Performance Edge Physical Therapy
Knee Pain
KNEE PAIN PHYSICAL THERAPY • LIVONIA, MI
Knee Pain Shouldn’t Keep You From the Things You Enjoy.
If knee pain is making it harder to walk, use stairs, exercise, run, golf, play pickleball, or keep up with everyday life, the first step is understanding what may be getting in the way.
At Performance Edge, we help active adults in Livonia build a plan around what they want to get back to—not just where their knee hurts.
Does This Sound Familiar?
You may not know exactly what’s causing your symptoms—you just know they’re starting to change what you can do.
- Your knee hurts when walking, climbing stairs, squatting, or getting up from a chair.
- Exercise, running, golf, pickleball, or other activities have become uncomfortable.
- Your knee feels stiff, swollen, weak, or less reliable than it used to.
- You notice pain around the kneecap, along the inside or outside of the knee, or deeper in the joint.
- Your knee pain keeps returning whenever you try to become more active.
- You’re starting to avoid certain movements because you’re worried about making things worse.
You don’t need to figure out the diagnosis on your own. A physical therapy evaluation can help determine what needs attention and what the right next step may be.
Knee Pain Can Have Different Causes
Knee pain doesn’t always mean the same thing from one person to the next.
Symptoms may be influenced by the muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, kneecap, joint surfaces, or the way your hip, ankle, and leg work together. Pain can also develop after an injury, a change in activity, repeated loading, surgery, or gradually over time.
Some people develop knee pain around the kneecap. Others may have symptoms related to arthritis, a meniscus injury, a ligament injury, tendon irritation, or another condition.
The Location of Pain Gives Us Information—But It Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Where your knee hurts can help guide the evaluation, but it doesn’t automatically tell us exactly what needs to be treated.
That’s why we also look at how your knee moves, how strong your leg is, what activities bother you, how your hip and ankle are contributing, and what you need your body to be able to do.
Why Does My Knee Hurt?
There isn’t one explanation for every episode of knee pain.
Sometimes symptoms begin after a clear injury. Other times they gradually develop after changes in exercise, sports, work, or everyday activity. Strength, movement, previous injuries, joint changes, and how much stress your knee is currently prepared to handle may all play a role.
That’s Why Your Evaluation Matters
Rather than choosing exercises based only on where your knee hurts or what an imaging report says, we look at how you walk, squat, use stairs, balance, move your knee, and produce strength.
We also consider the activities you want to get back to so your plan is built around your actual goals.
Do I Need an X-Ray or MRI Before Starting Physical Therapy?
Not always. Many people with knee pain can first be evaluated through their health history and a physical examination. Imaging may be helpful when there has been a significant injury, when certain structures are suspected to be involved, or when the examination suggests that further medical evaluation is appropriate.
If we identify something during your evaluation that should be looked at by another healthcare provider, we’ll help you understand the appropriate next step.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
Your plan shouldn’t start with a generic list of “knee exercises.”
We start by learning what you’re experiencing, which activities have become difficult, and what you want to be able to do again. From there, we look at your movement, strength, balance, tolerance, and other factors that may be limiting you.
1
Assess
Understand what’s getting in the way, see where you’re starting, and identify what needs attention first.
2
Rebuild
Work on the strength, movement, and control you need to move forward.
3
Perform
Prepare your body for the real demands of the activities you want to get back to.
What Progress Can Look Like
Progress looks different for everyone. The goal is not simply to make your back feel better for an hour—it’s to help you become more capable in the things that matter to you.
Move With More Confidence
Feel less hesitant about walking, stairs, squatting, bending, or exercising.
Build Strength
Improve the strength of your knee, hip, and leg so your body is better prepared for everyday activity.
Know What to Do
Understand how to manage your knee, adjust activity when needed, and keep building after physical therapy.
Return to What You Enjoy
Work toward the gym, running, golf, pickleball, travel, recreational sports, yard work, or other meaningful activities.
When Knee Pain Needs More Urgent Medical Attention
Most knee pain does not require emergency care, but some symptoms should be evaluated promptly.
Seek medical care if you cannot put weight on the leg after an injury, the knee appears deformed, there is severe or rapidly increasing swelling, the knee becomes locked and you cannot bend or straighten it, or the joint is very red, hot, and swollen—especially if you also have a fever.
You should also seek medical guidance if you develop significant calf pain or swelling, numbness or tingling below the knee, or symptoms that are rapidly worsening.
If you’re unsure whether physical therapy is the appropriate place to start, contact your physician or another qualified healthcare professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Physical therapy can help many people improve strength, movement, balance, and their ability to perform activities that have become difficult because of knee pain. Your plan will depend on what we find during the evaluation, how your symptoms behave, and what you want to get back to doing.
Not necessarily. You may need to temporarily modify certain activities, but completely avoiding movement is not always the best answer. The goal is to find an appropriate level of activity your knee can tolerate and gradually build from there.
Often, yes. Strength and movement are commonly important parts of managing knee arthritis. Your program should be matched to your current abilities, symptoms, and goals rather than assuming you need to stop being active.
There is no single timeline that applies to everyone. Recovery can depend on how long you have had symptoms, whether pain is traveling into the leg, your activity level, strength, overall health, and what you are trying to return to. At Performance Edge, we use regular progress checks rather than assuming everyone needs the same number of visits.
Your evaluation starts with a conversation about your symptoms, goals, and the activities that have become difficult.
We’ll then look at things such as your knee movement, strength, walking, balance, squat or step mechanics, and how the hip and ankle may be contributing.
From there, we’ll explain what we find, establish a starting point, and create a plan around what you want to get back to doing.
There isn’t one timeline that applies to everyone. Recovery depends on factors such as how long you’ve had symptoms, whether there was an injury or surgery, your current strength and activity level, and what you’re trying to return to.
At Performance Edge, we use regular progress checks rather than assuming everyone needs the same number of visits.
Reviewed by Dr. Mishka Spencer, PT, DPT
Performance Edge Physical Therapy • Livonia, MI
Last reviewed: October 2026
Not Sure What’s Causing Your Knee Pain?
You don’t need to diagnose yourself before reaching out.
Tell us what you’ve been experiencing and what you want to get back to, and we’ll help you determine whether physical therapy may be the right next step.
One-on-one physical therapy in Livonia, Michigan.