People of all ages and different lifestyles can complain of pain in the knee joint when walking, although most often these symptoms occur in older and professional athletes. Causes of pain in the knee joint include minor injuries and serious illness. While moving, healthy people, as a rule, do not experience painful sensations; their appearance can be due to daily joint wear and tear, excessive physical activity or injury. In this case, the occurrence of discomfort and mobility disorders can be felt during sports activities, recreation, performing household chores or work tasks.
Knee pain: causes
Knee pain can 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 knee tendon (periarthritis of the "crow’s foot" bag).
Pain in the knee joint with gonarthrosis
From 30 to 40% of cases of pain in the knee joint is due to gonarthrosis. Arthrosis of the knee joint is most often diagnosed in people over 40-45 years of age. Pathological processes can develop in one or both knee joints. At first, the intensity of the pain is mild, the onset of discomfort can only be seen after a long walk. As the disease progresses, severe pain in the knee joint is observed, which bothers a person when walking, even short distances.
It becomes difficult for the patient to get up from the chair, get up from his lap, go down and up the stairs. A sore knee does not bother him at rest, at night, unless there has been an excessive load on the knee the day before.
In the later stages of gonarthrosis, the pain is accompanied by cramps in the knee (while walking) and deformation of the joints. This symptomatology is becoming more pronounced every year.
Pain in the knee joint with meniscopathy
Meniscopathy (damage to the menisci), along with gonarthrosis, is also a common cause of knee pain (up to 40% of cases).
Knee menisci can be damaged at any age, and the same is true in women and men. Damage to one knee joint is often observed.
Meniscopathy can be associated with injury, but it often occurs in places that appear flat. A special feature of knee meniscus injury, in contrast to gonarthrosis, is its rapid and relatively unexpected development, which is provoked by unsuccessful movements when running, walking, jumping, skiing, etc.
The injury was accompanied by cramps in the knee, a sensation of acute pain in the knee joint, the intensity of which was so high that the victim could not move. After the weakening of the acute pain, which usually occurs after 10-15 minutes, the patient's ability to move is restored. However, the next day or within a day, the pain syndrome worsens, the knee swells profusely. At this stage, the clinical picture of meniscopathy is complemented by the typical features of a pinched meniscus - a piercing in the knee while walking, a feeling of "hammered nails" in the knee, or the possibility of a knee fracture while walking.
The duration of the acute period of the disease is, as a rule, from two to three weeks, after which the patient feels relieved. If there is no proper therapy, the disease becomes chronic. The painful sensation subsides, then any condition (strong load, squatting, unsuccessful sudden movements) provokes its recurrence.
Meniscopathy, unlike gonarthrosis, is very rarely accompanied by deformity of the bone of the knee joint, which can only occur with the development of knee arthrosis associated with damage to the meniscus.
Knee pain with arthritis
Knee pain in 5-10% of cases is associated with arthritis. The disease is characteristic of people of all ages, but often it begins to develop at a young age. The inflammatory process in arthritis can be found in one or both knees.
Defeat of the knee joint 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, articular rheumatism are also referred to as arthritis.
Arthritis 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 an increase in pain in the affected joint at night. The severity of pain in arthritis can be stronger at rest than during movement, which distinguishes this disease from arthrosis and meniscopathy, which have similar symptoms - pain in the knee joint. Treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis can reduce pain, relieve inflammation.
Pain in the knee joint with coxarthrosis
Coxarthrosis (arthrosis of the hip joint) affects 3 to 7% of people who visit a doctor because of pain in the knee joint. The disease manifests itself in the fact that, although knee mobility is preserved, in the absence of difficulty with bending and painless extension, it is difficult for a patient with coxarthrosis to spread his legs to the side, to rotate his legs "from the hips. "
Pain in the knee joint with poor circulation
Vascular knee pain associated with impaired circulation accounts for 5 to 10% of visits to the doctor for knee problems.
Deterioration of blood circulation in the knee joint, accompanied by pain, is not uncommon for many people. As a rule, this uncomfortable sensation first appears in adolescence, because the rate of vascular development during the period of active growth of the child is sometimes much lower than the rate of bone growth.
If vascular pain occurs once, you must be prepared that the pain will appear for the rest of your life. However, their intensity levels most often decrease after 19-20 years.
Pain in vascular disorders is usually symmetrical, i. e. their expression in the left and right knees is the same. The occurrence of pain syndrome is associated with changes in weather, changes in air temperature, colds and physical exercise. For the treatment of such pain, warming ointments, massage, self -massage (strong knee rub), as well as vasodilating drugs are used. Special treatment for this condition is not required.
Knee pain due to inflammation of the knee tendon
About 10-15% of knee pain is associated with inflammation of the knee tendon (crow’s foot periarthritis). Most often, this pathology occurs in half of women, especially after 40 years. Pain syndrome occurs when walking down stairs and when carrying loads. Calm walking on a flat surface with inflammation of the knee joint is rarely accompanied by pain.
The pain caused by periarthritis does not extend to the entire knee, but is localized only on the inner surface of the knee, 3-5 cm below the point of contact of the knee when they are joined. Periarthritis of the "goose pocket" bag, in contrast to arthritis, arthrosis and meniscopathy, is not accompanied by limitation of movement of the knee joint. Flexion and elongation of the knee were not disturbed, deformity and swelling of the knee were absent.
Knee pain
The main objectives of the treatment of pain in the knee joint, prescribed by the doctor of the therapy clinic, are as follows:
- eliminate swelling;
- relieving the patient from uncomfortable sensations;
- restore knee joint function;
- prevent new attacks.
For pain relief, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and analgesics are used. The use of warming and distracting ointments, as well as tonics is effective.
At the remission stage, patients are prescribed the use of physiotherapeutic techniques, massage, and therapeutic exercises.
In the absence of efficacy from conservative therapy, experts, considering all the pros and cons, are considering the appropriateness of surgical treatment.
In addition, there are a number of traditional medicines that help reduce pain, but their use must first be discussed with a specialist who monitors the course of treatment aimed at relieving pain in the knee joint. How to treat this pathology should be decided only by an experienced and highly qualified doctor who knows the results of research of the patient, the individual characteristics of his body and many other important nuances.