Many people experience knee pain from time to time when they bend it.Sometimes there is pain in the knee when walking.This is quite logical, since the knee joints almost always carry a large load.Therefore, they are one of the most vulnerable joints in the human body.But you still need to know when and for what reasons knee pain occurs and how you can get rid of 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 too intense sports, from injuries of different types, to diseases that affect one of the many structures of the knee joint.
How does knee pain manifest itself?
Knee pain can manifest itself in different ways.First of all, their intensity depends on the type of damage, as well as its severity.Sometimes a person complains that after intense sports training at night, pain in the knee begins to appear, or a slight pain appears during physical exertion.However, a little later, a person may begin to worry about constant severe pain, both in the knee and in the back.That is why it is important to determine the causes of pain in the initial stage.Sometimes, to relieve the pain, it is enough to simply carry out 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 pain in the knee, you should not expect that the symptom will disappear on its own.But before you decide what to do and how to treat the pain, you need to make a correct diagnosis and tell the doctor about all the characteristics of the pain.First of all, you should report whether the knee hurts when bending, whether pain or discomfort bothers you at night, whether the pain occurs below the knees, etc.
When does knee pain develop?
The causes of knee pain can be different.Severe knee pain often develops after damage to the ligaments 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 breaks, severe pain occurs in the area that is injured.Most often this happens in athletes.In this case, the pain bothers the person for a long time when walking, and when running, the discomfort remains even longer.
Two more ligaments cross inside the knee.These two cruciate ligaments, anterior and posterior, join at the front of the lower leg.When the anterior ligament tears, a crunch occurs in the knee.Then there is a sharp and severe pain, after which a tumor develops in the knee area.After receiving such an injury, you must immediately stop, because the damaged areas hurt so much that the knee loses stability.
If the posterior cruciate ligament in the leg joint is torn, the pain is usually less intense.With such an injury, there is pain in the back of the knee and a feeling of instability.
Knee pain also develops when the tendon is damaged.This disease is called tendinitis.In this case, an inflammatory process and tendon irritation develops.The causes of this phenomenon are injuries, mainly in sports.Most often, such an injury, both in the left knee and in the right knee, occurs in skiers, runners and those who are engaged in cycling.This inflammation sometimes develops simultaneously in both knees.The patient suffers from discomfort and pain in the kneecap or in the front of the knee.Discomfort and pain are most often felt when bending.In this case, you do not need to use traditional treatment or try to use an ointment to relieve pain.Treatment of pain in the knee joint should be prescribed only after the exact cause has been established.Only then can we conclude what to do and how to treat the disease.Otherwise, the disease will continue for a long time.
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 a person develops a tumor.
Sometimes when the knee is injured, the sacs of fluid that allow the ligaments and tendons to slide smoothly become inflamed.In this case, we are talking about bursitis, which can cause pain under the knee both in front and behind.With bursitis, swelling and redness occurs in the area where the inflammation develops.A person experiences pain when squatting, kneeling, and also when straightening the affected knee.Bursitis can develop under the knee cap (called precap bursitis) and when it becomes infected it causes very severe swelling, general 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 intense when a person goes up or down stairs.
When trauma, wounds, or degeneration of cartilage or bone occurs, pieces of cartilage can detach and become loose in the cup.One 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 knee cap is displaced, one notices the unusual position of the knee cap: 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 when walking.A single dislocation of the knee cap often happens again in the future.Therefore, doctors advise doing special exercises aimed at maintaining the muscles.
When the knee joint is widened due to injury, the knee is stretched and can bend in the opposite direction.Such damage is characterized by the appearance of a tumor, and the person is also worried about pain on the inside of the knee.This injury is also dangerous because it leads to a partial or complete rupture of the ligaments.
Chronic diseases are a separate group of diseases that lead to knee pain.With rheumatoid arthritis, which affects all the joints, including the knee, a person suffers not only from pain in the back and front of the knee, but also from a general stiffness of movements.Deformation of the knee joints gradually occurs, the patient suffers from constant malaise.In arthritis, both knees are affected at the same time;exacerbations and periods of lull occur periodically.Septic arthritis is the result of an infection.Its symptoms are pain, redness, swelling.A person may feel that the pain is localized in a vein.This condition often leads to fever.
In osteoporosis, commonly called degenerative arthritis, pain below the knee in the back and front develops due to wear and tear of the cartilage.The disease develops gradually;as a rule, pain in the knee is initially worried when the weather changes, in the morning.Later the condition worsened.Since this disease develops less often in men, osteoporosis is often the cause of knee pain in women.
At the same time, the causes of acute pain in the knees can 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 after only a few weeks.
Sometimes, however, knee pain is the result of a simple overuse.People who are not used to sports training may notice that their legs below the knees and the knees themselves hurt after running long distances, as well as when walking, if the person is already very tired.To prevent this, you should avoid overloading and gradually increase the pace of training.
In addition to the diseases and conditions described, pain in the front of the knee joint can accompany chondromalacia of the patella.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 worried about pain in the legs below the knee.
How to get rid of knee pain?
There are a number of general recommendations, the implementation of which allows to reduce the risk of developing diseases and conditions leading to knee pain.One of the causes of such diseases is excess weight.In fact, in this case, the tension in the knee joints increases with any physical effort.People who are overweight are more likely to develop osteoporosis, which leads to cartilage problems.
It happens that a person has pain on the side of the knee when bending, or in another area, after straining the muscles too much in an overexertion.This can be physical labor, cycling or too intense exercise.In this case, it is important not only to give the body adequate loads, but also to provide enough rest for the muscles to recover.
Answering the question of why knees are damaged, experts note insufficient muscle flexibility.If the muscles are too weak or tense, then during physical exertion and even when walking, the tension in the knee joint is not smoothed out.As a result, it may initially be painful for a person to bend and straighten the knee, and later the pain may even become constant.Therefore, in this case, proper training and regular performance of specially selected physical exercises are necessary for the development and strengthening of muscles.
In addition, knee pain when bending and walking develops in flat feet, in case one leg is shorter than the other.Such defects must be corrected with the help of special shoes, otherwise, over time, the pain can turn into chronic pain, and it will not only be painful for the person to bend the leg at the knee, but also difficult to walk.
It is not necessary to take risks and participate in sports competitions in which there is a high probability of overloading.If a person is engaged in skiing, athletics, basketball or other sports where the risk of falls, injuries and overloads is increased, 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 sign of pain in the knee joint, you should definitely rest your legs as long as possible.You can try to relieve the pain by using topical pain medications.But if the pain does not go away, then you should definitely consult a specialist.Knee pain should be treated if signs of a serious injury or illness appear.So you should go to the doctor if the sharp pain in the knee does not go away for several days, if there is swelling and vascular pain, if there is a deformity of the knee.It is important to treat sore knees 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 specialist must carry out a diagnosis.Initially, a complete physical examination and detailed questioning of the patient is carried out using special tests.The doctor then prescribes an X-ray, CT or MRI.If infection is suspected, a blood test is required.Only by having the results of all the tests at hand can the doctor determine how to treat an inflamed knee.
If your knee is injured, you should apply a bandage.However, a simple bandage is sufficient only if the injury is not severe.If a person hurts to stand on his knee, cannot bend and straighten it without pain, then a more serious injury can be suspected.When ligaments are damaged or dislocated, special bandages or casts are often required.
To prevent the development of a tumor during an injury, you should apply ice to the injury site.You can keep the ice for no more than 15 minutes, and to prevent frostbite, you must first wrap it in a towel or towel.
Painkillers are used as anti-inflammatory therapy for knee pain, and sometimes a course of antibiotics is needed.
Physiotherapy is also practiced.Some exercises can be done at home, but during intensive recovery, the doctor will prescribe a visit to the physical therapy office or gym in a medical facility.
Sometimes the nature of the damage is such that it is impossible to get rid of knee pain without surgery.For this purpose, 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 placing metal, polymer and plastic prostheses.Also, in modern medicine, in the treatment of knee pain, some non-surgical methods are used, which allow you to get the desired effect relatively quickly.