You can walk around relatively comfortably. Going up the stairs might be completely manageable. But as soon as you turn around and start walking down, your knee hurts. Perhaps you feel an ache around or behind the kneecap. Maybe the first few stairs are fine, but the discomfort builds as you continue. You might find yourself turning slightly sideways, holding onto the railing or putting more weight through the opposite leg. It can feel strange that the same knee can tolerate

Your knees feel completely fine walking around. Going upstairs isn’t too bad. You can exercise, walk the dog and get through most of your day without thinking about them. Then you walk down a flight of stairs and suddenly there it is: an ache around the kneecap, a sharp sensation at the front of the knee, or that familiar discomfort that appears with every step down. Knee pain on stairs often reflects a mismatch between the load being placed through the knee and its current c

Knee pain is one of the most frequently encountered presentations in a Pilates studio. It arrives in many forms: a client who reports a dull ache during footwork, someone returning after a knee reconstruction, an older client managing osteoarthritis, or a runner who has been told to do Pilates for their knees without further guidance. Purposeful modification for knee pain requires understanding anatomy and load, not simply removing exercises. As instructors, the challenge is