People of all ages and different lifestyles may complain of knee joint pain when walking, although this symptom occurs more frequently in elderly people and professional athletes. Causes of knee joint pain include minor injuries and serious illness. When on the move, healthy people, as a rule, do not experience painful sensations, their appearance may be caused by daily wear of the joints, excessive physical exertion or injuries. In this case, the occurrence of discomfort and difficulty in walking can be felt during sports activities, recreational activities, housework or at work.
Knee Pain: Causes
Knee pain may occur if you have the following conditions:
- arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis);
- damage to the menisci (meniscopathy);
- arthritis (inflammation of the joints);
- arthrosis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis);
- circulatory disorders of the knee joint;
- inflammation of the tendons in the knee ('crow's feet' pouch periarthritis).
Knee joint pain with gonarthrosis
30 to 40% of knee joint pain cases are responsible for gonarthrosis. Arthrosis of the knee joint is most often diagnosed in people over 40-45 years of age. The pathological process can develop in one or both of the knee joints. At first, the intensity of pain is mild, the onset of discomfort is only seen after a long walk. As the disease progresses, there is severe pain in the knee joint, which bothers the person when walking, even for short distances.
It becomes difficult for the patient to get up from the chair, up from the hips, down and up the stairs. Knee pain does not bother you at rest at night, except in cases of knee overload the day before.
In the later stages of gonarthrosis, the pain is complemented by compression in the knee (during walking) and joint deformation. This symptomatology becomes more and more pronounced every year.
Knee joint pain with meniscopathy
Meniscopathy (injury to the menisci), along with gonarthrosis, is also a common cause of knee pain (up to 40% of cases).
Knee menisci can be injured at any age and are equally common in women and men. Damage to a knee joint is predominantly seen.
Meniscopathy can be attributed to lesions, but it can often occur in an apparently level location. A characteristic feature of knee meniscus injury, in contrast to gonarthrosis, is a rapid and often unexpected development, which is caused by an unsuccessful movement when running, walking, jumping, skiing, etc.
The injury is accompanied by a snap in the knee, a sensation of sharp pain in the knee joint that is so intense that the victim cannot move. After a slight abatement of the acute pain, which usually occurs after 10-15 minutes, the patient's ability to move is restored. However, the next day or one day, the pain syndrome intensifies again, the knee swells a lot. At this stage, the clinical picture of meniscopathy is complemented by the characteristic mark of the compressed meniscus - a piercing in the knee when walking, a "hammered nail" sensation in the knee, or a possible fracture of the knee when walking.
The duration of the acute period of the illness is, as a rule, two to three weeks, after which the patient is discharged. In the absence of adequate therapy, the disease becomes chronic. The painful sensations lessen, so any circumstances (heavy loads, squats, sudden unsuccessful movements) cause them to recur.
Meniscopathy, unlike gonarthrosis, is extremely rarely accompanied by deformation of the bones of the knee joint, which can only occur with the development of knee arthrosis associated with meniscal injury.
Arthritic knee pain
Knee pain in 5-10% of cases is associated with arthritis. This disease is characteristic of people of any age, but most often begins to develop in youth. The inflammatory process in arthritis can be found in one or both knees.
The defeat of the knee joints can be caused not only by arthrosis and meniscopathy, but also by one of the types of arthritis, which is rheumatoid, reactive, psoriatic. In addition, diseases such as gout, ankylosing spondylitis and joint rheumatism are also called arthritis.
Arthric inflammation of the knee joint is characterized by a rapid onset (within 1-3 days), which is accompanied by obvious swelling and swelling of the knee, as well as increased pain in the affected joint at night. The pain intensity in arthritis can be stronger at rest than during movement, which distinguishes the disease from arthrosis and meniscopathy, which have a similar symptom - pain in the knee joint. Anti-inflammatory treatment for arthritis can reduce pain, relieve inflammation.
Knee joint pain with coxarthrosis
The coxarthrosis (arthrosis of the hip joint) affects 3% to 7% of people who go to the doctor because of pain in the knee joint. The disease is manifested in the fact that, despite the preservation of the knee's mobility, the absence of difficulties with its painless flexion and extension, it is difficult for a patient with coxarthrosis to stretch the legs to the sides, to rotate the legs "from the hips. "
Knee joint pain with poor circulation
Vascular knee pain associated with impaired circulation accounts for 5-10% of doctor visits for knee problems.
The deterioration of blood circulation in the knee joints, accompanied by pain, is familiar to many. As a rule, these uncomfortable sensations first appear in adolescence, as the rate of vascular development during a child's active growth period is sometimes much lower than the rate of bone growth.
In case vascular pain occurs once, you must be prepared for it to appear throughout your life. However, the degree of its intensity decreases more often after 19-20 years.
Pain in vascular disorders is usually symmetric, that is, its expression in the left and right knees is the same. The occurrence of the pain syndrome is associated with a change in weather, a change in air temperature, colds and physical exertion. To treat these pains, heated ointments, massages, self-massage (vigorous knee rubbing) are used, in addition to vasodilator medications. No special treatment is required for these conditions.
Knee Pain Due to Inflammation of the Knee Tendons
Approximately 10-15% of knee pain is associated with inflammation of the knee tendons (crow's feet periarthritis). Most of the time, this pathology occurs in the female half, mainly after 40 years of age. Pain syndrome occurs when descending stairs and carrying weights. Walking calmly on a flat surface with inflammation of the knee joints is rarely accompanied by pain.
Pain caused by periarthritis does not extend to the entire knee, but is located only on the inner surface of the knees, 3-5 cm below the point of contact of the knees when they are brought together. Goose pouch periarthritis, unlike arthritis, arthrosis, and meniscopathy, is not accompanied by limited mobility of the knee joint. Knee flexion and extension are undisturbed, knee deformity and swelling are absent.
Knee pain
The main goals of the treatment of pain in the knee joint, which are defined by the clinic's clinicians, are as follows:
- eliminate swelling;
- relieve the patient of uncomfortable sensations;
- restore knee joint function;
- prevent further attacks.
To relieve pain, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics are used. The use of warming and distracting ointments as well as fortifying drugs is effective.
In the remission phase, the patient is prescribed the use of physical therapy techniques, massage and therapeutic exercises.
In the absence of effective conservative therapy, experts, taking into account all the pros and cons, are considering the convenience of surgical treatment.
In addition, there are several traditional medications that help reduce pain, but their use should first be discussed with specialists who monitor the course of treatment to eliminate pain in the knee joint. The treatment of this pathology should only be decided upon by an experienced and highly qualified physician who is familiar with the patient's research results, the individual characteristics of his body and many other important nuances.