02.09.2024

Knee pain during sport: what to do if your knee hurts?

Knee pain during exercising and sport can be caused by various factors. In this article, you will learn more about the factors causing it, how prevent it and when you should see a doctor.

The knee is the largest joint in our body and often plays an important role in our everyday lives. Knee pain can therefore severely restrict us.

Knee pain can be caused by various factors. In addition to diseases such as osteoarthritis, they often occur due to strain during or after sport. This pain should be taken seriously, but it is not always an immediate cause for concern. In this interview, physiotherapist Sirko Drose from the Rosenklinik Sportzentrum explains what you need to look out for.

Which sports strain the knee the most?

Sirko Drose: Any sport that puts strain on the legs also puts strain on the knees. Jumps and changes of direction put the most strain on the knee. However, a heavy load does not necessarily have to be bad: The body adapts to such stimuli. To put it simply, you can say that a heavy load also results in a strong adaptation. However, overloading should be avoided.

In general, however, we do not advise against any sport because it puts too much strain on the knees. This is an outdated, anxiety-inducing and scientifically incorrect approach to patient care. Sport should be fun. Whether the knee is overloaded after a particular sport depends more on other factors such as strength or intensity than on the sport itself.

Also read:

Osteoarthritis is an incurable joint disease in which the cartilage breaks down irreparably. It can occur in various joints and is particularly common in the hip and knee. Osteoarthritis can be treated both conservatively and surgically (prosthesis).

Find out more

What are the most common causes of knee pain during sport?

The most common cause of knee pain in sport is peak loads or errors in the training programme, along the lines of ‘too much, too soon’. Every joint, in this case the knee, has a load potential. If this is fully utilised, overload complaints and pain occur. If a joint is damaged, this load limit decreases. Even a 5-minute jogging session can be too much for a knee that is being stressed again after a long injury break, which corresponds to around 300 to 400 landings per leg. Also, even a ‘healthy’ knee can experience discomfort due to overloading if the training load is suddenly increased by more than 30% from one week to the next.

What preventative measures help to minimise knee pain during or after sport?

Sirko Drose: We recommend technique training tailored to the type of sport and strengthening all the muscle groups involved, i.e. the thighs, hips, core and calf muscles, which is particularly important for intensive jumping and landing sports.

Continuous training is one of the best preventative measures to counteract knee pain during or after sport. From the age of 30, a sedentary ‘couch potato’ lifestyle leads to a loss of 1% muscle mass per year. In mathematical terms, this means a loss of 10% muscle mass between the ages of 30 and 40. If you go jogging again after a long break, you may experience discomfort because you simply no longer have the strength you had before. It is therefore important to train regularly or, in the event of a forced break, to slowly increase the load again.

My knee hurts after sport: is there anything I can do to ease the pain?

Sirko Drose: You can cool the sore joint (but don't freeze it), stretch it or perform low-impact movements such as cycling. Of course, you also need to ask yourself why the knee hurts. Was it an intensive training session, an unfavourable movement, contact with an opponent?

When should I see a doctor or therapist if I have knee pain?

Sirko Drose: You should see a doctor immediately if your knee can't bear any weight at all or is severely dysfunctional and you can no longer stretch or bend it, for example.

If the symptoms have been present for some time, a consultation with a physiotherapist or sports scientist specialising in performance diagnostics can also help. They will try to get to the bottom of the problem by asking detailed questions about the history of complaints and injuries and gradually reduce the symptoms.

Our expert

Sirko Drose, Rosenklinik Sportzentrum

Sirko Drose is a physiotherapist. After completing his education in the Netherlands, he has spent the last 16 years working mainly in the musculoskeletal field, primarily treating athletes with knee problems.

His aim is to always provide patients with the most up-to-date care, which is why he attends international congresses such as the Sports Medicine Congress in Copenhagen and the World Sports Phyiotherapy Congress in Oslo every year and continues to undergo further training.

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