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, 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 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 very intense sports, from injuries of various types, to diseases that affect one of the many structures of the knee joint.
How is knee pain manifested?
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, knee pain begins to appear at night, or minor pains develop during physical exercises.However, a little later, a person may begin to be bothered by severe constant pain, both in the knee and in the back.Therefore, it is important to determine the causes of pain in the initial stage.Sometimes, to relieve the pain, it is enough to carry out only a few 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 strong pain in the knee, one should not expect the symptom to disappear on its own.But before you decide what to do and how to treat the pain, you should make an accurate diagnosis and tell the doctor all the features of the pain.First of all, you should report if the knee hurts when you bend, if you are bothered by pain or discomfort at night, if the pain appears below the knees, etc.
When does knee pain develop?
The causes of knee pain can be different.Severe knee pain often develops after ligament damage due to severe injury.However, severe pain in the knee joint can appear 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 ruptures, severe pain occurs in the injured area.This happens more often in athletes.In this case, the pain bothers the person for a long time while walking, and during running the discomfort remains even longer.
Two other ligaments cross inside the knee.These two cruciate ligaments, the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, join at the front of the lower leg.When the anterior cruciate ligament tears, a knee crack occurs.Then there is a sharp and strong pain, after which a tumor develops in the knee area.After receiving such an injury, you should stop immediately, as the damaged areas hurt so much that the knee loses stability.
If the posterior cruciate ligament in a leg joint is torn, the pain is usually less intense.With such an injury, pain appears in the knee on the back and a feeling of instability.
Knee pain also develops when the tendon is damaged.This disease is called tendonitis.In this case, an inflammatory process and tendon irritation develops.The reasons for 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 cyclists.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.Most often, discomfort and pain are felt when bending.In this case, there is no need to use traditional treatment or try to use ointments to relieve the 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 lasts 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 the 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, it is bursitis, which can cause pain under the knee in front and behind.With bursitis, swelling and redness appear in the area where the inflammation develops.A person feels pain when sitting, kneeling and also when straightening the affected knee.Bursitis can develop under the kneecap (called precap bursitis), and when infected, causes very severe swelling, general discomfort and fever.If the infection affects the area under the left or right knee in the back, then the pain on the inside of the knee becomes intense when a person walks up or down stairs.
When trauma, injury, or degeneration of cartilage or bone occurs, pieces of cartilage can break away 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 while stretching the legs and while walking.A dislocation of the knee caps that happens once often happens again in the future.Therefore, doctors advise doing special exercises aimed at muscle support.
When the knee joint is stretched due to injury, the knee stretches and can bend in the opposite direction.Such an injury is characterized by the appearance of a tumor and the person is also bothered by pain in the inner part of the knee.This injury is also dangerous because it leads to partial or complete rupture of the ligaments.
Chronic diseases are a special group of diseases that lead to knee pain.With rheumatoid arthritis, which affects all ligaments, including the knee, a person suffers not only from pain in the back of the knee and in front of the knee, but also from general stiffness of movement.Deformation of the knee joints occurs gradually, the patient suffers from constant abuse.With arthritis, both knees are affected at once;flare-ups and periods of calm occur periodically.Septic arthritis is the result of 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, which is commonly called degenerative arthritis, pain under the knee back and front develops due to wear and tear of the cartilage.The disease develops gradually;As a rule, knee pain first bothers when the weather changes, in the morning.Later the condition worsens.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 appears suddenly with redness, swelling and severe pain.The joints in the knees stay in this state for about 10 days, and the discomfort goes away only after a few weeks.
However, sometimes knee pain is a consequence of ordinary overexertion.People who are not used to sports training may notice that their legs below the knees and their knees hurt after running long distances, as well as when walking if the person is already very tired.To prevent this, you should avoid overloads 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 bothered by 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 makes it possible to reduce the risk of developing diseases and conditions that lead to knee pain.One of the causes of such diseases is excess weight.Indeed, in this case, the tension in the knee joints increases with every physical effort.People who tend to be overweight are more likely to develop osteoporosis, leading to cartilage problems.
It happens that a person has pain on the side of the knee when bending or in another area after he has strained the muscles too much under excessive load.This can be physical work, cycling or very intense training.In this case, it is important not only to give the body adequate loads, but also to ensure sufficient rest so that the muscles can recover.
Answering the question of why the knees are damaged, experts note insufficient muscle flexibility.If the muscles are too weak or tense, then during physical efforts and even while walking, the tension in the knee joint is not alleviated.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 to develop and strengthen the muscles.
In addition, knee pain during bending and walking develops with 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 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 overload.If a person is involved in skiing, athletics, basketball or other sports where the risk of falls, injuries and overloads increases, he must calculate his power extremely accurately.
The risk of injury also increases if the knee has been injured before.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 give your legs a rest as long as possible.You can try to relieve the pain by using topical pain medications.But if the pain does not disappear, then you should definitely consult a specialist.Knee pain should be treated if signs of serious injury or illness appear.So, you should go to the doctor if the acute pain in the knee does not disappear for several days, if there is swelling and vascular pain, if there is deformation of the knee.It is important to treat knee pain immediately if a rash and fever develop, as this is a sign of infection.
But, before starting the direct treatment of pain in the knee joint, a specialist must make a diagnosis.First, a complete physical examination and detailed questioning of the patient is performed, and special tests are used.Next, the doctor prescribes an X-ray, CT or MRI.If an infection is suspected, a blood test is required.Only by having the results of all the studies in hand, the doctor can determine how to treat a knee pain.
If your knee is injured, you should put a bandage on it.However, a regular bandage is sufficient only if the injury is not severe.If the person hurts to stand on the knee, he cannot bend and straighten it without pain, then a more serious injury can be suspected.When ligaments are damaged or sprained, special bandages or plasters are often required.
To prevent the development of a tumor during the injury, you should apply ice to the injury site.You can keep the ice for no more than 15 minutes and to prevent freezing, you must first wrap it with a cloth or towel.
Painkillers are used as anti-inflammatory therapy for knee joint pain, and sometimes a course of antibiotics 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 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 enables 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, during the treatment of knee pain, some non-surgical methods are used that allow you to get the desired effect relatively quickly.