You may first feel it when attempting to bend down to pick a dropped item or possibly you experience it as morning stiffness that you feel when you first get up out of bed. But whenever it hits you knee pain will undoubtedly get your attention.

The good news about knee pain is that it responds well to self care measures.

There are a number of factors that can put you at risk for knee pain. Some of them are:

Overweight: If you weigh more than you should, you put more stress and pressure on your knee joints. Over time this excess pressure can cause pain.

Overuse: An inflammatory response can occur when a repetitive activity, causes a muscle to get fatigued. This inflammatory response can damage surrounding tissue. This can be further compounded when you don't give the knee enough time to fully recover thereby making it prone to re-injury.

Lack of muscle strength: Experts site lack of strength and flexibility as the leading cause of knee injury and pain. Weak or tight muscles offer less support for the knee joint.

Mechanical problems: Having misaligned knees, one leg that is shorter than the other or other structural abnormalities can contribute to knee pain.

Previous injury: If you have previously injured your knee chances go up that you will injure it again. Possibly because the knee was not given enough time to properly heal or because the knee doesn't return to the condition it was in prior to the injury.

Age: Some knee related conditions affect young people more often than old, for example Osgood-Schlatter disease or patellar tendonitis. Other conditions such as gout and osteoarthritis tend to occur in older people.

An injury to the knee can affect any of the ligaments, tendons Or bursa (fluid filled sacs of the knee)or a combination of these areas of the knee.

Some of the most common causes of knee pain are:

- Bursitis - An inflammation that comes from pressure on the knee. The pressure may be from repeated overuse, kneeling for long periods of time or other injury.

- Tendonitis - Pain that occurs in the front of the knee. It usually gets worse when going up and down stairs. This is a common injury of skiers, runners and cyclists.

- Torn ligaments or cartilage - This injury can cause severe pain and lack of stability of the knee joint.

- Strain or Sprain - A minor injury to the ligaments cause by sudden or unnatural twisting.

- Hip disorders - May cause you to feel pain in the knee area.

- Osteoarthritis - a condition affecting the joints characterized by pain and stiffness

- Gout - A metabolic disorder caused by an accumulation of uric acid in the joints.

As mentioned above knee pain responds well to self care. Some of the things that you can do if you experience knee pain are:

- Apply ice 15 minutes at a time, initially and then about 4 times a day thereafter until the pain subsides.

- Rest and avoid the activities that contributed to the initial injury

- Elevate your knee to bring down the swelling

- Over the counter medications can provide pain relieve from pain.

- Sleep with a pillow underneath the affected knee

- Gentle compression, such as with an Ace bandage may reduce swelling and provide support

It is not always possible to prevent knee pain but there are some things that you can do to lessen the likelihood that knee problems will occur.

- Keep off excess weight. Maintaining a healthy weight will keep your knees from having to support more than they were designed to support.

- Stay flexible. Weak muscles make you more prone to injuries of the knees. So do stretching exercises, daily to maintain flexibility

- Exercise wisely. Don't exercise when you have pain or you're tired. If you have chronic injuries consider switching to sports or exercise that put less stress on your joints. For instance swimming instead of basketball.

- Get good fitting shoes. When shoes fit poorly we may compensate in the knees and hips, causing them to be misaligned and making them prone to injury.

- Proper supplements: There are supplements that can help the body keep the ligaments and joints lubricated, and actually help rebuild cartilage.

Like Phosoplex™ is a supplement that is recommended for osteoarthritis and joint pain. It is a powerful, all natural and safe solution for joint lubrication, pain relief and the rebuilding of healthy cartilage.

If you follow the above suggestions you will go a long way to knockout knee pain before it begins.

About the Author

Stephanie McIntyre and Kamau Austin are health and fitness enthusiasts and advocates. They write on a regular basis on timeless health and fitness tips at the Fit After Forty Blog. See more useful health and fitness news and tips at... http://www.healthandfitnessvitality.com/blogs/fitnessblog.htm