The main purpose of the knee joint is to ensure the normal motor activity of the lower limb and to achieve a stable position of the trunk. In this case, this part of the body has the most important role - participation in the bending and extension processes of the limb.
Despite the complex structure and sufficient strength of this joint, it can be exposed to injury, thermal effects, physical overload, various complications of chronic infectious processes and, as a result, severe inflammatory processes, which are more likely to limit movement and accumulation. discharge. In order to prevent such undesirable manifestations, it is recommended to immediately contact a qualified specialist in order to prepare a thorough diagnosis and an appropriate treatment plan.
The knee is the most complex and largest joint in the human body.
Every day, a serious load is placed on the knee joint. It is responsible for the process of bending and extending the lower limb, supports the person's weight and ensures a stable position. The knee is what allows us to walk, jump, run, squat and turn.
The ability to perform these operations is provided by the following components:
- Tendons;
- bones;
- Cartilage;
- Ligaments and muscles.
This explains why pain in the knee joint can occur in any age group. We can talk about effective treatment and complete recovery only after the cause of the disease has been discovered.
Reasons why the knee hurts
So the knee joint has an important role in the human body: it is responsible for the motor activity of the leg, keeps the body in a stable position and supports the person's weight. In addition, the knee has a complex structure represented by several interconnected elements.
If someone has knee pain and is trying to figure out what to do, the first thing to do is to find out what is causing the discomfort. As a general rule, the causes of the disease are the same in all situations.
The risk factors are almost always the same: musculofascial dysfunction. This leads to significant stress, which causes the cartilage to compress and die. As a result, a person begins to experience discomfort, indicating damage to the knee joint, and begins to look for a way to eliminate the pathological process.
Injury
If you don't know what to do if your knee hurts, pay attention - the reasons may be hidden in damage to the joint. This is the part of the body that gets injured more often than others. As a result, joint dysfunction occurs, accompanied by pain.
Such discomfort can be caused by damage to the ligaments. Representatives of professional sports activities are most often susceptible to injuries. Pain and ligament problems can also occur in people who do not follow the running technique. Often, knee injuries occur as a result of being hit by a ball - during a football game.
It should be noted that such injuries occur frequently. Moreover, the discomfort can occur not only during an exacerbation, but also after it.
In the event of a fracture, several bones can be destroyed at the same time. More often than others, it occurs in elderly patients and people susceptible to degenerative pathologies.
In case of severe joint damage, surgery, physiotherapy procedures and exercise therapy are performed.
Bursitis
The main purpose of the joint capsule is to ensure easy sliding of the ligaments and to improve the functioning of the knee joint itself. Chronic injuries and unexpected blows can cause damage and inflammation.
The presence of bursitis is indicated by the following signs: swelling, pain, limitation of motor activity, increased temperature in the knee joint.
If your knee hurts a lot, in order to understand what to do and how to treat this disease, you must first make a thorough diagnosis. Only an individual approach to the problem makes it possible to draw up an appropriate treatment plan and select effective drugs with an anti-inflammatory effect. In addition, you must adhere to the system of rest of the knee joint.
In advanced forms of bursitis, more serious measures are resorted to - surgical intervention and special injections are performed.
Dislocations
We are talking about the displacement of the patella from its normal position, which is accompanied by pain of increased intensity.
In this case, only an experienced specialist can answer the question of what to do if there is pain under the knee - after a thorough diagnosis and examination.
X-rays are taken to identify fractures and create an appropriate treatment plan. In advanced cases, surgical intervention is performed.
Displacement of the knee joint can often cause pain. This is a fairly serious injury that occurs after a strong blow.
Degenerative disorders
Osteoarthritis is one of the common pathologies associated with degenerative changes in tissues. In this case, the size of the cartilage decreases, which is associated with damage to the motor activity of the joint and pain. Usually, such pathological processes are caused by age-related changes in the body, which occur in people aged 55-65.
Despite the irreversibility of degenerative changes, there are treatments that can cope with the discomfort and improve the quality of life. In advanced forms of the disease, the implant is installed surgically.
Autoimmune disease
We are talking about inflammatory processes affecting the joints. They are characterized by a malfunction of the immune system, as a result of which it begins to perceive and destroy its own tissues as foreign.
This process is accompanied by the following undesirable manifestations: swelling, pain and degenerative changes in the joints, erosive changes in bone tissue.
Taking into account the clinical picture, the specialist will tell you exactly what to do if your knee joint hurts. In general, the patient is recommended to take the following drugs:
- Anti-inflammatory drugs;
- Steroid hormones;
- Antirheumatic drugs and biological agents;
- Pain relievers and others.
Salt deposits in the joints
It is a metabolic disease that involves the deposition of uric acid salts in the tissues of the body. The main symptoms of gout are severe swelling, limited physical activity and severe pain. In order to break down urate crystals, special drugs are prescribed, as well as anti-inflammatory drugs.
Infectious processes
Even a minor scratch in the knee area can contribute to the spread of the infectious process to nearby tissues and organs, including the joint area.
For people with a weakened immune system, this poses a real threat to the body. In other words, any damage to the skin can worsen the condition of such a patient.
What not to do if your knee hurts?
Regardless of the cause of your knee pain, here are some things you shouldn't do to avoid making the condition worse:
- Avoid knee injury;
- Avoid foods that promote weight gain (fried and fatty foods, sweets, high-salt foods, potatoes, sweet carbonated drinks, junk food);
- Avoid excessive physical activity related to sports;
- If your knee hurts and you do not know what to do with such discomfort, as the reviews indicate, it is better to give up addiction (excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and smoking);
- Avoid wearing tight shoes, avoid high heels;
- Reduce the likelihood of stressful situations;
- Ensure healthy, full sleep;
- Avoid staying in one position for long periods of time.
In which cases is it necessary to consult a doctor?
No medical intervention is required if the knee pain is caused by minor skin damage, minor injury or deformation of the joint. In such situations, self-treatment is allowed.
In case of more serious processes, you should urgently consult a specialist. First of all, this is due to the likelihood of damage to the joint capsule, which can facilitate the penetration of pathogenic bacteria into the body.
If the consequences of the injury are not eliminated in time, the functionality of the joint may be lost. It is necessary to consult a doctor in the following situations:
- Your knee hurts a lot and you have no information about what to do, what to do;
- The pain syndrome of increased intensity does not go away for several days;
- Swelling, redness and fever appear in the joint area;
- An increase in body temperature;
- Decreased motor activity, bruises.
Experienced specialists make a thorough diagnosis of the condition of the knee joint, prepare a detailed treatment plan, and select the most effective treatment even in the case of the most advanced pathologies.
Treatment of knee pain
People often do not know exactly what to do when their knee joint hurts and try to cope with the discomfort on their own. Unfortunately, the uncontrolled use of drugs and the use of special ointments can give the opposite result.
An integrated approach is needed for rapid pain relief. In this context, not only medicines are used, but also physiotherapy procedures and special orthopedic devices. These include knee braces and braces, which help prevent the likelihood of relapses and provide a faster recovery period.
Use of medicines
To relieve pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroid hormones, vasodilators and chondroprotectors are prescribed. Specialists are extremely careful in prescribing painkillers, as they do not allow determining the real state of the knee joint. Then we will talk in more detail about the drugs used:
- NSAIDs.Since the inflammatory process and the elimination of pain are the most important tasks for discomfort in the knee area, doctors primarily recommend the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. For this purpose, special tablets and ointments are used. If the pain hurts, patients are given an intramuscular injection. If you have mild knee pain, in which case, when you ask, "What should I do? ", any doctor advises you to use an ointment. Often, when the knee joint is injured, products containing glycosaminoglycans are used. But to eliminate swelling, a poultice made with dimethyl sulfoxide is used;
- Chondroprotectors.Regardless of whether your knee hurts after running or a long walk, or against the background of other pathologies, only an experienced doctor can advise what exactly needs to be done. However, for pain relief, the general recommendation for all patients is to take medicines containing chondroitin and glucosamine. Thanks to their use, the restoration process of cartilage tissue can be accelerated, oxidative stress can be prevented and the growth of healthy cartilage cells can be ensured. In addition, chondroprotectors contribute to a faster rehabilitation period after an injury, minimize the likelihood of serious consequences and cause almost no side effects. At the same time, experts recommend taking complexes with a high mineral and vitamin content;
- Antispasmodics and vasodilators.They contribute to the improvement of tissue supply, as well as the restoration of connective tissue and the elimination of swelling. In the presence of chronic pathological processes, for example, if the knee hurts for a whole year, the discomfort returns and you do not know what to do, you need to take additional antibacterial therapy and immunobiological drugs.
Physiotherapy procedures
If you are wondering what to do if your knee hurts when you walk, or if the discomfort is chronic, any experienced professional will recommend physical therapy. It can be used to increase the efficiency of the use of medicines and to ensure that the medicines are delivered to the deeper layers under the skin.
Physiotherapy procedures improve blood flow, eliminate pain and reduce the source of inflammation, as well as normalize motor activity and ensure the removal of purulent exudate.
Even if your child's knee hurts and you're trying to figure out what to do, the following physical therapy options will be most effective:
- The effect of the magnetic field on the body;
- Laser therapy;
- Exposure to electric current combined with the administration of drugs;
- UHF;
- Application of galvanic electric current;
- Use of therapeutic mud;
- Therapeutic effects of ultrasound;
- Massage treatments;
- Paraffin therapy;
- Amplipulse therapy;
- Treatment with medicinal leeches;
- Acupuncture;
- Cold treatment;
- Diadynamic therapy and other similar procedures.
The duration of a physiotherapy course usually reaches 7-10 procedures. However, consultation with a specialist is a prerequisite for the implementation of treatment measures.
UVT for knee pain
The UVT method is widely used in the elimination of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. It is based on short-term exposure of the affected joint to low-frequency acoustic waves.
During shock wave therapy, the strong pain-relieving effect is achieved by the following processes:
- Improved blood flow;
- Formation of new blood vessels;
- Improved metabolism.
It should be noted that as a result of the shock waves, a decrease in fibrotic processes can be observed in the tissues inside the knee joint.
The highest efficiency is achieved with the UVT method for the deposition of strands of calcium phosphate crystals. The technique is characterized by increased safety and practically no side effects.
UVT specialists clearly determine the number and duration of treatments, as well as give valuable recommendations regarding the implementation of other restorative procedures.
The need to perform the puncture
In case of significant swelling, specialists remove the purulent content that limits the normal function and supply of the joint. In order to drain the mucus, a needle is injected under the influence of anesthetics.
If the desired result cannot be achieved during the use of physiotherapy procedures and drugs, the doctor injects hyaluronic acid into the knee joint or performs a periarticular anesthetic block. When purulent inflammatory processes are detected, drug treatment is combined with washing the knee joint with a medicinal solution (washing).
Surgical intervention for pain in the knee area is performed in rare cases, most often in advanced situations.
Exercise therapy for knee pain
Often, when knee pain is detected, experts recommend performing therapeutic exercises. By regularly performing simple exercises, the patient can quickly restore the motor activity of the joint, relieve pain and provide optimal load on this part of the body. These beneficial effects are achieved by improving muscle tone. You can achieve the desired result after 8-10 sessions. It is important to avoid any sudden movements during physical therapy.
The following exercises are suitable for performing at home:
- The patient assumes a "supine" position and stretches his legs forward. Then he performs alternating flexion and extension of the fingers of the lower limbs;
- In the "supine" position, you need to straighten your legs. After that, the patient turns his legs in different directions and tries to bring them closer to the floor;
- In a supine position and with extended legs, the patient should try to stretch the toes towards the knee joint;
- The patient assumes a "supine" position. Then he places both hands under the knee and tries to slowly bend the limb. In this case, the knee should be smoothly raised towards the chest;
- In the "lying down" position, you have to perform movements similar to cycling with your legs.
Preventive measures
Questions like, "What to do if the nerve in the knee hurts? " or "What measures should be taken if your knees hurt after a long walk? ", lose their significance if you follow simple preventive measures. These include:
- The elimination of infectious processes and conditions after a knee injury must be carried out under the supervision of a professional;
- Elimination of pathological processes of a chronic or hereditary nature (gout, diabetes, tonsillitis) is mandatory;
- Maintain a normal body weight by avoiding excessively sweet, salty and fatty foods, as well as alcoholic beverages;
- Engage in moderate exercise;
- Take chondroprotectors once a year and have an examination by a specialist;
- Follow the rules of healthy sleep;
- Drink about 2-3 liters of still water per day;
- Eliminate the possibility of hypothermia;
- Wear only comfortable shoes and clothes;
- Avoid staying in one position for long periods of time.