Knee pain can come from many sources...sometimes it's very obvious why your knee hurts, such as when you've fallen and twisted your knee, or if you have torn a ligament or cartilage in your knee. Sometimes, though, your knees just hurt and you're not sure why!
Non-specific knee pain can often be caused by the four powerful muscles on either the front or the back of your thigh.
The front thigh muscles (quadriceps group) are very large and used in everyday activities of walking, stair climbing, getting up or sitting down in a chair, lunging, and standing up after kneeling or squatting. They converge into a common tendon that encases the knee cap (patella), and then that tendon inserts onto the bone of your shin (tibia).
The back thigh muscles (hamstring group) are a little smaller but very strong and are used for the same everyday activities, plus squatting, kneeling, lunging, and coming up from a forward bend (think tying your shoes).
When one or both of those muscle groups (quardiceps or hamstrings) get tight, they affect the way the bones of your upper and lower leg move against your knee cap, and can pull your knee cap too tightly into it's joint or off to one side. This causes knee pain. Sometimes this knee pain radiates under the knee cap, sometimes it is to the inside or outside of the knee cap, sometimes it seems to be right in the joint. No matter where it is, it always hurts!
Massage therapy can help: