Top four activities to avoid with kneecap pain or Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS)

Last week Jeanine talked about kneecap pain and how it can sneak up on us. There is often no history of trauma with PFPS as it is a muscle imbalance that results in a mal-tracking of your kneecap in the femoral condyle or the bottom of your thigh bone. The muscle imbalance often pulls the kneecap laterally or towards the outside. This mal-tracking of the patellofemoral/kneecap joint results in extra compression and friction on the outside of the kneecap on it undersurface. If this is left untreated, you can be left with chronic knee pain that will slow you down and limit your recreational lifestyle as well.

If you catch this pain right away, often stretching can alleviate the pain, but if you try the stretches and it does not relieve the pain, you should give us a call to learn the about our strengthening program.

In the short term, here are some tips on what to avoid. You will need to off load the knee joint for 6 weeks by not:

1) Kneeling on the knee directly (e.g.- all fours position on your hands and knees).

2) Full squats, like a back catcher in baseball.

3) Open chain resisted quadriceps exercise if you are in the gym doing fitness strengthening.

4) If you are a running, then you need to stop running hills for 6 weeks or inclines on treadmills.

If you have tried the stretches, are avoiding these activities and your kneecap pain is not getting better, you need to give us a call at Nose Creek Physiotherapy (587-333-3229), and Jeanine would be happy to help you fully resolve your patellofemoral knee pain.

Related Posts:

1. Acute Sprains and Strains
2. Top 3 Exercises to Strengthen Your Hips and Knees to Reduce Kneecap Pain