Kneecap pain that comes and goes every time you try to get active is frustrating to deal with.

It makes you feel like you’re older than your age because of the stiffness and pain that come with it.

But it’s possible in nearly every case to get back to being active again doing normal activities including exercise like going to the gym, running, and hiking. 

All while avoiding relying on medications and injections and getting real, long-term natural knee pain relief.

Pain at the front of the knee just behind the kneecap is caused by a specific root muscle imbalance where the muscles on the front of the thigh are too strong and smashing the kneecap against the thigh bone too much.

At first, people usually develop what is called patellofemoral pain syndrome. Then it progresses to chondromalacia patella. The difference for doctors in diagnosing the two is that chondromalacia patella will have a noticeable damage to the cartilage that’s visible on the x-ray. But they both are caused by the same root problem.

Doctors will likely tell you it’s caused by “too much.” Too much exercise, too much running, too much sitting, being too sedentary, too much weight lifting, too much weight that you need to lose. They incorrectly say this because they are not specialists in treating the knee without medications, injections, and surgery. Their training is focused on symptom management rather than treating the root of the problem.

I mean, how is it that being too sedentary AND being too active can both cause kneecap pain? It just doesn’t make sense! There has to be something else going on that we can confidently agree to. Otherwise you’re left feeling helpless and hopeless about fixing the problem.

Healthcare professionals will usually recommend rest and pain medications. Some might tell you to start wearing a brace when you’re more active. If that doesn’t help, your doctor may recommend an injection for pain relief.

Injections tend to be very effective in temporarily relieving this type of knee pain, even to the point that patients think the kneecap problem is cured. But be careful in resuming normal activity at full force again! The root problem is NOT fixed by the injection, so the kneecap pain is likely to return once the medication wears off.

There is a surgery done to “clean out” the knee joint. It’s called debridement surgery. This might be helpful to smooth rough edges in extreme cases, but be careful when choosing to do this surgery since there could be a risk of infection and surgical errors.

Since the root problem tends to be the muscles on the front of the thigh, called the quadricep muscles, being too strong and dominant, this is where treatment needs to be focused. And unfortunately most physical therapists miss this.

In their effort to help, they’ll usually revert to doing what they know - which is helping people recover from surgery, not helping PREVENT surgery. It’s common to need to strengthen the quadricep muscles after surgery, but it’s NOT a good idea to strengthen quads in someone with patellofemoral pain syndrome or chondromalacia patella because it will worsen the problem.

Be sure to avoid quad strengthening exercises while you have kneecap pain, and even for a while after your kneecap pain is gone!

At our El Paso clinic, we understand how difficult life with knee pain can be - because we’ve been helping people with chronic knee osteoarthritis pain, like you, for nearly 10 years.

If you want natural, medication-free relief from knee pain, so that you can enjoy an active, mobile and pain-free life, you will love what we can do for you!

Set up a free Discovery Visit today to find out how we can help you - our knee pain specialists would be happy to discuss your individual needs and create a personalized plan of action for fast knee pain relief without relying on pain medication, injections, or having a potentially unnecessary surgery.

Our natural and pain medication-free approach to treating knee pain means that you can get back to doing the things you love - without having to worry about your knee pain getting worse.

EL PASO MANUAL PHYSICAL THERAPY
2601 E. Yandell Drive, Suite 232
El Paso, Texas 79903

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