Pain behind the knee can make everyday activities like walking, climbing stairs, exercising, or simply standing up from a chair uncomfortable. For some people, the pain appears suddenly after an injury or strenuous activity. For others, it develops gradually without an obvious cause.
Because several muscles, tendons, joints, nerves, and other structures are located around the back of the knee, there is not one single explanation for pain behind the knee. The cause may be related to the knee itself, the muscles surrounding it, or even another area of the body.
The way your pain feels can also vary. You might experience a dull ache, tightness, stiffness, sharp pain, swelling, or discomfort that only occurs during certain movements. Some people notice pain behind the knee when bending the leg, while others experience symptoms when straightening the knee, walking, running, or sitting for a long period.
At Empower Physical Therapy, our physical therapists help patients determine what may be contributing to knee pain and develop individualized treatment plans to help them move more comfortably. With locations in Newton, Andover, West Wichita, and Hesston, Kansas, our team is available to help if knee pain is keeping you from doing the things you enjoy.
Why Does the Back of My Knee Hurt?
If you are wondering why the back of your knee hurts, the answer depends on several factors. Your age, activity level, recent changes in exercise, previous injuries, strength, mobility, and the specific activities that trigger your symptoms can all provide important clues.
The knee is a complex joint. The muscles in the front and back of your thigh help control movement at the knee, while several tendons and ligaments provide support and stability. Structures inside the joint help absorb force and allow the knee to move smoothly.
Because so many structures work together, pain behind the knee can have several possible causes.
A physical therapist can evaluate how your knee moves, how strong the surrounding muscles are, and which activities reproduce your symptoms. This can help identify factors that may be contributing to your discomfort.
Hamstring Strain or Irritation
The hamstring muscles are located along the back of your thigh. Their tendons attach near the knee, which means irritation in this area can sometimes feel like pain directly behind or slightly above the knee.
A hamstring strain may occur during running, sprinting, jumping, lifting, or another activity that suddenly places a high demand on the muscles. You may feel a sudden pulling sensation or sharp pain when the injury occurs.
Hamstring irritation can also develop gradually. If the muscles and tendons are repeatedly placed under more stress than they are prepared to handle, discomfort may begin without one specific injury.
Symptoms may become more noticeable when you straighten your knee, bend forward, walk quickly, run, or perform exercises that require significant hamstring strength.
Physical therapy may help address hamstring pain behind the knee by gradually restoring mobility, strength, and tolerance to activity.
Calf Muscle Strain
The calf muscles also cross the knee joint, which means a calf strain can sometimes cause pain behind the knee rather than pain only in the lower leg.
This is particularly possible when the upper portion of the calf muscle becomes irritated.
Calf strains can occur during running, jumping, quickly changing direction, or pushing off the ground. Some people describe feeling a sudden pull or tight sensation. Others notice soreness that develops after activity.
Your physical therapist can evaluate whether the calf may be contributing to your symptoms and determine whether mobility, strengthening, or gradual return to activity should be part of your treatment plan.
Baker’s Cyst
A Baker’s cyst is a fluid filled area that can develop behind the knee. It is sometimes called a popliteal cyst.
The knee naturally contains fluid that helps the joint move smoothly. In some situations, irritation within the knee can cause additional fluid to accumulate toward the back of the joint.
A Baker’s cyst may cause tightness, fullness, swelling, or pain behind the knee. Some people notice a visible or palpable lump, while others primarily notice discomfort when bending or straightening the knee.
A Baker’s cyst can sometimes occur alongside other knee conditions, so simply addressing the swelling may not address the underlying reason it developed.
If you suspect you have a Baker’s cyst, an appropriate evaluation can help determine what may be contributing to the irritation in your knee.
Meniscus Injury
The meniscus is a piece of cartilage within the knee that helps distribute force across the joint. Each knee has two menisci.
A meniscus injury can happen during a twisting movement or other injury, but meniscus changes can also develop gradually over time.
Depending on which part of the meniscus is affected, discomfort may be felt along the joint line or toward the back of the knee.
In addition to pain, some people notice swelling, stiffness, clicking, catching, or difficulty fully bending or straightening the knee.
Not every meniscus related problem requires surgery. Depending on your symptoms and individual circumstances, physical therapy for a meniscus injury may focus on improving strength, mobility, balance, and your ability to perform daily activities.
Knee Arthritis
Knee arthritis is another possible cause of discomfort around the back of the knee.
Arthritis involves changes within a joint that can contribute to pain, stiffness, swelling, and reduced mobility. Although many people think arthritis pain should occur only at the front of the knee, symptoms can sometimes be felt in several areas around the joint.
You may notice knee stiffness after sitting, discomfort when first getting out of bed, difficulty with stairs, or pain after spending a long period on your feet.
Having arthritis does not mean you should stop moving. In many cases, appropriately prescribed exercise can be an important part of managing symptoms.
Physical therapy can help improve knee strength, mobility, balance, and function, which may make everyday movement easier.
Tendon Irritation
Several tendons are located around the back and sides of the knee. These tendons connect muscles to bones and help transfer force as you move.
Repetitive activity, sudden changes in exercise, or increased physical demands can sometimes contribute to tendon irritation around the knee.
You may notice that your symptoms are worse during specific activities but improve when you rest. Over time, however, the pain may begin appearing during lower levels of activity if the area continues to be irritated.
Treatment for tendon related pain often involves gradually improving the tendon and surrounding muscles’ ability to tolerate physical demands rather than avoiding activity indefinitely.
Why Does the Back of My Knee Hurt When I Bend It?
If you have pain behind your knee when bending it, several different structures could be involved.
Deep knee bending changes the amount of pressure and tension placed on structures around the knee. If an area is already irritated, bending the knee may make the symptoms more noticeable.
Swelling within or behind the knee can also create a sensation of pressure or tightness when you bend your leg.
Some people notice this while squatting, kneeling, sitting with the knee bent, or bringing their heel toward their body.
Rather than assuming the pain is caused by one specific condition, an evaluation can help determine why knee bending is painful and whether strength, mobility, swelling, or another factor may be involved.
Why Does the Back of My Knee Hurt When I Straighten It?
Some people experience the opposite problem and notice pain behind the knee when straightening the leg.
Straightening the knee places different stresses on the muscles, tendons, and other tissues around the back of the joint. Tightness or irritation involving the hamstrings or calf may become more noticeable in this position.
Joint stiffness or swelling can also make it uncomfortable to completely straighten your knee.
If you consistently cannot fully straighten your knee, especially after an injury, it is a good idea to have the problem evaluated.
Restoring normal knee range of motion can be an important part of returning to comfortable walking and other activities.
Why Does the Back of My Knee Hurt When I Walk?
Pain behind the knee while walking may be related to how your knee handles the repeated forces involved in each step.
Walking requires coordinated movement of the hip, knee, ankle, and foot. Weakness, limited mobility, or pain in one area can change the way you move and potentially increase stress somewhere else.
Your physical therapist may look beyond the exact location of your pain when evaluating the problem. For example, they may assess your hip strength, knee mobility, ankle mobility, balance, and walking pattern.
This can provide a more complete picture of why your knee is becoming uncomfortable.
Why Does the Back of My Knee Hurt After Running?
Runners can experience pain behind the knee for several reasons. Hamstring irritation, calf strain, changes in training volume, strength limitations, and other factors can all potentially contribute.
A recent increase in mileage or running intensity may be particularly important.
Your body needs time to adapt to increasing physical demands. When those demands increase faster than your muscles and tendons can adapt, symptoms may develop.
That does not necessarily mean you need to stop running permanently. A physical therapist can help determine what may be contributing to the pain and develop a plan for returning to running safely and gradually.
Can Weak Muscles Cause Knee Pain?
Muscle weakness can contribute to some cases of knee pain.
Your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calf muscles, and other muscles work together to control your lower body during walking, stairs, squatting, running, and many other activities.
When certain muscles are not strong enough for the demands being placed on them, other areas may compensate.
Strengthening is therefore an important component of many physical therapy programs for knee pain. The exact exercises should depend on your individual symptoms, abilities, and goals.
Someone hoping to return to competitive sports will have different demands than someone whose primary goal is comfortably walking through the grocery store. Your treatment should reflect those differences.
Is Pain Behind the Knee Serious?
Most cases of pain behind the knee are not necessarily signs of a serious medical problem, but certain symptoms should not be ignored.
Pain following a significant injury, inability to put weight on the leg, major swelling, or an obvious change in the appearance of the knee should be appropriately evaluated.
It is also important to recognize that pain and swelling behind the knee or in the calf can sometimes have causes unrelated to muscles and joints. Sudden swelling, warmth, redness, significant calf pain, chest pain, or difficulty breathing requires prompt medical attention, as these symptoms can sometimes be associated with a blood clot or another condition requiring medical care.
If you are unsure whether your symptoms require medical attention, it is better to seek appropriate evaluation rather than trying to diagnose the problem yourself.
Can Physical Therapy Help Pain Behind the Knee?
For many musculoskeletal causes, physical therapy can help with pain behind the knee.
Treatment begins with an evaluation. Rather than treating every case of knee pain the same way, your physical therapist will look for factors that may be contributing to your individual symptoms.
This may include assessing your knee mobility, strength, balance, flexibility, walking pattern, and ability to perform activities such as squatting, stepping, or climbing stairs.
Your treatment plan may include strengthening exercises, mobility work, balance training, hands on treatment, activity modifications, and exercises you can perform at home.
Physical therapy can also help you gradually return to activities that have become uncomfortable. This could include walking, running, sports, work activities, gardening, exercise, or simply moving around your home.
The goal is to help you move better while building the strength and capacity necessary for the activities you want to perform.
Should I Rest if the Back of My Knee Hurts?
It can be tempting to completely stop using your knee when it hurts. While temporarily reducing an activity that significantly aggravates your symptoms may be helpful, complete rest is not always the best long term solution for knee pain.
Extended inactivity can contribute to weakness and stiffness, potentially making it more difficult to return to your normal activities.
The appropriate amount of activity depends on the cause and severity of your symptoms.
A physical therapist can help determine what activities you can continue, what may need to be temporarily modified, and how to gradually increase your activity as your symptoms improve.
When Should You See a Physical Therapist for Pain Behind the Knee?
Consider scheduling an evaluation if your pain behind the knee is not improving, keeps returning, or is beginning to interfere with your daily life.
You do not have to wait until knee pain becomes severe.
If you have stopped exercising, changed the way you walk, started avoiding stairs, or find yourself constantly thinking about how your knee will feel during certain activities, it may be time to determine what is causing the problem.
Early evaluation may also help you understand which activities are safe to continue instead of unnecessarily avoiding movement because you are worried about making the problem worse.
Physical Therapy for Knee Pain in Newton, Andover, Wichita, and Hesston
If you are searching for answers because the back of your knee hurts, there are several possible explanations. Hamstring or calf irritation, a Baker’s cyst, meniscus problems, arthritis, tendon irritation, and other musculoskeletal conditions can all potentially contribute to discomfort in this area.
The location of the pain alone does not always tell you what is causing it. Looking at when the pain occurs, how your knee moves, your strength, your activity level, and other symptoms can provide a much clearer picture.
At Empower Physical Therapy, our physical therapists work with patients experiencing knee pain at our clinics in Newton, Andover, West Wichita, and Hesston. Whether your goal is getting back to sports, exercising without pain, keeping up with your family, returning to work, or simply walking comfortably, your treatment plan can be designed around what matters to you.
You do not have to wait for knee pain to prevent you from doing the things you enjoy before seeking help. An evaluation can help you better understand what may be causing your symptoms and what you can do about them.
Click here to schedule an evaluation with Empower Physical Therapy today.
📍 Newton: 715 Medical Center Dr. STE 300, Newton, KS 67114
📞 316-283-7187
📍 Andover: 826 E Founders Pkwy STE 100, Andover, KS 67002
📞 316-348-2766
📍 West Wichita: 10330 W. Central Ave #160, Wichita, KS 67212
📞 316-640-3074
📍 Hesston: 701 S. Main, Hesston, KS 67062
📞 620-327-3482
