What Is Causing My Knee Pain
What Is Knee Pain
Knee pain can occur for many reasons, most commonly because of overuse, injuries or arthritis. You can experience knee pain at any age, but older people are more likely to develop it due to degeneration of the joint, a condition known as osteoarthritis.
Depending on whats causing your pain, you may feel better with rest, anti-inflammatory medication and ice. If you have a more severe injury, you may need a procedure or a surgery.
Surgeons often use minimally invasive types of surgery to repair damage to the knee like torn tendons or ligaments. These types of injuries can cause knee instability and pain. In cases when the damage is severe, your healthcare provider may recommend knee replacement surgery.
Knee anatomy
The knee is made of
- Skin.
- Cartilage – protective lining and shock absorber for the bones.
- Meniscus – a type of cartilage to cushion deep in the joint.
- Tendons- fibers that connect muscles to bones.
- Ligaments- tissues that attach bones to other bones.
- Bursa- thin protective pads under the skin.
Why Would A Teenager Have Knee Pain
Knee pain isnt a condition that only happens to older people. Despite being young, your teenager can develop knee pain too.
Knee pain in teens is a common result of overuse, but also results from specific knee injuries and medical conditions that affect the knee. Knee pain can also be temporary and not related to an injury, but rather a change in your teens level of activity or sport.
Because of the many different reasons for knee pain, if your teen complains of pain, its wise to get it checked. Never think that knee pain in your teen is simply growing pains. This is not a typical cause of knee pain in a teenager.
What Else Could It Be
If you are still not sure what is causing your severe knee pain, visit the knee pain diagnosis section where we help you work out what is going on by thinking about the location of the pain .
Alternatively, in the knee symptoms guide we look at other symptoms typically linked with knee pain such as pain when running or bending, knee locking, sharp pain or pain on the stairs. And remember, if you are suffering from severe knee pain, get checked out by your doctor.
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Tight Hamstrings And Their Relationship To Knee Pain
A muscle naturally begins to get smaller or waste away when it is not being used or when its nerve supply has been disrupted.
One study found that when the hamstrings muscles are smaller when compared to the quadriceps muscles , MRI showed more signs of knee meniscus and cartilage degeneration or swelling. In addition, when the inside quadriceps muscle was bigger than the outside portion, the researchers found the same thing.
What would cause the hamstrings muscles atrophy?
Again, we have to examine the low back. Weve seen a connection for many years between low-back nerve irritation and knee arthritis. The low-back nerves that supply your hamstrings are the most commonly irritated nerves in the back.
We believe, and the research supports, that this low-back nerve irritation can cause hamstrings to weaken and atrophy over time, making them less able to support and protect the knee. Lets focus in a bit more on this back, hamstrings, and knee connection.
How The Hamstrings Are Structured
If you are only familiar with only one muscle in the human body, its probably actually a group of muscles known as the hamstrings. They are the upper-leg muscles that tend to get tight when they are overworked or stiff when they arent worked enough. The hamstrings, just like all other structures in the body, are just one powerful link in the full body chain.
They dont function individually they function as an interconnected part of the entire body.
As such, at the basic anatomy level, the hamstrings anchor via tendons to the butt bone at what is called the ischial tuberosity . From there they stretch the full length of the upper leg and insert just below the knee.
With the hamstrings and the knee living in the same space, its easy to assume tight hamstrings may be causing knee pain or vice versa, and there are cases where this may be true. For example, a hamstrings tear or injury behind the knee could certainly be the source of pain behind the knee. However, with an injury ruled out, the next place we would want to look for the source of hamstrings tightness and knee pain would be the back.
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When To See Your Doctor
Any incidence of severe knee pain should be checked out by your doctor particularly if:
1) Your knee looks deformed2) You cant put any weight through the leg3) Your knee movements are limited cant fully bend or straighten the knee4) You have severe knee pain, especially at night or when resting5) Your knee keeps giving way6) You feel unwell or have a fever7) There is redness or the knee feels hot8) There is major swelling around the knee9) Your symptoms persist or get worse10) You have pain, swelling, redness, tingling or numbness in the calf
How To Prevent Throbbing Knee Pain At Night
If chronic knee pain is keeping you awake at night, there are many steps you can take to help prevent the painful symptoms. With a few preventative measures, you can help avoid waking up with sharp pains in your knee.
According to Dr. April Chang-Miller, who is a specialist in rheumatology, this is what you can do to prevent knee pain at night:20
- Make sure that your bed, pillows, and blanket are comfortable and dont add to your discomfort.
- Make sure that your bed allows you to have a comfortable sleeping position.
- Take a warm bath or shower before going to bed to help relax your joints and muscles.
- Avoid drinking stimulants like alcohol or coffee before going to bed to help you sleep better.
- Prop your legs up with a pillow to help reduce knee pain while sleeping.
- Dont exercise within 3 hours before going to bed. However, remember that exercise helps to reduce knee pain over time.
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Severe Pain With Obvious Deformity
If severe knee pain is accompanied by an obvious deformity there is most likely a fracture or dislocation on one of the knee bones. If this is the case, you will usually be able to pinpoint the time it happened there will have been a fairly major trauma such as a fall, hard tackle or RTA, and you will have excruciating knee pain. Bones dont just break or dislocate without you knowing it.
When To Contact A Medical Professional
- You cannot bear weight on your knee.
- You have severe pain, even when not bearing weight.
- Your knee buckles, clicks, or locks.
- Your knee is deformed or misshapen.
- You cannot flex your knee or have trouble straightening it all the way out.
- You have a fever, redness or warmth around the knee, or a lot of swelling.
- You have pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, or bluish discoloration in the calf below the sore knee.
- You still have pain after 3 days of home treatment.
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Torn Acl Symptoms And Signs
With an acute injury, the patient often describes that they heard a loud pop and then developed intense pain in the knee. The pain makes walking or weight-bearing very difficult. The knee joint will begin to swell within a few hours because of bleeding within the joint, making it difficult to straighten the knee.
What Painkiller Is Best For Knee Pain
Seeking interventional orthopedics treatments to address the source of your knee pain and injury should be the specific goal. If a painkiller is needed in the meantime, ditch the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain and swelling and all of their dangerous side effects and opt for supplements that have been shown to be effective for knee pain and swelling in the joint, including curcumin,glucosamine, and chondroitin .
What about steroid injections for knee pain and swelling? Just dont do it! There is a long list of toxic side effects associated with these drugs, including spinal fracture risk, vaginal bleeding, adrenal problems, joint cartilage loss , diminishing relief with each injection, and so much more .
The upshot? You can likely diagnose your own cause of side of knee pain. Just realize that almost everything Ive discussed above doesnt require a big surgery to fix. Instead, highly precise injections of our own platelets or stem cells can usually heal these problems with minimal downtime.
However, be cautious out there as youll find lots of clinics that know very little about treating these issues and that want to charge big bucks to inject magic amniotic or umbilical cord stem cells in this area and then often IV. This is not legit treatment as these are dead tissues being hawked as live stem cells. So buyer beware!
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References
Ann Intern MedChris Centeno, MD
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Knee Pain And Problems
Knee pain is a common complaint among adults and most often associated with general wear and tear from daily activities like walking, bending, standing and lifting. Athletes who run or play sports that involve jumping or quick pivoting are also more likely to experience knee pain and problems. But whether an individuals knee pain is caused by aging or injury, it can be a nuisance and even debilitating in some circumstances.
What Is Wear And Tear Arthritis
How can you tell if you have osteoarthritis?
If you have pain inside your knee, under your kneecap,especially when kneeling, squatting or going up and down steps, its usuallywear-and-tear arthritis, says Dr. Nickodem.
Cartilage, the cushioning betweenbones, deteriorates throughout life. It can erode more quickly in some peopledue to injury or genetics. As cartilage thins, your bones begin to rubtogether, causing pain, swelling and stiffness.
Sometimes the level of pain does notalways correlate to the severity of the condition.
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Severe Knee Pain & Instability
Severe knee pain is often accompanied by instability. There may be two things going on. Firstly, if the knee gives out completely i.e. collapses when you have weight on it so that you stumble or fall, it is most likely that you have ruptured one of the knee ligaments, such as the ACL.
The ligaments are the main stabilising structures in the knee, so if they rupture the knee will often give way, particularly when you are twisting or turning. Ligament ruptures typically occur during twisting injuries and are often accompanied by an audible pop or cracking noise.
The second possibility is that the body is trying to protect itself from further damage. When you take weight on the injured leg the pain can be so severe that it feels like the knee is going to buckle or give out, but it doesnt actually collapse. This usually means there is damage inside the joint, but it is unlikely to be ligament damage.
If the knee is giving way regularly, it is important to get it looked at by your doctor as each time it gives way, you risk further damage to the knee joint. You can find out lots more in the knee ligament injury section.
Problem: Patella Or Kneecap Pain
When working properly, your patella should glide straight up and down as you extend your leg. But sometimes the kneecap slides slightly off track and rubs against the bone and cartilage nearby. This can lead to pain and swelling in front of the knee and behind the kneecap. You can also hear a crackling noise.
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Stand Up Straight To Feel Better
“When you slouch you are leaning forward and walking bent over at the waist and that posture will lead to knee pain,” says Bush-Joseph. “You want your head centered over your shoulders and your shoulders centered over your abdomen and pelvis. The more your body is off-center, the more you have to compensate for that with muscle activity. Those muscles eventually fatigue, causing strain on your joints.”
Having strong core muscles in your abdomen and lower back helps promote good posture and, ultimately, lessens the pressure on your knees. Exercises such as planks, back extensions, yoga and Pilates can help strengthen the core.
Heres how to do these exercises:
- Planks: Lie face down with your toes pointed to the floor. Put your forearms on the floor with your elbows at 90-degree angles. Tighten your abdominal and gluteal muscles and lift your body off the floor. Keep your back straight and hold for 15 to 45 seconds.
- Back extensions: Lie face down with elbows bent and hands on the floor. Keeping your hips on the floor, lift your head and shoulders up with your arms. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds and repeat five to 10 times.
Causes Of Outer Knee Pain
Like the inside of your knee, the outside or lateral portion of the joint is a crossroads of many different anatomical structures. This can make getting to the bottom of pain in this area equally frustrating. If you have soreness near the lateral part of your knee, the most frequently seen causes are listed below.
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Front Of Knee Pain When Bending
If the front of your knee is in pain when bending it, then chances are there’s a problem with the flexibility of the muscles on the front of your thigh .
As you can see from the picture below, your kneecap sits inside of your patellar tendon, which attaches the quadriceps muscles to your shin bone.
When you bend your knee the quadriceps muscles get stretched over the knee, and if they aren’t flexible enough, it can cause compression between the back of the kneecap and the front of the thigh bone . This in turn can cause pain on the front of the knee when bending it, a pain known as patellofemoral pain.
Who Is At Risk Of Pain Behind Knee
Athletes like runners and cyclists have a high risk of developing pain behind the knee.
Professional runners who do long-distance running should be extra careful and should warm up in a way that wont strain the muscles in and around their knees. They can do ankle rotation, calf raises, walking lunges, or hip flexor and glute-activating swing.
- Pain affects your daily activities
Your physician may perform a physical examination on your knee or run some tests to determine the right treatment.
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How Is Knee Pain In Teens Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider will ask about your teens knee pain:
- Is there a known cause for the knee pain does it happen with certain movements or is there no specific known event?
- How long has the pain been present?
- Where on or around your knee do you feel pain?
- Does the pain wake you up at night?
Your provider will perform a physical exam, checking:
- Kneecap and knee stability.
- Alignment of lower leg, kneecap and thigh.
- Range of motion of hips and knees.
- Thigh muscle strength, flexibility, firmness.
Your provider may order imaging tests including X-rays or a CT scan or MRI .
What Is The Long
Some knee pain, especially pain caused by osteoarthritis, will likely be permanent. Thats because the structure of the knee is damaged. Without surgery or another type of extensive treatment, youll continue to feel pain, inflammation, and swelling in your knee.
The long-term outlook for chronic knee pain involves managing pain, preventing flare-ups, and working to reduce irritation to the knee.
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How Are Knee Problems Diagnosed
In addition to a complete medical history and physical exam, other tests for knee problems may include:
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X-ray. This test uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to make images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film.
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Magnetic resonance imaging . This test uses large magnets, radiofrequencies, and a computer to make detailed images of organs and structures within the body can often determine damage or disease in a surrounding ligament or muscle.
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Computed tomography scan . This test uses X-rays and computer technology to make horizontal, or axial, images of the body. A CT scan shows detailed images of any part of the body, including the bones, muscles, fat, and organs. CT scans are more detailed than general X-rays.
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Arthroscopy. A minimally-invasive diagnostic and treatment procedure used for conditions of a joint. This procedure uses a small, lighted, optic tube , which is inserted into the joint through a small incision in the joint. Images of the inside of the joint are projected onto a screen used to evaluate any degenerative or arthritic changes in the joint to detect bone diseases and tumors to determine the cause of bone pain and inflammation.
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Radionuclide bone scan. A nuclear imaging technique that uses a very small amount of radioactive material, which is injected into the patient’s bloodstream to be detected by a scanner. This test shows blood flow to the bone and cell activity within the bone.
Restored Knee Function Transforms A Life Inspires Family To Give Back
The Reibels have relied on Mayo Clinic for their care for 25 years. That experience has inspired them to donate to Mayo Clinic’s Center for Regenerative Medicine.
Even in retirement, Dr. and Mrs. Reibel or Jay and Barbara as their friends at Mayo Clinic have come to know them are always on the go. They travel the world and have been actively engaged in a host of civic and community organizations.
But chronic pain in both knees threatened Jay’s ability to continue his active lifestyle. Over time, it became almost debilitating. He had trouble climbing stairs or even sitting for long periods. He couldn’t make it through an opera a favorite activity without rubbing his knees in pain. It was a constant distraction and presented a serious challenge.
Doctors in New York City, close to the Reibels’ home in Greenwich, Connecticut, were unable to find an answer or relieve the pain. Jay knew he needed to go to Mayo Clinic.
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