Many people experience knee pain from time to time when bending the knee.Sometimes there is pain in the knee when walking.This is quite logical, because the knee joints almost always carry a large load.Consequently, they are one of the most vulnerable joints in the human body.But you still need to know when and why knee pain occurs and how to eliminate it.
Knee pain is a common symptom.It can occur during illness or under the influence of other traumatic factors that affect the knee both externally and internally.
There are many causes of knee pain: from simple fatigue, to playing too intense sports, from injuries of various types, to diseases that affect one of the many structures of the knee joint.
How does knee pain manifest?
Knee pain can manifest itself in different ways.First of all, its intensity depends on the type of damage, as well as its severity.Sometimes a person complains that after intense sports training, pain in the knee begins to appear at night, or mild pain develops during physical exertion.However, a little later, a person may begin to feel severe, constant pain in both the knee and back.Therefore, it is important to determine the causes of pain at the initial stage.Sometimes, to relieve pain, it is enough to perform some procedures.But in case of rupture of ligaments or tendons, as a rule, surgical treatment cannot be avoided.In any case, if a person has very severe knee pain, one should not expect the symptom to go away on its own.But before deciding what to do and how to treat the pain, it is advisable to make a correct diagnosis and inform the doctor about all the characteristics of the pain.First of all, you should report whether your knee hurts when bending, whether pain or discomfort bothers you at night, whether pain occurs under the knees, etc.
When does knee pain appear?
The causes of knee pain can be varied.Severe knee pain often develops after ligament damage due to a serious injury.However, severe pain in the knee joint can manifest itself in different ways, since the structure of the joint is very complex.There are a total of four ligaments in the knee that connect the femur to the fibula and tibia bones.When one of these ligaments is torn, intense pain occurs in the injured area.This occurs more frequently in athletes.In this case, the pain bothers the person for a long time when walking, and when running the discomfort persists even longer.
Two more ligaments cross inside the knee.These two cruciate ligaments, anterior and posterior, come together at the front of the leg.When the anterior ligament tears, a popping sound occurs in the knee.Then sharp, severe pain occurs, after which a tumor develops in the knee area.After suffering such an injury, it is necessary to stop immediately, since the damaged areas hurt so much that the knee loses stability.
If the posterior cruciate ligament of a leg joint is torn, the pain is usually less intense.With such an injury, knee pain in the back and a feeling of instability appear.
Knee pain also develops when the tendon is damaged.This disease is called tendonitis.In this case, an inflammatory process and irritation of the tendons develops.The causes of this phenomenon are injuries, mainly in sports.Most often, such an injury, both to the left and right knees, occurs in skiers, runners and cyclists.This inflammation sometimes develops simultaneously in both knees.The patient suffers discomfort and pain in the kneecap or the front of the knee.Very often, discomfort and pain are felt when bending.In this case, it is not necessary to use traditional treatment or try to use an ointment to relieve pain.Treatment for pain in the knee joint should be prescribed only after its cause has been accurately determined.Only then can we draw a conclusion about what to do and how to treat the disease.Otherwise, the disease continues for a long period.
Another cause of knee pain is damage to the meniscus, which is the cartilage that bends in the knee joint.Such damage can occur in different parts of the meniscus, but in any case the person develops a tumor.
Sometimes when the knee is injured, the fluid sacs that allow the ligaments and tendons to glide smoothly become inflamed.In this case we are talking about bursitis, which can cause pain below the knee both in front and behind.With bursitis, swelling and redness appear in the area where inflammation develops.A person feels pain when squatting, kneeling, and also when straightening the affected knee.Bursitis can develop under the kneecap (called precap bursitis) and, when infected, causes very severe swelling, malaise, and fever.If the infection affects the area below the left or right knee at the back, then the pain on the inside of the knee becomes severe when a person goes up or down stairs.
When trauma, injury, or degeneration of cartilage or bone occurs, parts of the cartilage can break off and become loose within the cup.A person does not think about how to treat this condition until the loose body begins to interfere with the movement of the joint.In this case, pain appears.
When the kneecap is displaced, a person notices the abnormal position of the kneecap: it becomes perpendicular to the correct position.The symptoms of this phenomenon are pain, swelling in the affected area, severe discomfort when stretching the legs and walking.A patella displacement that occurs once often occurs again in the future.Therefore, doctors recommend performing special exercises aimed at supporting the muscles.
When the knee joint expands due to injury, the knee stretches and may bend in the opposite direction.Such damage is characterized by the appearance of a tumor, and the person is also bothered by pain on the inside of the knee.This injury is also dangerous because it causes partial or total rupture of the ligaments.
Chronic diseases are a separate group of ailments that cause pain in the knees.With rheumatoid arthritis, which affects all ligaments, including the knee, a person suffers not only from pain in the back and front of the knee, but also from general stiffness of movement.Deformation of the knee joints occurs gradually and the patient suffers from constant discomfort.With arthritis, both knees are affected at the same time;Exacerbations and periods of calm occur periodically.Septic arthritis results from an infection.Its symptoms are pain, redness, swelling.A person may feel that the pain is localized to a vein.This condition often causes fever.
In osteoporosis, commonly called degenerative arthritis, pain develops below the knee, behind and in front, due to wear and tear of the cartilage.The disease develops gradually;As a rule, knee pain initially worries when the weather changes, in the morning.Later the condition worsens.Since this disease develops less frequently in men, osteoporosis is often the cause of knee pain in women.
At the same time, the causes of acute pain in the knees may be the development of gout.This disease manifests itself suddenly with redness, swelling and severe pain.The knee joints remain in this state for about 10 days and the discomfort disappears only after a few weeks.
However, sometimes knee pain is a result of normal overexertion.People who are not used to sports training may notice that their legs hurt below the knees and the knees themselves after running long distances, as well as when walking if the person is already very tired.To avoid this, it is necessary to avoid overload and increase the training pace gradually.
In addition to the diseases and conditions described, chondromalacia of the patella may be accompanied by pain in the anterior part of the knee joint.Osgood-Schlatter disease is most often diagnosed in young people who are actively involved in sports.In this case, the pain can be of different intensity.Often a person is bothered by pain in the legs below the knee.
How to get rid of knee pain?
There are a series of general recommendations, the implementation of which allows you to reduce the risk of developing diseases and conditions that cause knee pain.One of the causes of this type of disease is excess weight.Indeed, in this case, the stress on the knee joints increases with any physical effort.People who tend to be overweight are more likely to develop osteoporosis, which causes problems with cartilage.
It happens that a person feels pain on the side of the knee when bending or in another area after over-straining the muscles under excessive load.It can be physical work, cycling or excessively intense exercise.In this case, it is important not only to give the body adequate loads, but also to provide sufficient rest so that the muscles can recover.
Answering the question of why knees are damaged, experts point to insufficient muscle flexibility.If the muscles are too weak or tense, during physical exertion and even walking, the tension in the knee joint is not removed.As a result, it may initially be painful for a person to bend and straighten the knee, and then the pain may even become constant.Therefore, in this case, proper training and regular performance of specially selected physical exercises are necessary to develop and strengthen muscles.
In addition, knee pain when bending and walking develops with flat feet, in the event that one leg is shorter than the other.Such defects must be corrected with the help of special shoes;Otherwise, over time, the pain can become chronic pain and the person will not only find it painful to bend the leg at the knee, but will also find it difficult to walk.
It is not necessary to take risks and participate in sports competitions in which there is a high probability of overload.If a person practices skiing, athletics, basketball or other sports in which the risk of falls, injuries and overload increases, he must calculate his strength extremely correctly.
The risk of injury also increases if the knee has been previously injured.Therefore, if after an injury you feel pain above the knee, below the knee or directly in the joint, you should immediately consult a doctor.
At the first signs of pain in the knee joint, you should definitely let your legs rest as long as possible.You can try to relieve the pain with topical pain relievers.But if the pain does not go away, you should definitely consult a specialist.Knee pain should be treated if signs of serious injury or illness appear.Thus, it is advisable to go to the doctor if the acute pain in the knee does not disappear within several days, if there is swelling and vascular pain, if there is a deformity of the knee.It is important to treat knee pain immediately if redness and fever develop, as this is a sign of infection.
But before starting direct treatment for pain in the knee joint, a diagnosis must be made by a specialist.Initially, a complete physical examination and detailed history of the patient are performed, and special tests are used.Next, the doctor prescribes an x-ray, CT scan or MRI.If an infection is suspected, a blood test is required.Only by having the results of all the studies at hand will the doctor determine how to treat knee pain.
If you injure your knee, you need to put a bandage on it.However, a normal bandage is only sufficient if the injury is not serious.If a person hurts from kneeling, cannot bend and straighten them without pain, then a more serious injury can be suspected.When ligaments are damaged or sprained, special bandages or casts are often required.
To prevent the development of a tumor during an injury, it is necessary to apply ice to the injury site.You can keep ice for no more than 15 minutes, and to prevent freezing, you must first wrap it in a cloth or towel.
Pain relievers are used as anti-inflammatory therapy for knee joint pain, and sometimes antibiotic treatment is required.
Physiotherapy is also practiced.Some exercises can be done at home, but during intensive recovery, your doctor will prescribe a visit to a physical therapy office or the gym at a medical center.
Sometimes the nature of the damage is such that it is impossible to get rid of knee pain without surgery.To do this, arthroscopic surgery can be used, the use of which allows the operation to be performed through minimal incisions.If the damage is significant, it is sometimes necessary to replace some parts of the knee with special prostheses.Total knee replacement involves the installation of prostheses made of metal, polymers and plastics.Also in modern medicine, when treating knee pain, some non-surgical methods are used that allow you to obtain the desired effect relatively quickly.