Then I came across research from the UBC Musculoskeletal Lab. Physiotherapy researcher, Dr. Whittaker, explained something that completely changed how I looked at knee pain:
I thought protecting my knee meant resting it.
But one of the worst things you can do with a sore knee is stop using it.
Because the knee doesn’t get stronger from doing nothing. It needs gentle movement.
Movement keeps the joint working. It helps keep fluid moving through the knee. It keeps the muscles around it active, so they don’t waste away.
And those muscles matter because they’re what help protect and support the joint over time.
But this was the part that stuck with me:
You can only keep moving if your knee feels supported enough to trust it.
Without that support, you hesitate. You guard every step.
You avoid stairs, walks, exercise. Then the muscles get weaker. The knee feels even less stable. The next step hurts more.
And slowly, the whole thing spirals downward.
That’s when I realised the answer wasn’t more rest. It was the right support.
Something that made my knee feel steady enough to start moving again.