You may have to see a doctor if you have an injury which requires repair.  But for knee pain which has come on over a period of time, the following steps may be all you need to get rid of your knee pain.

1.  Re-balance and strengthen the muscles in your upper leg.  The front and back of your thigh were balanced when you were a child and used to always be on the move.  You used ALL of your muscles then.  But, now?

Well, now you have knee pain, right?

Start using all of your leg muscles again.  I don’t know what condition you or your knees are in but when you start using all of your leg muscles again, you will benefit.  You may be able to do leg presses or other strengthening exercises in a gym on equipment.  If not, here’s another option:

Lay on your back and point your toes to the ceiling.  Pretend one foot is a windshield wiper.  Wipe to the left 10 times.  Pause for the count of 10.  Wipe to the right 10 times.  Pause for 10.  Turn on the whole wiper and wipe left and right 10 times.  How come?

This moves your whole leg, all the way to your hip.  Your knee is between your foot and your hip.  This movement will help you use all of the muscles in your leg and help them re-balance.

Only move to a point of resistance.  Do not move to a point of pain.  If you have pain, make the move smaller.

Then rotate the same foot in circles.  Do 10 in one direction.  Pause for 10 seconds.  Rotate in the opposite direction 10 times and then pause again.

Pay attention to how your leg feels when you are done.  Just lay there and feel.

Then do the other leg, same way.

2.  Get arch supports or orthotics for your feet.  It’s best if you can get to a store but if you can’t, that link will take you to an online store.  You want a more rigid arch support not just an insole.  Why should you get arch supports?  Flat feet can cause knee pain.

If you have flat feet, you pronate.  That means your arches drop down and it throws your knees toward the midline.  This stresses knee muscles and causes knee pain.

I learned from a fitter at a running shoe store that there are shoes built especially for pronators (as well as for other arch types, too.)  If you are able to shop for your shoes at a running shoe store, an experienced fitter will be able to help you get a shoe that places your arch and foot in the correct position to prevent knee pain.  They may also have a good arch support to sell to you.

3.  Find a massage therapist who can do sports massage or trigger point therapy for you.  He or she can release tight muscles and trigger points that are causing your knee pain.

4.  Stretch your hamstrings in the back of your thighs and the quadriceps (thigh muscles) in the front of your thighs.  This is another way to re-establish balance in your leg muscles.

5.  Stand with relaxed (soft) knees.

6.  Soft calves are good.  Avoid exercises that will make your calf muscles larger.

You may be able to massage the fronts of your thighs yourself.  By pressing deeply, you may be surprised to discover deep tender areas.  You might have found the cause of your knee pain.  Press into a tender area for about 12 seconds.  Then look for another tender area to press.  You can always go back to an area more than once.

Some of the trigger points for knee pain are quite high up on the thigh, almost to your hip bone.

If you need to know how to find a massage therapist who can help you, scroll through the Categories to the Massage Category and look for the article that tells how to do that.

You will have to take action to get rid of your knee pain but you have a smart body.  It wants to feel well.  It just needs some help from you to be peak again.

You are worth it so take action.

Remember, I’m not a replacement for your doctor.  If you have questions, please ask him or her.

And, if you need additional help, a skilled massage therapist may be just the ticket to help you get rid of your knee pain.

Sometimes knee pain is caused by an accident or injury to the bones and ligiments.  And, sometimes surgery is required to repair the damage.  In that case, muscles may still be involved.  Working on your muscles–getting them balanced by using all of them, relaxing those that are “too tight” and releasing trigger points–will still benefit you.

Muscles in your thigh can cause knee pain.

Muscles in the hamstring can also cause knee pain.

So can the muscles of your lower leg.

And so can the muscle directly behind your knee, in the bend.  That muscle can cause pain that is felt behind your whole kneecap.

Injections into your thigh muscle (for instance, insulin injections) can cause trigger points to develop and fire pain into your knee.

Sitting in certain postures and habitual positions can cause knee pain.  Some people sit with one foot tucked under their butt for long periods.  This can cause a trigger point in your thigh muscles to keep recurring.

So, muscles can cause knee pain simply by pulling on the knee cap AND/OR muscles can get trigger points which “fire” into your knee.  That means the pain is felt in your knee but the cause is elsewhere.  Get rid of the cause–the trigger point–and you will get rid of your pain.

What’s the reason this is good news?

Muscles can be released.  Soft tissue can be released.  Muscles can be normalized and function better again.

Look under Categories here for the Massage Category.  There you will find an article about How To Find A Massage Therapy Who Can Help You.  Massage therapists are muscle specialists.  Some are muscle pain specialists.

So knee pain is not always caused by muscles but it often is.  Taking care of your muscles with therapeutic massage, stretching and strengthening, and releasing trigger points can help you get rid of your knee pain naturally.