Knee pain: causes and treatment of pathology

People of all ages and with different lifestyles can complain of knee joint pain when walking, although this symptom occurs most often in older people and professional athletes. The causes of pain in the knee joint include both minor injuries and serious illnesses. When moving, healthy people usually do not have painful sensations; their appearance can be caused by daily wear and tear on the joints, excessive physical strain or injury. In this case, the occurrence of discomfort and reduced mobility can be felt during sports, leisure activities, performing household chores or working tasks.

knee pain

Knee pain: causes

Knee pain can occur if you have the following conditions:

  • osteoarthritis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis);
  • damage to the menisci (meniscopathy);
  • arthritis (joint inflammation);
  • osteoarthritis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis);
  • circulatory disorders of the knee joint;
  • inflammation of the knee tendons (periarthritis of the crow's feet pocket).

Pain in the knee joint with gonarthrosis

30-40% of knee joint pain cases are due to knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis 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 knee joints. At first, the intensity of pain is mild, the appearance of discomfort is observed only after a long walk. As the disease progresses, severe pain is noted in the knee joint, which bothers a person when walking, even for short distances.

It becomes difficult for the patient to get up from the chair, get up from their hips, and go down and up the stairs. A sore knee does not bother him at rest, at night, except when there was an excessive load on the knee the day before.

In the subsequent stages of knee osteoarthritis, the pain is supplemented by a crunching knee (while walking) and joint deformity. This symptomatology becomes more and more pronounced every year.

Pain in the knee joint with meniscopathy

Meniscopathy (damage to the menisci), along with knee osteoarthritis, is also a common cause of knee pain (up to 40% of cases).

Knee menisci can be damaged at any age and are equally common in women and men. Damage to a knee joint is mainly seen.

Meniscopathy can be attributed to injury, but it can often occur in an apparently flat area. A characteristic feature of meniscus injury of the knee, unlike knee osteoarthritis, is rapid and often quite unexpected development, caused by unsuccessful movement when running, walking, jumping, skiing, etc.

The injury is accompanied by a cracking knee, a feeling of sharp pain in the knee joint, the intensity of which is so high that the victim cannot move. After a slight weakening of the sharp pain, which usually occurs after 10-15 minutes, the patient's ability to move is restored. However, the next day or during the day, the pain syndrome intensifies again, the knee swells a lot. At this point, the clinical picture of meniscopathy is supplemented by the characteristic feature of the pinched meniscus - a knee piercing when walking, a feeling of "hammering 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, two to three weeks, after which the patient is relieved. In the absence of proper treatment, the disease becomes chronic. Painful sensations subside, then all the circumstances (heavy loads, squats, unsuccessful sudden movements) cause their reappearance.

Meniscopathy, unlike knee osteoarthritis, is extremely rarely accompanied by deformation of the bones of the knee joint, which can occur only with the development of osteoarthritis 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 young people. 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 osteoarthritis and meniscopathy, but also one of the types of arthritis, which is rheumatoid, reactive, psoriatic. In addition, diseases such as gout, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis 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 knee. joint affected at night. The severity of pain in arthritis may be greater at rest than during movement, which distinguishes the disease from osteoarthritis 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 (osteoarthritis of the hip joint) affects 3 to 7% of people who see a doctor for pain in the knee joint. The disease is manifested by the fact that, despite the preservation of the mobility of the knee, the absence of difficulties with its painless flexion and extension, it is difficult for a patient with coxarthrosis to spread the legs to the sides, torotate his legs "from the hip. "

Pain in the knee joint with poor circulation

Vascular pain in the knee 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, 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 need to prepare for it to appear throughout your life. However, degree of their intensity most often decreases after 19-20 flyings.

Pain in vascular disorders is usually symmetrical, that is, their expression in the left and right knees is the same. The appearance of pain syndrome is associated with a change in weather, a change in air temperature, colds and physical exertion. For the treatment of such pain, warming ointments, massage, self-massage (vigorous rubbing of the knees) as well as vasodilator drugs are used. Special treatment for these conditions is not necessary.

Knee pain due to inflammation of the knee tendons

About 10% to 15% of knee pain is 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 the stairs and carrying weights. A calm walk 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 to 5 cm below the point of contact of the knees when they are brought together. Periarthritis of the goose pouch, unlike arthritis, osteoarthritis and meniscopathy, is not accompanied by limitation of joint mobility of the knee. Flexion and extension of the knee is not disturbed, deformation and swelling of the knee is absent.

Knee pain

The main goals of the treatment of pain in the knee joint, which are set by the doctors of the therapeutic clinic, are as follows:

  • eliminate puffiness;
  • relieve the patient from uncomfortable sensations;
  • restore the function of the knee joint;
  • prevent further attacks.

To relieve pain, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and pain relievers are used. The use of warming and distracting ointments, as well as fortifying drugs is effective.

At the stage of remission, patients are prescribed the use of physiotherapeutic techniques, massage and therapeutic exercises.

In the absence of effectiveness of conservative treatment, experts, taking into account all the advantages and disadvantages, consider the advisability of surgical treatment.

In addition, there are a number of traditional drugs that help reduce pain, but their use should first be discussed with specialists who monitor the course of treatment aimed at eliminating pain in the knee joint. The treatment of this pathology should be decided only by an experienced and highly qualified doctor who is familiar with the results of the patient's research, the individual characteristics of his body and many other important nuances.