People of all ages and different lifestyles can complain of pain in the knee joint when walking, although most often this symptom occurs in the elderly and professional athletes. The causes of pain in the knee joint include both minor injuries and serious diseases. When moving, healthy people, as a rule, do not experience painful sensations; their appearance can be caused by daily wear and tear of the joints, excessive physical exertion or injuries. In this case, the occurrence of discomfort and impaired mobility can be felt during sports activities, recreation, doing 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 (joint inflammation);
- arthrosis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis);
- circulatory disorders of the knee joint;
- inflammation of the knee tendons (periarthritis of the "crow's feet" bag).
Pain in the knee joint with gonarthrosis
From 30 to 40% of cases of pain in the knee joint accounted for by gonarthrosis. Arthrosis of the knee joint is most often diagnosed in people over 40-45 years old. The pathological process can develop in one or both knee joints. At first, the intensity of pain is mild, the onset of discomfort is observed only after a long walk. As the disease progresses, severe pain in the knee joint is noted, which bothers the person when walking, even for short distances.
It becomes difficult for the patient to get up from the chair, get up from his haunches, go down and up the stairs. A sore knee does not bother him at rest, at night, except in cases of excessive load on the knee the day before.
At the next stages of gonarthrosis, pain is complemented by a crunch in the knee (during walking) and joint deformation. This symptomatology becomes more and 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).
Menisci of the knee can be damaged at any age, and is equally common in both women and men. Damage to one knee joint is predominantly observed.
Meniscopathy can be attributed to injuries, but often it can occur on a seemingly level place. A characteristic feature of knee meniscus injury, in contrast to gonarthrosis, is a rapid and often rather unexpected development, which is provoked by an unsuccessful movement when running, walking, jumping, skiing, etc.
The injury is accompanied by a crunch in the knee, a sensation of acute pain in the knee joint, the intensity of which is so high that the victim cannot move. After a slight weakening of acute pain, which usually occurs after 10-15 minutes, the patient's ability to move is restored. However, on the next day or in a day, the pain syndrome intensifies again, the knee swells up a lot. At this stage, the clinical picture of meniscopathy is complemented by the characteristic hallmark of pinched meniscus - a piercing in the knee when walking, a feeling of a "hammered nail" in the knee, or a possible fracture of the knee when walking.
The duration of the acute period of the disease is, as a rule, from two to three weeks, after which the patient is relieved. In the absence of proper therapy, the disease becomes chronic. Painful sensations subside, then any circumstances (strong loads, squats, unsuccessful sudden movements) provoke their recurrence.
Meniscopathy, unlike gonarthrosis, is extremely rarely accompanied by deformation of the bones of the knee joint, which can only occur with the development of arthrosis of the knee associated with damage to the meniscus.
Knee pain with arthritis
Knee pain in 5-10% of cases is associated with arthritis. This disease is characteristic of people of any age, but most often it 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 articular rheumatism are also referred to as arthritis.
Arthric inflammation of the knee joint is characterized by a rapid onset (in 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 severity of pain 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. 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 for pain in the knee joint. The disease manifests itself in the fact that, despite the preservation of the knee mobility, the absence of difficulties with its painless flexion and extension, it is difficult for a patient with coxarthrosis to spread his legs to the sides, to rotate his legs "from the hip. "
Pain in the knee joint with poor circulation
Vascular knee pain associated with impaired circulation accounts for 5 to 10% of visits to a doctor 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, since the rate of vascular development during the period of active growth of a child is sometimes much lower than the rate of bone growth.
In the event that vascular pain occurs once, you must be prepared that they will appear throughout your life. However, the degree of their intensity most often decreases 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 a change in the weather, a change in air temperature, colds and physical exertion. For the treatment of such pains, warming ointments, massages, self-massage (vigorous rubbing of the knees), as well as vasodilating drugs are used. Special treatment for these conditions is not required.
Knee pain due to inflammation of the knee tendons
Approximately 10-15% of knee pains are associated with inflammation of the knee tendons (crow's feet periarthritis). Most often, this pathology occurs in the female half, mainly after 40 years. Pain syndrome occurs when walking down stairs and when carrying weights. Calm walking on a flat surface with inflammation of the knee joints is extremely rarely accompanied by the appearance of pain.
The pain caused by periarthritis does not extend to the entire knee, but is localized only on the inner surfaces of the knees, 3-5 cm below the point of contact of the knees when they are brought together. Periarthritis of the "goose bump" bag, in contrast to arthritis, arthrosis and meniscopathy, is not accompanied by a limitation of the knee joint mobility. Flexion and extension of the knee is not disturbed, deformity and swelling of the knee are absent.
Knee pain
The main objectives of the treatment of pain in the knee joint, which are set by the doctors of the therapy clinic, are as follows:
- eliminate puffiness;
- relieve the patient from uncomfortable sensations;
- restore the function of the knee joint;
- prevent new attacks.
To relieve pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics are used. The use of warming and distracting ointments, as well as fortifying drugs is effective.
In the stage of remission, patients are prescribed the use of physiotherapeutic techniques, massages, and therapeutic exercises.
In the absence of efficacy from conservative therapy, experts, taking into account all the pros and cons, are considering the expediency of surgical treatment.
In addition, there are a number of traditional medicines that help reduce pain, but their use must first be discussed with specialists who monitor the course of treatment aimed at eliminating pain in the knee joint. How to treat this pathology should be decided only by an experienced, highly qualified doctor who is familiar with the patient's research results, the individual characteristics of his body and many other important nuances.