Question

How do I relieve pain under my knee cap?

Answer 1

To relieve pain under your knee cap you can apply some ice for 20 minutes and do strengthening exercises like quad sets, Spanish squats and even do knee bracing.

Applying ice for 15 to 20 minutes at a time 3 to 4 times daily and elevating your legs can also help relieve the pain under your knee cap.

Avoiding high impact activities, while the pain under your knee cap heals and gently moving your kneecap up and down or side to side to improve mobility can also help with relieving the pain under your kneecap.

Pain under your knee cap is most commonly caused by a condition called patellar tendonitis also known as jumpers knee.

Another cause of pain under your knee cap is patellofemoral pain syndrome or runners knee and often results from overuse, jumping or misalignment.

Patellar Tendonitis or Jumpers Knee is inflammation or degradation of the tendon that connects your kneecap to your shinbone, causing pain right below your kneecap, especially when running or jumping.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is pain that is caused by your kneecap not tracking correctly in the groove of your femur, which is often felt around or behind the bottom of your kneecap.

Pain under your kneecap which can be either Patellar tendonitis or patellofemoral pain syndrome is common in runners, basketball players and also in people that do repetitive jumping or running on hard surfaces.

Most cases of pain under your kneecaps are nothing to worry about and go away with at home treatment and rest.

However you may need to seek medical attention in some cases.

If the pain under your kneecap results in an inability to straighten your knee, the pain gets worse or you have any swelling you should seek medical attention.

If there's any severe swelling or pain at rest or you have a sudden pop or injury or the pain under the kneecap does not improve after a couple of weeks of consistent and conservative treatment you should seek medical attention.

You can also improve strength and help relieve the under the kneecap pain by doing slow squats or quad sets without straining the tendon.

To do the Spanish squats, do 5 sets of 40 second holds to reduce pain.