Fat Pad Irritation: What It Is, How It Happens & The Taping Technique That Can Help

Learn what causes fat pad irritation in the knee, how to treat it with physiotherapy, and how to use fat pad taping to reduce pain and prevent aggravation.

🎯 Introduction

Are you feeling a sharp, pinching pain at the front of your knee, especially when standing for long periods, locking your knee straight, or walking downhill?

You could be experiencing fat pad irritation—also known as Hoffa’s fat pad impingement.

At Body Fit Physiotherapy in North Adelaide, we regularly treat this frustrating condition using a combination of:

• Biomechanical correction

• Strength rehabilitation

• Activity modification

• And targeted taping strategies

🎥 In the video below, we demonstrate a fat pad taping technique to help offload this sensitive structure and reduce pain during daily activities.

📹 Watch: Fat Pad Taping Technique

Fat Pad Taping Technique – Step-by-Step to Reduce Knee Hyperextension & Pain

This physio-led taping technique aims to:

• Reduce end-range knee extension (hyperextension)

• Unload the fat pad region

• Improve proprioception and reduce irritation during walking or running

🧠 What Is the Infrapatellar Fat Pad?

The infrapatellar fat pad is a soft, highly vascularised, and sensitive structure that sits just below the kneecap, behind the patellar tendon. It functions as:

• A cushion between the patella and femur

• A shock absorber during knee movement

• A lubricant and filler to facilitate joint motion

  
  

Unfortunately, it’s also vulnerable to compression and irritation.

🚨 How Does Fat Pad Irritation Happen?

Fat pad impingement often occurs when the knee hyperextends or is subjected to repetitive compressive loads.

Common causes include:

• Knee hyperextension during standing, walking, or running

• Postural patterns like locked-knee standing

• Weak quadriceps or poor control of knee extension

• Biomechanical overload post-surgery or after acute trauma

Athletes, dancers, hypermobile individuals, and people recovering from knee injuries are all at higher risk.

🔍 Symptoms of Fat Pad Impingement

• Sharp or pinching pain at the front and bottom of the kneecap

• Worse with knee hyperextension or standing for long periods

• Tenderness on either side of the patellar tendon

• Pain with stairs, walking downhill, or squatting deeply

🎯 How Taping Helps

The goal of fat pad taping is to:

• Prevent full hyperextension of the knee

• Reduce mechanical compression of the fat pad

• Provide feedback and proprioceptive control

• Allow healing by offloading the irritated tissue

In our video, we demonstrate:

• Step-by-step tape application

• Where to anchor for optimal tension

• How to reduce load on the anterior knee during movement

📹 Watch the technique

📚 Evidence-Based Management of Fat Pad Impingement

There is growing evidence supporting conservative, physiotherapy-based treatment for fat pad irritation:

✅ Key components include:

• Taping & bracing to reduce knee extension (Piva et al., 2005)

• Activity modification (avoid standing locked out or overtraining)

• Quadriceps strengthening—especially vastus medialis obliquus (VMO)

• Hip and core control training to improve dynamic knee alignment

• Manual therapy and dry needling if compensatory patterns exist

In severe or persistent cases, corticosteroid injection or fat pad resection may be considered—but these are usually last-resort interventions.

🏥 How Body Fit Physiotherapy Can Help

Our North Adelaide team is highly experienced in treating fat pad irritation. We use:

• Thorough movement and postural analysis

• Strength and neuromuscular control rehab

• Custom taping and bracing strategies

• Ongoing monitoring and load management

We focus on both immediate symptom relief and long-term prevention of recurrence.

🧠 Patient Insight: Why Some People Develop This Problem

You might have fat pad irritation if:

• You lock your knees when standing for long periods

• You’ve had a recent ACL, meniscus, or patellar surgery

• You notice pain during deep squats or leg extensions

• Your knee is hypermobile or extends beyond 0° naturally

A tailored program that includes fat pad taping, rehab, and lifestyle advice can make a huge difference in pain and function.

📞 Don’t Let Knee Pain Hold You Back

If you’re struggling with anterior knee pain and suspect fat pad involvement, let us help you move better, with less pain.

📍 Visit Body Fit Physiotherapy North Adelaide

📞 Call us or Book Online at bodyfit.life

📚 References

• Piva SR, et al. (2005). Interventions for anterior knee pain: a review of the evidence. Clinics in Sports Medicine

• Crossley KM, et al. (2001). Patellofemoral pain syndrome: physical therapy management and new insights. Br J Sports Med

• McConnell J. (2007). The management of anterior knee pain through exercise and taping. Manual Therapy