Why Does Your Knee Hurt When You Bend It – Causes and Remedies

Do you often hear your loved one complain that ‘my knee hurts when I bend it?” Or do you yourself go through this excruciating pain while exercising or stretching? 

Knee pain while bending is pretty common, and many people suffer from it. It can range from mild to severe and can affect your lifestyle by a great deal. 

You may find yourself thinking twice about getting up from a sofa. Similarly, exercising, a healthy activity, may become more of a burden and a painful experience than a way to keep fit. 

So, what should be the best way to keep this pain at bay? You must first understand the reason for knee pain and then look for a remedy. 

This discourse helps you find all you need to know to make your knee feel as healthy as possible. 

My Knee Hurts When I Bend It! – Causes Explored 

Have you ever considered the number of times you bend your knees every day? Well, there are many instances, such as while exercising and climbing stairs, when you use your knees to accomplish a task. 

The constant use of your knees can cause their wear and tear sooner than you may expect. Similarly, your knees have several ligaments, muscles, and bones, and these can cause pain when affected. 

Not all knee pains are bothersome. Some are minor and have home remedies to treat them. For major pains, it is best to take a professional’s help. 

Here are some possible conditions that might cause pain in your knees when bending them:

Patellar Tendonitis

This condition commonly affects athletes and is an inflammation or injury of the tendons that connect your shinbone to your kneecap. You may feel constant pain or burning on your kneecap’s base. 

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Trauma and overuse of your knees’ joints can cause this issue. With this problem, you may experience constant pain around your kneecap and the front of the knee. 

Hamstring Tendonitis

It is often caused due to the inflammation of muscles in your lower legs. As a result, you constantly suffer from pain behind your thigh and knee. 

Iliotibial Band (IT) Syndrome

This health issue causes severe pain in your knees that eventually spreads to your hips. 

Osteoarthritis

This problem is caused by the wear and tear of joints. You may experience stiffness in your knees and consistent pain and swelling, especially right after waking up. 

Baker’s Cyst

It is a fluid-filled swelling that might produce a lump at the back of your knee. You may experience tightness and swelling in your knees, leading to pain when bending them. 

Quadriceps Tendonitis

This problem is related to the swelling of a tendon. In this condition, you may suffer from pain in your knee’s back and front parts. 

Diagnosis of Your Knee Pain

Finding the real cause is tough, but by knowing the correct location of the knee pain, doctors can help you. For instance, if you feel the pain behind your knee when it bends, know that it may be due to a knee injury, Baker’s cyst, or Hamstring tendonitis. 

Alternatively, if there is very sharp pain, you may be a victim of osteoarthritis, patellar tendonitis, or torn ligaments. In addition, problems like knee bursitis, Osteoarthritis, or Quadriceps Tendonitis usually cause pain above the kneecap. 

Finally, pain in front of your kneecap while bending is often a result of patellar fracture, quadriceps tendonitis, or patellofemoral pain syndrome. 

It isn’t right bearing the pain and waiting for it to go on its own. Instead, you should approach a doctor or an expert as soon as possible to find the proper remedy for the problem that has affected your activity tremendously. 

Best Home Remedies for Knee Pain

If you have mild knee pain, certain home remedies and life changes might be enough to give you relief. 

For instance, you may want to shift from high-impact to low-impact activities. If you are into strenuous exercise, opt for cycling, swimming, and walking for some time. 

You can also follow the RICE treatment. What’s that? RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate. 

Give your knee a good amount of rest. While doing so, place ice wrapped in a cloth on your knee for 20 minutes multiple times daily. 

Also, compress your knees and muscles with an elastic bandage. Finally, elevate your knee as many times as possible to reduce swelling. 

A good massage and heat treatment may also prove beneficial here. Anti-inflammatory medications might also play a significant role in alleviating pain. 

Orthobiologic Treatments for Knee Pain

If your knee pain worsens and persists with time, you might have to undergo Orthobiological treatments. These non-invasive processes include cell-based therapies and platelet-rich plasma therapy. 

Cell-based Therapies

Stem cell therapy extracts healthy cells from your body and returns them to the injured site. There are two types of treatments, Minimally Manipulated Adipose Tissue (MMAT) transplant and Bone Marrow Concentrate (BMAC). Your doctor may select any of these, depending on certain conditions like your health, age, etc. 

Platelet-rich Plasma Therapy

PRP involves isolating platelets, processing them, and re-injecting them on an injured site. This therapy ensures that a good amount of platelets heal your injury pain faster than any medication. And the good thing is that PRP is performed within 45 minutes. 

At CELLAXYS, we perform both of these procedures with practical consequences. People who go through them often report zero knee pain on bending. 

Preventing Knee Pain

Prevention is better than cure, right? So, if you don’t want to cry the lines, “My knee hurts when I bend it,” when visiting a doctor and also wish to stay safe from surgeries or treatments, take measures to prevent the pain from happening in the first place. 

For instance: 

• Limit your movement to prevent overusing your muscles and tendons. 
• If you are overweight, lose weight to keep your body fit. Extra weight can stress your body, leading to knee injuries or pain. 
• Ensure you properly warm up and cool down before and after every exercise. 
• Stretching can help you improve your body’s flexibility and loosen all your tight muscles.