03 / Understand the area
Front of the knee & kneecap
Stairs, squatting and getting up from a chair can make front-of-knee pain especially noticeable in everyday life.
An educational guide that covers the left and right sides alike. Where it hurts is a useful clue, but only a clue.
A useful starting point
What this area can tell you.
Several structures around the kneecap can hurt, so the pain shouldn't automatically be labeled arthritis or a tracking problem. We'll want to know if it followed an injury, if there's swelling, and which activities have changed. It helps to say if the pain is around the kneecap or right below it, and if the knee feels stuck or just hurts to move. The diagnosis is what shapes the plan. Stairs, a low chair and a long sit are also the plainest ways to tell if it's getting better.
Notice the pattern
Three questions to bring with you.
You don't need to know what it is before you come in. These are details that help when you tell us what you're feeling.
- Is the pain around the kneecap, right below it, or deeper inside the knee?
- What bothers it most: stairs, sitting with your knee bent, squatting or getting up from a chair?
- Is there swelling, a recent injury, or trouble straightening the knee all the way?
When to get help sooner
A hot, swollen knee with fever, inability to bear weight after injury or inability to straighten the knee needs urgent assessment. An obvious deformity after injury needs emergency care.
Follow the connection
Possible explanations. Better questions.
These guides cover conditions and patterns that may overlap with this area. Think of them as a place to start our conversation: no body map can tell you which one, if any, you have.
What the studies found, and where they stop
How the research fits this area.
For knee osteoarthritis, the trial linked here favored physical therapy over a steroid injection at one year. It didn't study patellar tendon injuries, patellofemoral pain, or every other cause of kneecap pain.
How we select and explain sources ↗Follow the evidence
Research, with context.
Selected published sources behind what we've written, each with what it found and what it can't tell us. We give you both halves because no paper can diagnose you or predict how your own care will go.
Physical Therapy versus Glucocorticoid Injection for Osteoarthritis of the Knee
156 patients with knee osteoarthritis in the US military health system.
What it foundPatients assigned physical therapy had less pain and disability at one year than those assigned glucocorticoid injection.
What it can't tell usIt was a physical therapy trial in one particular setting. It doesn't show cartilage regeneration, and it doesn't vouch for every treatment offered for knee pain.
Publication details & citation
Deyle et al. Physical Therapy versus Glucocorticoid Injection for Osteoarthritis of the Knee. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1905877.
Read the publication record
Our editorial policy explains how to read these sources and what our clinical-review labels mean.
Your next step
Bring your questions.
We’ll start there.
Your answers to those three questions are where we start. We go over your history and symptoms, examine you, and explain what we found before we recommend anything. If it turns out to be something another doctor should look at, we'll tell you.
Anatomy: BodyParts3D, © DBCLS, CC BY 4.0. Model & rendering credits. Return to the full body explorer.