What to do about knee pain? If knee pain occurs while jogging or after a fall, you should stop exercising immediately and cool the knee with an ice pack. Put your knees up and move as little as possible. Under no circumstances should you continue to exercise despite knee pain.
In addition, you can treat the painful knee with an ointment that relieves pain and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Insoles, support bandages or physiotherapy can also help to relieve the discomfort.
When to see a doctor
After a few days of rest, knee pain often disappears on its own, but conservative therapy is not always sufficient. If the symptoms do not improve or if there is severe swelling, you should therefore definitely see a doctor and have your knees examined closely. This applies all the more if the knee pain also occurs at rest and standing and walking are only possible with pain.
If the pain in the knee occurs again and again, so that it can be considered chronic, it must be checked whether the pain actually has its cause in the knee. In some cases, problems in the hip joint or irritated nerve cells in the spinal cord can also lead to knee pain.
In addition, there are many other causes that can lead to knee pain, which is why you should definitely see a doctor if the symptoms persist.
Prevent knee pain: tips and tricks.
A painful injury in the knee is usually difficult to prevent. However, you can prevent knee pain caused by incorrect stress with a few simple tricks:
- Buy new running shoes regularly and find out what kind of running shoe you need by doing a treadmill analysis.
- For pronounced leg deformities, it may also be useful to wear special insoles in the running shoe.
- If you go jogging regularly, make sure to run on a soft surface – for example, on a forest floor. This measure is easy on the joints.
- Perform stretching and stabilization exercises regularly to compensate for possible shortening and imbalances. Seek out a physiotherapist who can locate possible imbalances and recommend appropriate exercises.
- If you are overweight, try to reduce your weight a little – this will relieve the pressure on your knees. If you are very overweight, you should choose sports that are easy on the joints, such as swimming, cycling or Nordic walking.
Sports for knee pain
Those who frequently struggle with knee pain do not necessarily have to give up sports. In fact, strong leg muscles help protect the knee from injury and wear and tear. However, it is important not to overestimate oneself when doing sports. If knee pain already exists, a type of sport should be selected that is easy on the knee.
Below sports have different risk of injury to the knee joint:
- Low risk of injury: moderate cycling, backstroke and crawl, hiking, walking, gymnastics, dancing.
- Moderate risk of injury: jogging, bowling, horseback riding, golf, inline skating.
- High risk of injury: soccer, tennis, squash, martial arts, alpine skiing, basketball, volleyball, handball, skateboarding.
- Kohn, D. (Ed.) (2005): orthopedics and orthopedic surgery. Knee. Georg Thieme Publishers.
- Grifka, J., Krämer, J. (2020): orthopedics. Trauma surgery. Springer, 10th ed.
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Hutterer, C. / German Journal of Sports Medicine (2018): The runner’s knee: tractus iliotibialis and its pitfalls.
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Online information of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus: Pain in the knee joint and other possible causes. (Retrieved: 07/2020)
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Guideline of the German Society for General Medicine and Family Medicine e. V.: Knee pain with signs of osteoarthritis. AWMF Register No. 053-050. (Accessed: 11/2017).
