Patellofemoral Pain

What does it feel like?

• A vague pain or ache under and around the knee cap. There can also be clicking and grinding (known as crepitus) under the knee cap.
• Occasionally the knee can “give out”, this is due to the body inhibiting muscle contraction and NOT due to structural weakness or laxity e.g. ligament damage.

How can it start?

An increase in activities that involve bending the knee more frequently and/or with force, for example:

• A change in running program e.g. running more downhill
• The start of the hiking season
• After a traumatic knee injury or surgery

What aggravates the symptoms?

Activities that load the joint between the kneecap and thigh bone (the Patellofemoral joint) e.g. stairs, running and prolonged sitting

What are other associated factors?

• Biomechanics of the foot and hip
• Local tissue tension, quadriceps function and strength
• Footwear, a change in exercise variables e.g duration, intensity or frequency

Here’s how Osteopathic Therapy can help:

We Investigate:

1. We will explore historic load to your knee, searching for patterns of sudden relative increase.
2. We will locally test your knee and global biomechanics for possible factors which may contribute to your symptoms.

We Diagnose:

We will diagnose your condition and rule out other causes of pain, e.g fat pad pain, patella tendon pain or referred pain from the hip joint. 

We Treat:

Treatment modalities include taping, joint mobilizations, soft tissue therapy and exercise therapy. 

And finally, we will provide Exercise & Lifestyle Advice:

We will look to modify your daily movement habits and exercise to allow for adequate stimulation and recovery and teach how much and how frequently to perform exercise e.g. when to back off and when to push. We will also advise how long we expect the recovery process to take.