What Causes Knee Pain?
First and foremost, we need to understand that knee pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions. It’s common because the knee joint is particularly vulnerable to damage. However, the function is in taking full body weight and force when running or jumping.
However, when a knee becomes injured or diseased, the patient can experience severe pain. Unfortunately, it’s common for this to limit mobility. Knee pain can originate from any of the bones compromising the knee joint (femur, tibia, and fibula), the kneecap (patella), or the meniscus (ligaments and cartilage of the knee).
When determining the cause of knee pain, it is usually comprised of three types, such as:
- Injury: a broken bone or fracture, torn ligament, or meniscus tear.
- Medical Conditions: arthritis or infections.
- Overuse: osteoarthritis, patellar syndromes, tendinitis, and bursitis.
Common Knee Pain Diagnoses
Knee Bursitis is the inflammation of small fluid-filled sacs (bursa). These sacs are located near your knee joint. And they serve as cushion pressure points between bones, tendons, muscles, and skin.
Osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common form of arthritis. When osteoarthritis occurs, cartilage begins to break down. Therefore, causing damage.
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is described as pain in the front of the knee and around the patella. Typically, this type of injury is due to overuse or issues with kneecap alignment.
Meniscus tears occur during an activity, which causes your knee to forcefully rotate or twist.
Knee dislocations occur when the thighbone position gets bumped out of place. And the knee ligaments begin to tear.
When Pain Becomes a Problem
When pain arises (especially in the joints,) the first step is to rest unless you know what the pain is a result of. However, sometimes your knee may not respond to inactivity, and therefore it’s recommended to visit a doctor. Signs or symptoms are indicators that you need a doctor evaluation, such as:
- Swelling
- Deformity
- Pain
- Stiffness
- Inability to bend
- Unable to walk (or discomfort)
It’s good to know that even light injuries can lead to extreme complications if not treated or healed correctly.
Knee Pain Treatment
The type of treatment determined by your orthopedic specialist will depend upon the severity and cause of your pain. When visiting any of our offices in Broward and Palm Beach to treat your knee pain, the first approach is always a non-invasive option. Your knee specialist may prescribe medications to help with the inflammation and pain in the case of conditions such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis.
Physical therapy may also be recommended to strengthen the muscles around the knee joint. Therefore, focusing on the quadriceps and/or hamstrings as well as a routine to improve balance. Your doctor may also recommend knee injections that go directly into the knee joint. The medications injected usually contain corticosteroids (a potent anti-inflammatory), hyaluronic acid (to lubricate the knee joint and to improve overall mobility.) And/or platelet-rich-plasma or PRP (contains different growth factors that help to reduce inflammation and to promote natural healing.)
If moderate treatment doesn’t yield results and/or the condition or knee injury is too severe, you may require knee surgery. Regarding knee surgery, the options available nowadays vary from minimally invasive knee surgery to a total surgical joint reconstruction. Among the knee surgical options, the most common is knee arthroscopy, partial knee replacement, total knee joint replacement.