Is your knee pain coming from your back?

The bad pain in your knee could be telling you something.

It could be telling you that you have a bad back.

These are two parts of the body that may seem totally unrelated, but they are not. The lower back has all sorts of nerves that control muscles around the knees. When these nerves in the back misfire, they can cause pain in the knee.

A back that feels tense or tight could result in mild pain, but it could be the cause of worse pain in the knee, according to Regenexx.

Another notable symptom is pain and tightness in the hamstrings. Tightness in the hamstrings that can’t be relieved by stretching could be a sign of back problems. The L5 nerve runs from the lumbar spine to the outside of the hamstring muscle. A nerve problem in the back can cause inflammation in the hamstring, which causes damage to the meniscus, a cartilage pad in the knee. The knee can swell and stay inflamed and painful.

One other unusual sign that pain in the knee is coming from the back is bunion formation.

The back has separate nerves that support the inside and the outside of the foot. When these nerves are stressed or injured, the muscles don’t move the foot correctly. The foot unnaturally tilts the big toe, creating a bunion and probably knee pain, too.