What Can Cause Knee Pain?

Since the knee connects the foot and ankle to the hip and the upper body, any problems along the whole kinetic chain of muscles and bones can cause problems in the knee joint. A dysfunction in the hip, for example, will cause you to limp, creating different pressures and angles on the knee. Your body will interpret these new stresses as pain.

Your knee pain may also be caused by a variety of issues in and around the knee itself. Some possible causes of knee pain include:

- altered biomechanics from a limp, ankle pain, hip pain, or low back pain
- broken-down footwear
- subluxation of patella, fibula, tibia, or femur
- referred pain from a disc problem, hip arthritis, or leg clotting
- osteoarthritis of the knee
- inflammatory arthritis of the knee
- tendonitis
- Baker's Cyst
- meniscus tear
- ligament sprain
- muscle strain
- Iliotibial Band Syndrome
- Osgood-Schlatter Disease
- knee bursitis
- chondromalacia patella
- kneecap dislocation
- Osteochondritis Dissecans
- Fibrous Dysplasia
- infection
- tumor
- fracture