Going downstairs loads your kneecap and quadriceps far harder than going up, because your muscles work while lengthening to control your body weight. Your knee also bends under close to full load with every step down. Pain that is worse descending stairs, hills or slopes usually points to the front of the knee. It is a useful clue, and one your physiotherapist will test directly.

Yes. Pain felt in the knee can be referred from the hip joint or from nerves in the lower back, and the knee itself may test completely normal. Hip osteoarthritis commonly refers pain into the front of the thigh and knee. This is why your assessment includes your hip and back, not just the painful joint, especially when nothing you do to the knee changes the pain.

Painless clicking and grinding is very common and usually harmless, caused by tendons moving over bone or fluid shifting inside the joint. Noise on its own is not a sign of damage. Catching or locking is different: if your knee jams and will not straighten, something may be physically blocking the joint, and that needs assessing promptly rather than waiting to see if it settles.

No. Squatting and kneeling load your knees, and load is what keeps cartilage, tendons and muscle healthy. Problems arise when the amount of load rises faster than your knee has adapted to, not from the movement itself. If squatting or kneeling hurts right now, the answer is usually to reduce depth or volume temporarily and build strength, rather than avoid the movement permanently.

Swelling within the first hour or two generally means bleeding inside the joint, which suggests a more significant structure has been injured, such as a ligament, cartilage or bone surface. Swelling that appears the next morning is more often an inflammatory response to overload. Tell your physiotherapist how fast the swelling came on and how large it was, because that timing genuinely changes what we look for.

They contribute, but they are rarely the whole story. Very short stride length, low cadence, heavy landing or a sudden change of shoe can all shift load onto your knee. Training volume and strength usually matter more. A running assessment films your gait and measures your strength, so any change we suggest to your technique or footwear is based on what your body is actually doing.