{"id":2770,"date":"2020-07-02T19:12:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T18:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movementandwellbeingclinic.co.uk\/?p=2770"},"modified":"2022-05-13T09:48:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T08:48:09","slug":"hoffas-fat-pad-knee-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movementandwellbeingclinic.co.uk\/hoffas-fat-pad-knee-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoffa’s Fat Pad Impingement (Knee Pain)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Knee pain is a highly irritating issue, mainly due to the lack of functional movement you are able to perform with knee pain (walking, going up and down stairs etc.). When you add the burning and insufferable pain from Hoffa\u2019s fat pad you become a very frustrated person requiring help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
Knee Pain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The preliminary recognition of the fat pad was first made in 1904 by Dr. Albert Hoffa, who was a German surgeon specialising in lower limb conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Dr Hoffa\u2019s recognition, not much research has gone into it, and we still don\u2019t know what it does, or how common, or uncommon, it is. Our understanding of the fat pad improved after research done by Scott Dye et al<\/a> found that the fat pad is the most pain-sensitive area in the knee. He went into the knees of his test subjects and prodded all the structures inside and got them to score how painful it was. Hoffa\u2019s fat pad was the most painful structure in every participant. Although it was a very useful study, I\u2019m glad I wasn\u2019t subjected to that experiment!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why does it happen?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fat pad is spongy fat tissue located just below the kneecap, which means any bad positioning of the kneecap can compress and irritate it, causing pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several issues that may result in Hoffa’s fat pad impingement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n