Whenever you feel pain in a particular part of your body, it’s really your body’s way of saying that you’ve either injured yourself (without necessarily realizing it), you are overdoing it in some activity or another, or something else is going on and you need to start paying attention. Knee pain is no exception. In some cases, the pain can go away or at least diminish once your body’s natural healing process kicks in but more often than not, it won’t unless you take some sort of action. Want to know why your knee pain won’t go away? Keep reading.
Why Your Knee Pain Will Not Go Away
- You are not giving it enough time to heal – When you’re used to being an active person, you hate the idea of being laid up for even a day, let alone weeks. It’s normal, but when it comes to knee injuries and what it could mean for you long-term, proper rest and recuperation is important. Most athletes follow what is called the RICE method. It stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation, and this kind of treatment plan is well known to help people recover from many common injuries. But, if you do that for only a day or two, then you are almost guaranteeing yourself a failure when it comes to recovery. It’s extremely important to allow your knee to fully recover (and to allow the swelling to go down) and then you can ease your way back into your activities or sports. It might be over-said, but realistically speaking, it’s true: slow and steady wins the race.
Take action – Start by implementing the R.I.C.E principle as soon as possible (see video below). While you are at it, track your pain levels, on a daily basis and when you do certain physical activities, and monitor them until you are satisfied that you are ready for more serious physical activities. (It could be as simple as a scale of 1 to 10). - You aren’t getting enough sleep – This one is often overlooked, but if you aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep, then that could explain why your knee pain is not going away. When you sleep, your body puts a lot of energy into healing itself naturally. This means that you are giving your body extra time and capacity to heal itself. If you are not sleeping properly, or enough, then your body is not able to recover or rest like it needs to. When recovering from an injury, giving focus and effort to your sleep schedule is extremely important.
Action Item – Keep a log of the amount of sleep you are getting every night and then try to increase it as much as your schedule can handle it. Even one hour more a night can make a big difference. - You’re eating the wrong kinds of food – While a busted knee may seem like the perfect excuse to avoid the kitchen and order in a pizza or Chinese food, that’s the wrong way to go. Eating the right foods is a critical part of your recovery plan, just like sleep. You should eat three square meals a day and make sure that you keep hydrated as well. Also, it’s important that you eat the right kinds of healthy foods. Focus on finding healthy kinds of protein and also try to eat food that has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it as well as iron and magnesium. Skip out on the takeout food, soda and processed foods as much as possible and focus on healthy wholesome food that is going to offer your body lots of nutrition and energy to get back to the action faster.
Action item – Keep a log of all the food you eat throughout the day, then at the end of each day, analyze the results against the recommended list of foods for injury recovery.
- Your knee isn’t the root cause – In some cases, your knee injury & pain may be caused by something other than an obvious injury, which makes it tricky to identify on its own. Some examples include (but are not limited to):
- Weakness or imbalance in the muscles surrounding your knees (i.e.: hamstring, glutes, quads and calves.). When one is overdeveloped compared to the rest, it can put a strain on your knee which can cause pain over a long period of time. A good physiotherapist can measure and compare muscle strength to determine if this is an issue.
- Irritation/strain with the IT band – A strained or damaged IT band has been known to cause significant pain in your knee. Often, the issues can be resolved by foam rolling your IT band on a regular basis.
- Genetics – Does arthritis run in your family? Arthritis can cause your knee joint to deteriorate over time, which could be causing your knee pain. If you aren’t sure, ask your family members if they have ever been diagnosed with arthritis. Whether they have been or not, it wouldn’t hurt to get checked out yourself, just to rule it out.
- It’s more serious than you think – Whether it’s stubbornness, a lack of knowledge, or maybe not getting it diagnosed when you should have, a knee injury can be more serious than you may have thought. If you find that your knee pain will not go away, it could be due to the fact that the injury itself is more serious, for example, a damaged meniscus, cartilage damage, strained ligament, arthritis, etc. The only accurate way to find out is to get it diagnosed as soon as you realize that the pain is staying around longer than it should. One way to tell is when the RICE method is not working and you’ve actually been resting your knee.
Action item – if RICE isn’t helping enough, book an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible so you can discuss your symptoms further with them and get a proper diagnosis.
Action item – If your knee pain isn’t related to something obvious, like a specific injury to your knee, then the best course of action is to get it diagnosed by a professional. Talk to your doctor and let them know what’s going on. They should be able to diagnose what’s causing your knee pain and if not, at least refer you to the proper specialist.
Conclusion
Knee pain is something that can make your life screech to a halt if you ignore it long enough. The reality is that you need to focus on understanding where your pain is coming from and why it’s hanging around longer than you think it should. The worst thing you can do is ignore it. If you have experience with knee pain, we’d love to hear from you. What is causing your knee pain? Were you able to get relief? If so, how? Just leave a comment below. Until next time, we’ll leave you with the following quote (which has motivated us into not ignoring our pain):
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
Disclaimer – We are not doctors or health care practitioners here at SimplyJnJ. We simply gather information, such as “Why Your Knee Pain Will Not Go Away” that we feel will be useful to our readers. Always consult your doctor when it comes to pain.
9 thoughts on “Knee Pain Will Not Go Away? Here Are 5 Reasons Why”
Muscle imbalance was causing my knee pain to stick around longer than it should have. Just finished several sessions with a physiotherapist, who did exactly what you mentioned. She started by measuring the muscle strength in the different parts of my leg and noticed that I weaker hamstrings versus my quads. We worked on several exercises and I’m already noticing a difference.
Thanks you for leaving a comment Jeremy, it is greatly appreciated and we’re glad you were able to pinpoint what the problem is. Good luck with everything!
Been having knee pain for the past 11 months. It started with my right knee but a few months ago, i started feeling the pain in my left knee in the same location as my right. Saw a physiotherapist who told me I needed to exercise my knee and I should stop running for the time being. It’s been over 2 weeks now and the pain is still there. Although I can do somethings I find difficult to do before, like squatting low. I couldn’t wait so i started running again this week but I still exercise my knee. I just want my knee to heal and I am getting worried because it is taking so long. Also I can still hear the popping sound.
Hi – I’m sorry to hear that you are having a lot of pain with your knee. The knee joint is extremely complex, so it’s going to take some time to heal unfortunately. Keep doing the exercises that your physio recommended and you should see a difference in a 3-4 months. At least, that’s what happened in my case. It takes time to strengthen the muscles around the knee so that the joint isn’t taking all the load. Good luck and please keep me posted on your progress if you can. Dan.
49 year old male – overweight. Played basketball for bout half an hour 10-11 days ago and I didn’t notice any pain. Well maybe a slight discomfort but barely noticeable. About 8 hours later – around 4 in the am I woke with tremendous pain and although I’ve done the RICE treatment plan it has not improved whatsoever. Seems as though this happened once b4 but in 3-4 days pain was dissipating. It’s my right knee and swelling is still pronounced. Should I give it another week or go to doc?
Hi Brad – Sorry for the late reply. If RICE didn’t make any difference, then I would probably go see a doctor. Best not to take any chances with your knees.
I’ve had knee pain for years on and off. I tried heat and ice but neither worked for long really. I play some sports and seem to tweak it from time to time playing soccer. There isn’t any swelling but I like wearing a knee brace when I’m active with it. Bending seems to really bother it and when I move quickly in other directions, like soccer. My chiropractor treated it and it helped, along with the rehab/stretching. Getting old!
I’ve had right knee pain for most of my life! After puberty or so. I’m 74 years old now. My condition has been diagnosed as “osgood schatters” disease. Although I believe the diagnosis has been a diagnosis doctors have used because they don’t really understand my knee condition and need to name it something! When I was younger, high school, I played football, the center, indoor track running events, and plenty of baseball, the catcher, no less! I played baseball, as the starting catcher, well into my twenties! My knee didn’t keep me out of the military either, where I continued to be the starting catcher in fast pitch softball! My knee bothered me all along! I’ve talked to doctors many times over the years about my knee. None seemed to be very interested! And none have offered any relief or have suggested any cure or surgery. I’ve never been prescribed any drugs either, probably a good thing! They just pass over the issue. I haven’t seen an orthopedic doctor, in the military or after. I’ve simply lived with the issue. The pain is always there, and I’ve developed a limp, because my right knee won’t go into a straight position as I walk, unless I make an effort to make it straight. Naturally, the pain increases when I force the knee to straighten as I walk. The pain is quite tolerable as long as I favor the knee. The knee feels better on some days and worse on other days. Deep knee bends are completely out of the question. The compression of the knee joint with my weight supporting my right side would be VERY painful. Straitening the knee is painful also, however not nearly as much as a deep knee bend My height is 6′ 1″ and my weight is about 210 lbs. I don’t do any running and I have almost forgotten how to run, since it’s been 40+ years since I’ve done so! My right knee looks swollen, all the time, if you compare my left knee to my right knee. There are NO points around my right knee where pressure from my hands or fingers will cause ANY pain!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us Glen. Managing knee pain for such a long time must have been challenging. I’m not sure who you’ve consulted so far, but maybe get a 2nd opinion from a specialist, such as an orthopedic doctor or a sports medicine expert, just to see if they can recommend other treatment options. It might be worth the time.
Take care and I hope you are able to find some relief.
Dan.