Knee Orthopaedic Rehabilitation
Knee Pain
- Pain going up or down stairs
- Pain after sitting with the knee bent
- Swelling after activity
- Giving way or a feeling of instability
Quick answer
Knee pain most often comes from the kneecap joint, the tendons around it, or age-related joint wear rather than from a structural tear. Stairs, squatting and prolonged sitting are typical aggravators. Strengthening the thigh and hip muscles resolves the majority within six to twelve weeks.
Typical recovery
6–12 weeks for most causes
A typical range, not a promise — how long it takes depends on how long it has been going on, and on what you do between appointments.
The knee carries several times body weight with every step and depends on the muscles above and below it for control. Most knee pain is a loading problem rather than a damage problem — which is why strengthening works and why scans often mislead.
The common causes
- Patellofemoral pain — pain around or behind the kneecap, worse on stairs, squatting and after long periods sitting. The most common cause in people under forty.
- Osteoarthritis — stiffness after rest, pain with prolonged walking, more common over fifty.
- Tendon overload — patellar or quadriceps tendinopathy, common in runners and jumpers.
- Meniscal problems — a tear from twisting in younger people, or degenerative in older ones, where it frequently coexists with arthritis.
- Ligament injury — see ACL injury.
Why the hip matters
Knee pain is very often a hip problem in disguise. Weak gluteal muscles let the thigh rotate inward when you load the leg, which pushes the kneecap out of its track. Treating only the knee in these cases produces temporary relief at best.
How physiotherapy helps
- Progressive quadriceps and gluteal strengthening — the intervention with the strongest evidence for most knee pain
- Restoring knee movement and addressing kneecap tracking
- Retraining how you load the leg on stairs, squatting and walking
- Graded return to running or sport where relevant
- Managing swelling in the irritable phase
How long it takes
Most causes improve substantially within six to twelve weeks of consistent strengthening. Patellofemoral pain in particular responds well but needs the full course — it recurs readily when treatment stops at the point pain settles.
When to seek help urgently
A knee that locks and will not straighten, gives way repeatedly, or swells immediately after an injury needs assessment before rehabilitation.
Medically reviewed by Nasir Mughees, BPT, MPT, Orthopaedic Physiotherapy · Last reviewed September 2026