Joint Pain Treatment in Singapore

Most people find us because of knee pain, and the knee is what we treat most. But the same joints keep coming through the door for the same reasons — a tendon overloaded, a nerve compressed, a joint surface wearing — and the same approach applies: work out precisely what is causing the pain, treat it without surgery where that is reasonable, and say so plainly when it is not.

This page covers the joints we treat outside the knee. If your problem is knee pain, start with our knee conditions pages instead.

Hip pain

Pain around the hip does not always come from the hip joint. Pain on the outer side, over the bony point you lie on, is usually the gluteal tendons and the bursa that cushions them rather than the joint itself. Pain deep in the groin is more likely to be the joint, and buttock pain is often referred from the lower back.

The most common problem we see is trochanteric bursitis and gluteal tendinopathy — pain lying on that side at night, climbing stairs, or standing on one leg.

Read more about hip pain

Shoulder pain

The shoulder moves further than any other joint in the body, and it trades stability for that range. Four muscles — the rotator cuff — keep the trade safe. When those tendons are overloaded, compressed under the bony arch, or torn, the result is pain reaching overhead and, very often, pain lying on that shoulder at night.

Most rotator cuff problems, including many partial tears, are managed without surgery.

Read more about shoulder pain

Elbow pain

Tennis elbow affects the outer side, golfer’s elbow the inner side, and most people who get either have never played the sport in the name. Both are tendon problems at the point where the forearm muscles attach to the bone, usually caused by repetitive gripping, lifting or typing.

They are degenerative rather than inflammatory, which is why rest and anti-inflammatories disappoint and why progressive loading is the treatment that works.

Read more about elbow pain

Wrist and hand pain

Carpal tunnel syndrome compresses the median nerve at the wrist, causing numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle and half the ring finger — the little finger is typically spared. Symptoms are worst at night, and waking with a numb hand is characteristic enough to be diagnostically useful.

Thumb base arthritis is the other common problem, causing pain when gripping, pinching or turning a key.

Read more about wrist and hand pain

Ankle and foot pain

Heel pain that is worst in your first few steps in the morning, eases as you walk, and returns after a long day on your feet is almost always plantar fasciitis. Achilles tendinopathy causes pain behind the ankle and, like tennis elbow, responds to progressive loading rather than rest.

Read more about ankle and foot pain

How we treat joint pain

Across all of these joints the sequence is the same. Establish the diagnosis properly, because outer hip pain, shoulder impingement and heel pain are each commonly mistaken for something else. Manage load rather than prescribing rest, since tendons need controlled loading to recover. Then build a structured rehabilitation programme, which is the part that actually changes the outcome and the part most often skipped.

Where pain is severe enough to prevent someone starting that programme, injection treatments can create the window in which rehabilitation becomes possible. They work best as an enabler of rehabilitation, not as a substitute for it.

When to see a doctor

Book an appointment if pain has not improved after a few weeks of sensible self-management, if it is stopping you doing things you need to do, or if it wakes you at night. Some symptoms warrant being seen sooner: sudden weakness after an injury, an inability to use the limb, numbness that is becoming constant, or visible muscle wasting.

Our team is led by Dr Gerard Ee, Dr Edwin Tan and Dr Dinesh Sirisena. You can read more about the clinic.

Written by Dr Gerard Ee. Last medically reviewed and updated: September 2026.