems are affecting your knees and look to strengthen the whole chain of joints from the ground up. Listed below are some of the most common knee problems we see regularly with descriptions below.

In some cases the damage is too great to stabilise and then arthroscopy is needed to repair or remove the damaged tissues. We can advise in these cases of the best course of action and will keep your GP informed.

The patella tendon sits below the knee cap and attaches it to the tibia. It can become inflamed when there is excessive strain on it. A predisposing factor in this inflammation is an imbalance between the ilio-tibial band or ITB for short and the medial quadriceps muscles. The problem is usually associated once again with gluteal weakness. This can also lead to inflammation of the surface of the patella where it articulates with the femur. The result is pain on squatting behind or below the knee cap. Tenderness is also found when sat for a while so the problem is often called movie goers knee. or jumpers knee. Treatment is again aimed at strengthening the Gluteal muscles and the medial quadriceps muscles, improving feedback from the joint with taping and releasing tension in the muscles behind the knee. Orthotics may also have a role in preventing recurrences.

For the NICE guidelines in assessing knee pain follow this link.