The ache around your kneecap on stairs, squats, and long sits has a plan with real evidence behind it — and it starts at the hip. Patellofemoral rehab, coached one-on-one.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Thomas Kleingartner, PT, DPT · August 2026
Runner's knee — patellofemoral pain — is aching around or behind the kneecap with running, squatting, stairs, and long sitting, and it affects an estimated 23% of adults in a given year. The best-supported treatment combines hip and knee strengthening with smart load management, which meta-analyses show beats knee exercises alone. RISE Physical Therapy treats runner's knee one-on-one in 45-minute sessions in Boise and Nampa, Idaho, with no referral required.
Runner's knee is the everyday name for patellofemoral pain — pain arising from the joint between the kneecap (patella) and the thigh bone (femur). Every time you bend a loaded knee, the kneecap glides through a groove on the femur under forces that reach several times body weight on stairs and hills. When the total load on that joint outruns its tolerance — a mileage jump, a new squat program, a season of soccer — the tissue gets irritable and the trademark ache appears.
Despite the name, it's not just runners. A systematic review and meta-analysis put the annual prevalence of patellofemoral pain around 22.7% of the general population — and 28.9% among adolescents — making it one of the most common knee problems seen in clinics.[1] It's also not "damage" in the structural sense: imaging usually looks normal, which is good news, because it means the problem — and the solution — is capacity, not injury.
Patellofemoral pain has a recognizable signature. Book an evaluation if you notice:
Swelling, locking, giving way, or pain after a twisting injury point away from patellofemoral pain toward structures like the meniscus or ligaments — part of what the first-visit exam sorts out.
Exercise therapy is the cornerstone, and the details matter. The international consensus statement on patellofemoral pain — built from systematic review and expert agreement at the 5th International Patellofemoral Pain Research Retreat — recommends exercise therapy as the core treatment, specifically combining hip and knee exercises, with foot orthoses or taping as short-term adjuncts and a firm thumbs-down on passive-only care.[2] A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis confirms the hip's starring role: programs strengthening both hip and knee reduced pain and improved function more than knee-only strengthening.[3]
Why the hip? The gluteal muscles control how the thigh rotates and angles beneath the kneecap during running and landing; weak or untrained hips let the femur collapse inward, concentrating load on one edge of the patellofemoral joint. Strengthen the system above the knee, and the joint below runs quieter. What doesn't hold up: rest as a strategy (the pain typically returns with the load), and knee braces or arch supports as stand-alone fixes.
Patellofemoral care at RISE pairs a strength program with a training plan — because both sides of the load-capacity equation need attention. Every session is 45 minutes one-on-one with the same Doctor of Physical Therapy.
Strength testing and movement analysis reveal where patellofemoral load concentrates and which links need capacity.
Symptom-settling techniques plus training adjustments bring the joint back inside its tolerance without stopping you.
Progressive hip and knee strength — then hills, speed, and volume — until stairs and long runs are boring again.
One-on-one runner's knee care from a Doctor of Physical Therapy — no referral needed in Idaho.
Thomas specializes in lower-extremity orthopedic and post-operative rehabilitation. He earned his Bachelor's in Kinesiology at Washington State and his Doctorate of Physical Therapy at South College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Meet the full team →
