The body is so good at compensation. If it’s not able to perform a specific movement, your body will find an alternate path, and it’s usually not the most efficient. And knee pain when going downstairs is no exception.

When the body is restricted with front to back movement (sagittal plane), it makes up for it with rotation (transverse plane). In this way, the knee is the innocent bystander of the hip and the ankle. Unless there’s direct trauma to the knee, rarely is it ever the knee itself that is causing the knee pain; your pain is usually a result of something going awry in the hip, the ankle, or both.

If the ankle isn’t able to dorsiflex (i.e., pull the toes back toward the shin), an action we need to walk, run, and go downstairs, the ankle will rotate outward. This external ankle rotation causes the foot to overpronate, the shin bone (tibia) to also rotate outward, and the thigh bone (femur) to rotate inward. In combination, we wind up with a tremendous amount of pressure (and pain!) on the inside of the knee.

When our knee is bent and our ankle is in dorsiflexion (like when going downstairs), the calf muscle that is being stretched is the soleus. This muscle is tight for many of us, and when tight, can cause knee pain. If you have knee pain going downstairs, get assessed. If you haven’t gathered already, it might not be your knee that we need to address. You may have other issues in the foot, ankle or hip and/or a restricted soleus. You may also have a lack of hip extension, which may be why your soleus is overworked and tight in the first place.

Beacon Physical Therapy

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we can help you reduce or even eliminate knee pain. If you have questions, make an appointment today. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love. And check out our YouTube channel for more great information.