outside knee pain

[woody501964]

I do alot of hill and mountain walking and have recently had alot of pain on the outside of my right knee very close to my knee cap. after resting it has started to improve to a level i can now walk up to about 6 miles on flatish ground without any pain. What seems to aggravate it is walking up and down alot of stairs which i have at work (no lifts available). any idea's?

[Heidi]

Hi,

Sounds like a classic case of patello-femoral knee pain. This is sometimes called other things too like anterior knee pain.

It is usually cause by a combination of a few factors, such as tight Quads, hamstrings and ITB, over-pronation of the feet, weak hip abductors etc.

The most common symptom is pain when walking downstairs. and although pain can be anwhere over the front of the knee, the lateral (outside) is most common.

Have a look at this page for a bit more information:

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/indexcmp.php

The best thing you can do is visit a physio or other specialist who can provide you with a full assessment to try to determine what is contributing to your pain. Treatment may be as simple as a pair of insoles and some stretching exercises! On the other hand it may involve quite an extensive rehab program to correct muscle imbalances if this is quite severe.

Good luck!