Of all the joints in the human body, knee pain is the most common complaint of humans. The knee joint carries a complex, heavy load during different types of physical activities, so there can be many causes for pain. Knee pains, even if they occasionally occur and go away on their own, cannot be ignored.
Knee pain, no matter how intense, significantly impairs quality of life. It’s no pleasure to have your favorite outdoor activities, efficiency is reduced, and even a simple shopping experience is a hassle.
In our article, we look at what to do if your knee joints hurt, how to treat them, and whether it is possible to get rid of knee discomfort forever - the last question is especially important for older people who consider sedentary movement and joint pain syndrome is an essentialcompanion.
Pain diagnostics
- The nature of the pain needs to be clarified. The pain can be sharp, burning, stabbing, aching.
- Eliminate the conditions under which the pain appears - sudden, sharp pain at night, after exercise, while walking, in the morning.
- Were there any other signs of joint damage: swelling, hyperaemia (redness), joint deformity, cracking, limited mobility.
- Check for a history of infection, stress, leg injury, or increased physical activity.
- Instrumental examination should be performed in a medical and preventive institution (LPU) - blood test, X-ray diagnostics, analysis of joint fluid.
Causes of knee pain
There are more than 200 joint pathologies, most of which are not just accompanied by pain. Only the syndrome and tests can determine what is causing the knee pain.
Traumatic pathology
In traumatic pathologies, knee pain occurs with joint injuries (bumps, falls, prolonged tension in the joints - typical of athletes) or general ailments of the body.
Consider the main traumatic pathologies.
Knee fracture
Fracture or displacement of the patella, fracture of the condyle of the femur and / or tibia. When he kneels from a height, in the event of a car accident, etc.
The victim feels sharp, strong pain at the moment of the collision, over time the pain does not go away, it may weaken a little, but it intensifies with pressure or walking.
The joint swells, deforms, fills with blood (hemarthrosis), the knee does not bend, the patella becomes abnormally mobile.
Knee displaced
It is characterized by the relative displacement of the bones of the joint. The dislocation of the knee joint is of varying complexity (complete, incomplete, complicated by rupture of soft tissues, etc. ).
Usual dislocation occurs due to knee injury or congenital anomaly: weakness or excessive elasticity of the ligaments, flat sliding pathways of the femur, too high patellar position.
Dislocation of the knee joint is a fairly serious injury and if not taken care of in time can lead to all serious complications. Dislocation of the knee joint is the most painful of all types, although rare.
Serious injuries, such as dislocations, should be treated in health care settings and should not be treated alone. This is what traumatologists do.
Rupture of sprains, tendons, ligaments
Depending on the degree of damage (partial rupture of some fibers, incomplete rupture, complete rupture), symptoms occur: cracking and clicking during movement, bruising at the site of rupture, restriction of joint flexion, knee swelling, joint mobility. (with complete breakage of the strips). The pain is sharp and severe, but in the case of minor injuries, it may not appear immediately but after a while.
Bursitis
Inflammation of the periarticular bursa due to trauma, infections, metabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases. It is common in athletes and people who are overweight. The knee swells, the pains vary in intensity but intensify with effort and at night.
Meniscus rupture
This may be due to trauma or degenerative changes in the cartilage tissue. Acute trauma is characterized by severe pain, swelling, and limited mobility. Symptoms of degenerative lesions are mild.
Joint diseases
Knee pain can be a symptom of a medical condition.
We've listed itthe most common diseases associated with knee pain syndrome:
Rheumatism
Diagnosis is much rarer than in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is due on the one hand to the discovery of penicillin (and then to the production of other antibiotics) and on the other hand to the low diagnostic skills in the past, when almost all joint diseases have been attributed to rheumatism.
A characteristic symptom of rheumatism is alternating joint pain: one joint is inflamed first and then the other. For example, knee pain is reduced but occurs in another large joint (elbow, hip).
Rheumatism is more common in children and adolescents and develops after upper respiratory tract streptococcal infection.
Note: Advanced rheumatism can lead to damage to the heart (rheumatic heart disease) or the nervous system (chorea).
Reactive arthritis
It is more common in people of reproductive age because arthritis is most often caused by pathogenic microbes that enter the human body through sexual contact.
Reactive arthritis is much less commonly caused by infections of the gastrointestinal tract or nasopharyngeal infectious inflammations (sore throat, influenza). 1-4 weeks after the illness, the patient notices that his legs have started to ache at night.
Both large joints (knees, ankles) and small ones (aching or sore big toe) can become inflamed and painful. Knee pain is accompanied by swelling and / or redness.
Sometimes the symptoms include conjunctivitis (inflammation and pain in the eyes), keratoderma (thickening of the skin on the soles of the feet).
Reiter's syndrome
Urethritis (frequent, painful urination) and intestinal disorders are associated with symptoms of common reactive arthritis.
Osteoarthritis
Disease in the elderly. He regularly hurts his knees at night "because of the weather. "Strain on the joint (long gait) increases pain, swelling and impairs joint mobility.
After resting and warming up, the pain disappears.
Baker's cyst
Swelling of the back of the knee, causing a feeling of contraction, difficulty moving.
Osteochondritis dissecans
The cartilage covering the bone comes off, the sore knee hurts, the fragment completely peels off, the movement of the joint is impeded.
Osgood-Schlatter disease
They are more often diagnosed in adolescence. Knee pains increase up and down the stairs when squatting.
Rheumatoid arthritis
An autoimmune disease whose mechanism is unclear. It is noticeable that the initial conditions are a list of the usual loads on the immune system: from stress and infection to hypothermia. Immune bodies that attack your own cells cause inflammation in the joints, especially the joints.
As a result of the attack of immune cells, the membrane swells, increases in volume, and then begins to grow into nearby cartilage and bone tissue. The result of this process is pain in the knee joints, which becomes unbearable in the second half of the night.
The disease lasts for years, the treatment consists of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroid hormones, gold preparations, immunosuppressants, antimalarials.
It is caused by improper metabolism. "Purinos" products (meat, smoked meat, pickles) due to alcohol abuse.
The uric acid produced in the blood is deposited in the joints in the form of sodium urate crystals. Increasing "deposits" gradually affect joint mobility, severe pain attacks occur, and the interval between seizures gradually decreases.
Vascular pain in the knee is characterized by a pulling sensation along the vein, and patients sometimes experience an acute tingling sensation.
Only a doctor can tell you after a detailed examination why your knee hurts if there was no obvious injury. It is not wise to rub the knee joint with an agent that "helped the neighbor. "After all, what helps a joint injury to heal can worsen the autoimmune mechanism of the disease.
Treatment of knee pain
The doctor will choose the treatment regimen depending on the diagnosis.
Therapeutic measures are aimed at combating:
- the cause of the disease - infection, tumor, abnormal metabolic processes, failure of the immune system.
- with pain syndrome - symptomatic treatment includes analgesics, intra-articular blockades.
- degenerative processes - medications with chondroprotectors help restore cartilage tissue in the joint.
If necessary, use surgery, endoprostheses, physiotherapy and therapeutic exercises for the joints.
Analgesic products
Checklist for people with knee pain - what to do to alleviate the condition.
| The cause of pain | What to do |
|---|---|
| The pain clearly stems from the trauma | Ensure immobility of joints and limbs, icy or cold compress on the knee. Immediate medical attention. |
| Pain in arthritis (reactive, rheumatic, etc. ) | Specific treatment with antimicrobials and anti-inflammatory drugs should only be prescribed by a doctor. You can apply a warming compress and bee venom-based ointments for nocturnal pain. |
| Pain in arthrosis (post-traumatic, age-related, overweight people) after training or at night | Any warming compress with herbal tincture, rubbing with ointments with chondroprotectors. |
Severe joint pain is relieved with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
But most patients (overweight people, age-related joint lesions) shouldn’t have to think about what to do with the pain if they adhere to the preventive minimum:
- Adequate nutrition with adequate amounts of calcium, vitamins, the fight against obesity;
- Reducing the heavy strain on the joint until the work is changed if the whole day is "standing on its feet";
- Systematic physiotherapy to strengthen muscles and ligaments - a good muscle ligament reduces the load on the bones;
Joint diseases can develop over the years and lead to a significant deterioration in quality of life. A timely visit to the doctor and an arsenal of folk remedies will help keep the joy of movement until old age.
Joint treatment at home - folk recipes
The courses use homemade ointments and compress recipes based on natural ingredients - the only way to achieve lasting results.
7 simple folk remedies for knee pain:
- Cabbage leaves. Cuts are made on the fresh leaf to make the juice come out. Put a spoonful of honey in the middle and place it on your knees with this "compression". The sheet is fixed with a bandage. Wear a bandage all day or perform the procedure at night. The leaves of burdock and plantain are used in a similar way.
- Propolis tincture for arthritis. If the knees are "twisted" at night (the cause of the dull pain can vary from the weather to the load on the feet), apply the mixture to the joint and rub into the skin until it dries. If the knee is very sore, make a full compress: apply soft tissue with tincture and apply to the joint, cover with film and wrap with a scarf. The device is also used to warm the joint when a sore knee has cooled. Similarly tinctures from natural stimulants are used: aloe, Kalanchoe, mummy, bee dead.
Important:biologically active substances should not be used if the disease is autoimmune in nature. Stimulants activate the immune system and aggravate the disease.
- Gelatin compression. A piece of gauze soaked in hot water is squeezed, pouring 1 teaspoon into the middle. gelatin, applied to the joint, wrapped and wrapped in food foil. Repeat the procedure for 14 days at night. The product promotes the nutrition of joints and the regeneration of cartilage.
- A mustard compress helps if your knee is in severe pain. Take equal proportions of honey and dry mustard, add warm water and salt until a bag is obtained. Lubricate your knees with a mixture, lay it down with a cloth and a cloth with a bandage. Exposure time 20-40 minutes, Remove if there is a strong burning sensation. For pain, mustard compresses are used every other day.
- In order to prevent pain in the legs, a medicine for oral administration is prepared: the gelatin is mixed in 0. 5 liters of water in the evening, heated in the morning until completely dissolved. The mixture should be taken in a ¼-1/2 cup before meals and drunk for a month.
- The internal goat fat (100 g) is mixed with "Zvezdochka" balm (1 jar) and the resulting ointment is rubbed into the venous and joint pains of the knee.
- Kefir mask. 0, 5 l kefires shortbread, add 1 tsp. soda. The mixture is adhered to for 6 hours. The liquid is then filtered, moistened with gauze, and compressed overnight for several days until the pain disappears.
It is advisable to use home treatment with folk remedies on a regular basis, combined with traditional medicine and modern methods. Do not wait until the disease has solidified and appeared with severe pain, deformity of the joint. Early doctor visits speed up recovery, while the chronic form of the disease is more difficult to cure.
Note:Treatment with folk remedies is allowed only with the approval of a doctor, after examination and diagnosis.