My knee pain was caused by two issues- tight IT band and heel striking while running. The pain sounds different than yours, was very evident on stairs. To fix this I did 2 things : switched to barefoot style running about 12 years ago - zero drop shoes, wide toe box, mid foot strike, shorter stride, and added IT band stretching to my post run stretch routine. I have no knee issues now.

Careful CTV your conservative slant is showing.