Why Is My Knee Painful When I Walk Downstairs? Advice From Your Chiropractor in West Vancouver

Knee pain can be a long-term pain, called chronic knee pain, or a condition that is worsened after an injury or accident. Each individual person’s experience with knee pain will be different case-by-case, but one common occurrence is the feeling of pain when climbing or walking downstairs.   Our Chiropractor in West Vancouver sees patients with some kind of knee pain on a regular basis. Mainly because of injuries and some with progressively worse knee pain due to aging or simply not stretching enough.

There are various symptoms, causes, and types of knee pain, with some that are much more common than others. Knee pain can simply be a side-effect of the body getting older and the general wear and tear on joints, muscles, and the surrounding tissue. Here’s what it means if you experience knee pain while walking downstairs regularly.

What Causes Knee Pain?

Knee pain can vary wildly in severity and consistency. It can come and go, feel worse at nighttime, or flare-up while you’re carrying out normal everyday activities. Temporary knee pain is not experienced consistently and may come and go more infrequently than chronic knee pain, and the causes for both conditions differ.

Tendinitis

Tendons connect muscle and bone together. When tendons become inflamed or irritated, the condition is referred to as tendinitis. This condition can commonly cause feelings of pain while walking up and down a staircase. Any tendon in the body can become inflamed, though it is most common in the knees and shoulders.

Tendinitis also has a few different names that you might recognize: swimmer’s shoulder, golfer’s elbow, or tennis elbow. When the pain is in the knees, it is often referred to as a jumper’s knee.

The condition is usually caused by repetitive action but can also be brought on by sudden trauma or an injury. It’s prevalent in those that practice the same sports on a regular basis or have to bend or extend their knees regularly at work.

Tendinitis is also affected by other conditions, primarily arthritis, with rheumatoid arthritis being the most common in that bracket. Aging also has a general impact on the health and strength of your tendons.

Though you might experience pain in the knees as one of the main symptoms, there are a few other things to look out for, including tenderness in the knee, perhaps behind the kneecap, and a tightness that makes it hard to bend your knee.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a common condition more likely to affect the elderly or athletes who run a lot in contact sports or marathons. It causes pain, inflammation, and overall joint degradation in joints throughout the body, including the knees. Why does it cause pain? A layer of cartilage protects each joint. With Osteoarthritis, this cartilage breaks down, making the joints more susceptible to wear and tear.

The most common symptoms of Osteoarthritis include tenderness in the affected area, general pain that can be pretty consistent, and inflammation around the joint. It can affect multiple areas of the body, such as knees, hips, and even lower back.

It varies from Rheumatoid Arthritis quite significantly. Where Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition, often worsening over time and age, Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disorder wherein the body mistakenly attacks and destroys the cartilage around the joints. Both conditions can cause pain in the knees.

One of the main problems with diagnosing and treating Osteoarthritis is that it can take a long time for the effects to be felt. Pain can be sudden and all-encompassing, and it is often too late to save the joint from further damage.

Common Types of Knee Pain When Walking Downstairs

Patella Tendonitis

This type of knee pain is by far the most common type of knee pain when walking downstairs.  It can also be felt when walking upstairs or just walking on a gradual decline or incline. As the name infers, the tendon attached below the knee cap to the bony prominence in the front of the top of the tibia gets inflamed. This type of pain generally occurs from overuse of the front thigh muscle from the knee over-bending, such as kicking or extending the leg a lot.  Soccer players, runners, and rugby players fall into that category.  However, jobs that require the same action repetitively will also cause the condition.  When the quad muscles, which are the front thigh muscles, are overdeveloped due to repetitive activities, they become shortened and tight.  The result is that the tendon below the knee cap gets too tight as well and thus gets inflamed.  If the problem is diagnosed early enough, then a simple series of daily stretches to both the tendon and the quads will tend to solve the problem.  However, it has been chronic; direct therapy on the tendon itself will be needed as well as the stretches.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

The pain seems to come from underneath the knee cap.  Usually worse when going up and downstairs.  Also, with kneeling and squatting.  It is commonly referred to as Runner’s Knee.  This type of condition is frequently seen in sports that involve a lot of running and jumping.  The mechanics are similar to Patella Tendonitis; however, in this case, the knee cap is not aligned correctly in its groove and causes pain when there is too much friction between the underside of the knee cap and the cartilage in the groove that it tracks in.

The problem usually appears to be a muscle imbalance of the quad or front thigh muscles. One side of the quads might be too strong and short and over-powers the weaker side.  It then pulls the knee cap more to one side and thus causes more wear and tear on that side.  Treatment usually focuses first on balancing the quad muscles either with proper strengthing exercises and building more flexibility via regular quad stretches.  Wearing proper shoes that helps with gait alignment and even losing a few kilograms of body weight can also help.  Surgery is generally not needed but only as a last option in really chronic cases.

Osteoarthritis

This type of knee pain is usually constant whether you walk downstairs or not.  However, it’s included in this category because it will cause knee pain when you walk downstairs. There will probably be knee pain in the knee joint in general.  There will be knee pain whether you’re walking up or downstairs, walking on a flat surface, or any other type of surface.  Any sort of weight-bearing activity will cause some discomfort and pain to the knee.  The reason being that the cartilage between the upper leg and lower leg where the knee is has been worn down either because of excessive wear and tear or injury. At this stage, it’s a matter of getting a consultation with a knee specialist on what treatments are available.  Usually, surgery is recommended if there is advanced Osteoarthritis that significantly impacts the quality of life and mobility.

Treating Knee Pain, Chiropractic Care in West Vancouver

Thankfully, treating knee pain can help reduce symptoms and pain regardless of severity. Our Chiropractor here in West Vancouver will usually advise patients with a set of personalized exercises and stretches that can help alleviate tension and reduce pressure on the joints reduce the inflammation to the surrounding tendons and tissue. It’s our priority to get you back on your feet and hopefully prevent that frustrating knee pain when walking downstairs.

In some cases, our Chiropractor in West Vancouver will suggest a series of Shockwave Therapy to the tendons, ligaments, and muscles of the knee to induce the body to heal and release the tension on the affected tissue.  Shockwave Therapy has been shown to offer a high success rate for conditions like Patella Tendonitis and Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome together with specific treatment modalities and regular home stretches.

Because of the severe damage that Osteoarthritis can cause to the joints, some forms of chronic knee pain are unfortunately permanent without surgery or extensive forms of treatment. The long-term outlook for severe chronic knee pain is one of pain management and learning to reduce irritation in the knee either via specific exercises, injections, or surgery.

It may require lifestyle changes, such as opting to sit where possible, lose weight if this is a factor, and trying not to stress the knee with repetitive actions or high-intensity exercise. However, exercise is still essential, so low-impact exercises like swimming or riding a bicycle are better options for those who suffer from knee pain.