The knee is fundamentally a hinge. It bends and straightens, with only a small amount of rotation available. It sits between the hip, which rotates in every direction, and the ankle and foot, which also rotate substantially.
That position makes the knee the victim of its neighbors. When the hip lacks strength or control and the foot collapses inward, the knee absorbs rotational forces it was never designed to handle. This is why treating a painful knee locally so often fails.
Symptoms we hear about
- Pain around or behind the kneecap, worse on stairs or after sitting
- Pain on the outside of the knee during running (IT band)
- Aching below the kneecap in jumping athletes
- Swelling after activity
- Catching, locking, or giving way
- Morning stiffness that eases with movement
What usually causes it
- Patellofemoral pain from poor kneecap tracking
- Weak gluteus medius allowing the knee to collapse inward
- IT band syndrome
- Patellar tendinopathy (jumper's knee)
- Meniscus injury
- Osteoarthritis and cartilage wear
- Overpronation and poor foot mechanics
We assess the whole leg, not just the knee
Our exam watches how you squat, how you step down from a height, and how you balance on one leg. What we are looking for is whether the knee tracks over the foot or dives inward, a pattern called dynamic valgus that is the single most common driver of patellofemoral pain and a well-documented risk factor for ACL injury.
When the knee collapses inward, the culprit is almost always weakness or poor control in the gluteus medius, a foot that overpronates, or both. Treat the knee and the pain returns. Treat the hip and the foot and it usually does not.
Settling the tissue down while you rebuild
Rehab takes time, and you should not spend that time in pain. MLS cold laser reduces inflammation in irritated tendon and joint tissue. Our muscle protocol releases the quad, IT band, and lateral structures that pull the kneecap out of its groove. Normatec compression manages swelling after activity.
For chronic patellar or quad tendinopathy that has plateaued, StemWave restarts the healing response in tissue that has stopped repairing itself.
Arthritis is not the end of the conversation
Plenty of patients arrive having been told the knee is worn out and there is nothing to do until replacement. Degenerative change is real, but a substantial amount of the pain comes from things that are modifiable: restricted joint motion, muscle weakness allowing more load through the damaged compartment, and poor mechanics concentrating force in one spot.
We cannot regrow cartilage. We can very often make a knee with arthritis hurt considerably less and function considerably better.
How we treat knee pain in Frisco
Your plan is built from your exam findings, not from a template. These are the tools we most often combine for this condition.
Knee Pain: common questions
Why does my knee hurt going down stairs?
Descending loads the patellofemoral joint eccentrically at high force, several times body weight through the kneecap. It is the classic aggravator for patellofemoral pain and usually points to a kneecap tracking issue rather than damage inside the joint.
Should I keep running through knee pain?
It depends on the diagnosis and the severity. Mild patellofemoral pain often tolerates reduced volume plus targeted strengthening. Pain that alters your gait, worsens through a run, or swells afterward means you need to back off while we address the cause. We will give you a specific answer, not a blanket rule.
Do I need surgery for a meniscus tear?
Often not. Degenerative meniscus tears in middle-aged and older adults respond to conservative care about as well as surgery in a number of studies. Acute traumatic tears in young athletes, and tears causing true mechanical locking, are more likely to need repair.
Can chiropractic help knee arthritis?
It can help the pain and function meaningfully, even though the cartilage change itself is permanent. Restoring joint motion, strengthening the muscles that unload the joint, and fixing the mechanics concentrating force in one compartment all make a real difference.
