Knee Pain

Your knee is a hinge joint: the femur (femur), tibia (tibia), and kneecap (patella) glide against one another on a smooth lining of cartilage. Two C-shaped shock absorbers (the menisci) cushion the joint, and four main ligaments hold it steady while it bends, straightens, and pivots. The knee carries several times your body weight with every step, which is why cartilage, meniscus, and ligament problems here are among the most common reasons people see an orthopedic surgeon.

See every knee problem we treat →

A sore knee after a hard weekend usually settles with a few days of rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain relievers. Come in sooner if the knee swelled up within hours of an injury, it locks or gives way, you cannot put weight on it, it looks deformed, or it is red, hot, and painful along with a fever.

Your visit starts with a conversation and a hands-on exam. How the pain started, where it lives, and what the knee does under load tell us most of the story. We take X-rays in the office the same day if we need them, standing, because that is how your knee actually works. An MRI is ordered only when the answer would change the plan. Most knee pain gets better without surgery: activity changes, physical therapy, bracing, and sometimes an injection.

Most knee pain gets better without an operation. The usual path is activity changes, physical therapy to strengthen the muscles that unload the joint, bracing when it helps, and an injection when inflammation or arthritis pain is keeping you from making progress. Weight loss matters more than most people expect: every pound off your body is roughly four pounds off the knee.

Surgery enters the conversation when the problem is structural (a torn ligament in an athlete, a meniscus tear that locks the knee, arthritis that has worn the joint out) or when a full course of non-operative care has not given you your life back. When that is the right step, your OSI surgeon performs it. See the knee operations we perform or browse non-operative care.