Knee pain can be caused by various factors, however, a common problem that contributes to knee pain is that of the patella (knee cap) tracking dysfunction or what is known as patellofemoral syndrome. Symptoms of this include sharp pain walking up stairs, the leg giving way, medial knee pain and inflammation under the knee. So just what causes such a horrible injury?

The knee cap is a floating bone and its position is controlled by the surrounding muscles and tendons, in particular the quadriceps, as you can see in the diagram. The femur and back of the patella are coated in articular cartilage which allows the knee cap to slide smoothly within the femoral grove as the knee bends. An imbalance in the contraction of the thigh muscles can cause the patella to track laterally out of the femoral grove resulting in significant knee pain.

Eventually as this imbalance get worse, inflammation and roughening of the smooth underside (articular cartilage) of the patella can occur.

It is important to note that patella tracking problems are generally not caused by themselves. An imbalance in the hips and or ankle is most likely to be present as well so it is important to resolve all the contributing factors to this injury.

One of the first things you can do to help yourself with this injury is loosen off the lateral stabilisers of the leg. These are generally very tight and contribute to the patella tracking laterally. One way to do is to use a foam roller (see diagram and get your trainer to show you), massage therapy can also be helpful with this.

Once these muscles have loosened off you can focus on working on improving the timing and function of the quadricep muscles to correct how the patella tracks and eliminate the pain as well as identifying any imbalances in the hip and ankle.

If you are concerned about your knees and the pain you are experiencing talk to your FORM Fitness Trainer who will be able to help identify if this is a contributing factor and will give you the tools you need to resolve and strengthen the right muscles to eliminate your knee pain once and for all.