What can I do about pain under my kneecap?

This is a question I get asked a lot. And when I talk about pain under the kneecap I am talking about below the kneecap, if you are looking for behind the kneecap check out this post about grinding behind the kneecap.

Pain below the knee cap can be because your kneecap is literally tilting down too much.

The way the kneecap is anatomically made, imagine almost a heart shape, it’s bigger at the top and comes to a point at the bottom. This is kind of how the knee cap (patella) looks.

If there is tightness at the bottom, or tip, of the patella it can tilt down too much. When the quad muscle is tight it will compress the knee cap and if the kneecap is tilting down there will be more pressure at this spot.

What can I do about a tilting patella?

One of my favorite treatments for a tilting patella is to massage and stretch out the area at the bottom of the patella.

When I work clients 1:1 in person I will place one hand at the top of the knee cap, just at the edge and I put some pressure to counter the tilt and tilt it the opposite way. Then I will massage the bottom part of the kneecap where the pain and pressure is.

After the massage treatment to the patella there must be a regular strength and flexibility program.

If I just release the pressure of the kneecap that will resolve the symptoms in the short term, but it doesn’t get to the root cause of the problem as to why the pressure happened in the first place. The pressure likely happened because of an imbalance in the strength and flexibility of the quad muscle, the hip muscles and other muscles of the legs. They all work together, it’s not just one group that needs to be balanced out. So I always make sure my clients have a good, well-rounded strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility and balance program.

Ok to recap: You may have pain just below the kneecap, inferior to the kneecap, because of an imbalance in muscle strength and flexibility, partly in the quadriceps muscle as well as other muscles of the legs. When the quad contracts it tightens down the kneecap normally and if the imbalance is there it will add more pressure. My favorite treatment is to counter the pressure with my hand and massage below the knee cap. Follow up with strength and flexibility. For more tips and tricks follow along.

If you’re looking for knee pain relief check out this free guide I created just for you