Knee Pain When Going Downstairs? Early Symptoms & Remedies

A most common type of knee pain that most of us experience at least once in our life. If you are not careful while going upstairs or down, then you may experience knee pain after some time. Most often if you are feeling pain in your knee while moving up or down stairs it is an indication of another problem.  

The most common conditions include jumper’s knee, golfer’s knee, and runner’s knee. Aggressive exercise or too much pressure on tendons is the main cause in adults and athletes. Our knee tendons join four bones which are further supported by ligaments and muscles to our move.  

When there is an injury or damage in any tendon or ligament, you will feel knee pain.  

There can be many reasons that can result in knee damage or injury. Another aspect is that with age your tendons and ligaments start to weaken which also results in pain in the knee.  

Early Symptoms for Knee Pain on Downstairs  

Some of the early symptoms may experience include a grinding and ticking sound while bending the knee. If you sit with a bended knee for a long time and then you experience pain in the knee, it’s another early symptom. You have to be careful when these symptoms first appear. If you do not treat the issue within time, it may get worse over time. 

What Causes Knee Pain? 

Many factors involve and can cause knee pain. For different age groups, the common pain causes are different. When you move upstairs your knee muscles are working harder to push your whole-body mass a little up.   

On the other side, if you are moving downstairs, the effort is almost 2x lower than upstairs. Let’s have a look at the causes that induce knee pain when moving downstairs. 

Knee Osteoarthritis 

With increasing age, the tissues (cartilage) which keep your knee and other bones firm can degenerate and cause irregular movements. Secondly, bone cushioning also weakens with time and age. Some early symptoms include knee grinding and ticking when walking or moving. There are both invasive and non-invasive treatments available to cure knee osteoarthritis. 

Ligament Injury 

If you are facing any injury in ligaments like ACL and MCL you may feel pain in the knee while moving upstairs or downstairs. Most of the time you will take some medications and avoid sports activities to let the ligaments heal. But sometimes serious injuries may require surgical treatments. So, it varies case by case. 

Muscle Strain 

It’s a normal thing and if you play games regularly, you know it well. Muscle injuries are self-healing and require little rest and time to heal. When the muscles around the kneecap are injured or damaged then you may feel pain when going stairs down. 

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome 

Also known as jumper’s knee or anterior knee pain, it happens when the kneecap movement is irregular. This can even cause damage to soft tissues around the cap leading to further damage. If the articular cartilage is damaged due to age factor or any other thing.  

You may face a grinding or ticking sound while moving. In some cases, swelling and kneecap pain is also reported. The reasons for PPS pain when going downstairs can be flat feet, muscle weakness, and any other abnormalities.  

Remedies to Avoid Knee Pain when Going Downstairs 

A complete range of treatments is available to make your knee muscles strong. Most of them are non-invasive and are proven to help reduce pain in the knee and inflammation. 

REST: It's one of the most helpful things to help your body heal. Please also avoid all types of sports activities. 

ICE: If you have any swelling around your knee, then you can use Ice for cold therapy. Use cold therapy for a maximum of 15 minutes and up to thrice a day. 

Exercise: This involves folding or bending your legs to control the swelling and increase mobilization. Always remember that you have to do this quite gently, otherwise you may further damage the muscles. 

Manage Weight: If you are overweight then your bones will not bear the weight of your body. You must intake only healthy nutrition to keep a healthy weight. 

Medication: If you are having severe pain, then non-steroid drugs can help to reduce inflammation and pain. You must follow the knee pain treatment plan recommended by a qualified doctor.