Knee pain occurs in patients of all ages and lifestyles. Such pain is observed during physical activity for a number of reasons: from injury or bruising to significant diseases and inflammations. Ignoring it can lead to serious consequences. A common question is what to do if you are in pain? At the first painful sensation, it is recommended to consult a doctor to prevent hospitalization; treatment should only be carried out by a doctor.
The first manifestation of knee pain is usually caused by heavy loads, joint wear and tear. The disease is felt not only during excessive stress, but also at rest, during rest and during daily activities. In this article we will consider why the knee hurts, the main methods of diagnosis and treatment.
What is the knee joint?
The knee joint of our body carries a great load and body weight; it is responsible for most injuries and stress during falls, sports and heavy lifting. The knee joint itself is one of the largest in our body.
The knee joint includes:
- the node itself;
- muscle;
- knee cap;
- meniscus;
- joint capsule;
- the ends of the femur and tibia,
- ship,
- nerves,
- ligaments
Each of these components is susceptible to damage, although pain is not always felt immediately. For example, with a dislocated or torn meniscus and a torn anterior cruciate ligament, mobility will be reduced and damage to blood vessels will cause a hematoma. Infection can begin in the joint capsule of the knee after infectious diseases. If the patient has a neurological disease, knee pain can be felt in the knee. In addition, it can radiate to the joints with pain in the femur, tibia and muscles.
Causes of joint pain
The nature of pain can be divided into two groups: acute and chronic. Acute pain is characterized by rapidly developing and progressive pathology. Chronic diseases, on the other hand, are quite slow and require lifelong treatment. The causes of such pain vary and the treatment, accordingly, also.
Let's look at the main causes of pain.
Pain due to injuries
The cause of acute pain are injuries and various traumatic actions. You can get hurt due to a bad fall, playing sports or uncomfortable shoes. The pain starts to be felt a few days after the injury. Usually the knee is slightly swollen and victims experience quite tolerable pain. Depending on the severity of the injury, scratches may be present on the surface of the skin. In addition, obesity, abuse of bad habits and peculiarities of the profession and work increase the risk of injury.
Types of injuries:
- Bruise on the knee.Frequent and mild injuries. Swelling and redness appear in the knee area and the temperature of the surface increases. Even a minor injury to the knee can cause the destruction of joint tissue cells.
- Sprains.Sometimes a muscle, ligament or tendon sprain goes unnoticed and causes shooting and sharp pains in the knee, and the joint itself becomes unstable when stepping on the foot.
- Ligament rupture.It can appear due to the strong twisting of the leg in an unnatural direction and causes severe pain, swelling and swelling.
- Meniscus tear.It appears as a result of a heavy load, hitting the knee, twisting the leg and due to its unnatural position. A torn meniscus causes your feet to stop moving normally. It often occurs in athletes and is associated with swelling, bleeding and inability to bend the leg. There is a rule about sports: the knee may hurt, but it should be gone the next morning after training. If the disease does not go away, you should consult a doctor.
- Fracture of the joint.Because of the fracture, the soft tissues are also damaged, causing severe pain and deformity of the knee.
Unpleasant sensations in the knee are not always characterized by a disease in this department. Sometimes a herniated disc can cause knee pain at night. Discomfort can also occur if the knee joint is used too little and the associated muscles lose tone.
Asymmetry of the sacrum and pelvic bones can also provoke the appearance of pain in the knee joint. It occurs as a result of a change in the length of the lower extremities, which may be a consequence of congenital features or curvature of the pelvis, including due to scoliosis.
Knee diseases
Any inflammation or damage to the structure of the knee causes discomfort, especially when moving. And the infection is not always localized to the knee itself. With general joint diseases, the whole body is affected and the knees are more damaged due to great stress. Also, with injuries or diseases of the spine, or a fracture of the neck of the femur, pain in the knee joint may appear. Let's see some of them:
- Arthritisis an inflammatory process that develops after trauma from an infection or metabolic problems. If left untreated, the cartilage of the knee joint continues to wear down progressively, leading to increased pain.
- Rheumatoid arthritis– an autoimmune disease in which the body's defense cells negatively affect tissues. The joint loses mobility, swelling appears, pain is constantly present and manifests itself in an increased feeling of stiffness.
- Rheumatism- as a rule, teenagers are susceptible to it, as well as people who have recently had streptococcal disease. It is characterized by alternating unpleasant sensations.
- Gonarthrosis (arthrosis).It develops in one or both knees. This disease is characterized by the appearance of degenerative-dystrophic processes with the growth of connective and bone tissue that hinders movement. At the beginning of the disease, discomfort begins to be felt only after a long walk, but as the disease progresses, pain begins to appear even after walking short distances. It is difficult to get up from a chair, sit down or climb stairs. Pain doesn't bother you just at rest. Destruction or thinning of the shock-absorbing cartilage tissue occurs. With the development of gonarthrosis, a crack in the knee and deformation of the joint is observed.
- Reactive arthritis– starts a few days after an intestinal infection. Severe pain combined with swelling and redness of the skin over the right or left knee usually indicates reactive arthritis.
- bursitis– inflammation of the joint capsule, which leads to severe pain and discomfort during movement.
- Periarthritis– inflammation of the tendons, muscles and ligaments surrounding the knee joint. Painful sensations appear with increased load on the bent leg.
- Chondropathy– destruction of the cartilage that surrounds the knee joint and protects against friction and impact.
- Neoplasms– when they appear, the vessels are compressed, and the joint capsule is deformed, causing pain and limiting mobility.
- Osteoporosis- the tissues weaken, become more fragile, the calcium content in the bones decreases gradually.
- Osteomyelitis- inflammation of the bone tissue appears in the affected area, accompanied by swelling, temperature and severe acute pain.
- Osteoarthritis– inflammation in the joint capsule is gradually localized in the heads of the bones. Cartilage wears away and thins, causing the heads of the bones to slide less easily when the limb is moved. Excruciating pain appears.
- Osteoarthritis– a disease that affects all components of the joint.
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome- often appears in young patients. During physical activity, the knee cap moves forward. This happens due to the wrong position of the foot, excessive and heavy loads with unprepared muscles.
- Osgood-Schlatter disease- knee pain when bending, climbing stairs, squatting.
- Nerve damage and nerve tissue disorders.Shooting pains, numbness and tingling in the lower limb and loss of mobility occur. A pinched nerve appears due to inflammation, neoplasms or previous injuries. Or neuritis develops - inflammation of the nerve in one or more areas. Severe pain is felt, mobility and sensitivity are reduced, and the limb contracts involuntarily.
- Impaired blood supply.
- Other various infectious diseases.The complications that arise contribute to the appearance of weakness and pain.
In addition to the listed diseases, others may also contribute to the appearance of pain: synovitis, ligamentitis, tendinitis, gout, neuropathy, cyst and others.
Thus, knee pain is always a sign of a pathological process that affects the cartilage, bone or soft tissue structures of the knee itself, or damage to the nerve that innervates it.
Diagnosis of knee pain
To start treatment, it is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis by a doctor in the clinic using diagnostic measures.
The patient requests an appointment with an osteopath, orthopedic traumatologist, surgeon or rheumatologist. If necessary, after examination and examination, the patient can be sent to another specialist.
At the appointment, the doctor collects the anamnesis - complaints, symptoms and problems that concern the patient, infections and chronic diseases. After that, the doctor can palpate the area of concern and ask the patient to perform various movements and tests. For example, bend and straighten your knee. This will provide initial information about the extent of the disease.
To obtain additional information and determine an accurate diagnosis, the patient is sent for one or more examinations:
- radiography (x-rays);
- ultrasound examination (ultrasound);
- magnetic resonance therapy (MRI);
- computed tomography (CT);
- arthroscopy (a special instrument, an endoscope, is inserted into the joint);
- puncture for collecting synovial fluid;
- laboratory tests (general and biochemical blood tests, serological analysis).
To diagnose nerve diseases, MRI and CT are used, depending on the contraindications. Some diagnoses require more specific tests.
To relieve knee pain, you can visit an osteopath, physiotherapist, chiropractor or massage therapist. An osteopath will help restore the normal position of the pelvic bones and internal organs, which has a positive effect on their functioning, improves the nutrition of all spinal structures by activating blood circulation, and improves posture by eliminating spinal deformitiesspinal.
Treatment of knee pain
It is impossible to choose the best medicine for knee pain on your own. This is due to the fact that it is necessary to first discover the true cause of the symptoms and determine the type of pathological disorders in the body.
Treatment of the knee joint is carried out comprehensively. This set of measures includes:
- medicinal (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or chondroprotectors - their effectiveness lies in maintaining moisture in cartilage cells, inhibiting enzymatic action and stopping the degenerative process);
- preparations, solutions for external use;
- osteopathy;
- performing special exercises and gymnastics, physical therapy;
- physiotherapeutic techniques;
- massages;
- Vitamin complexes are drugs indicated to improve metabolic processes in the body.
Various types of physiotherapy treatments can be used to treat musculoskeletal disorders that cause knee pain.
Exercise therapy classes are simple and accessible to people of any age, as an individually created program ensures the creation of a precisely dosed load. For complex therapy, local sedatives are also prescribed, for example, ointment with dimethyl sulfoxide (there are contraindications: severe diseases of the kidneys, liver, cardiovascular system, pregnancy, breastfeeding) or an anti-inflammatory gel - it is immediately absorbed into the skin, penetratesin its deep layers, relieves swelling and pain.
Pain can also be eliminated using high-frequency techniques: the morphological changes remain, but the pain decreases and becomes easier. Also, special orthoses are often prescribed - bandages, knee pads, tapes, tapes, casts and other similar devices. This allows you to transfer the load from the knee and unload it, reduce the risk of re-injury and promote rapid rehabilitation. Plasmolifting is rarely used - injections of plasma taken from the patient's own blood directly into the affected knee joint or into the soft tissue around it.
Sometimes a bone realignment procedure or surgery is performed (for example, if bone fragments need to be removed).
The doctor also prescribes painkillers that do not have a negative effect on the articular cartilage.
Pay attention to your diet - a balanced diet can prevent inflammation.
If you have knee problems, you should not self-medicate and follow various procedures to avoid surgical intervention (operation) and possible complications. This attitude can only worsen the situation and more serious and complex therapy will be required. Therefore, it is important to consult a doctor who will make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe competent treatment, procedures and medications that will give effect. Take care of yourself and your health!