Knee pain

Knee Pain a common problem that affects individuals of all ages. Knee pain can result from an injury affecting the knee such as a torn cartilage or a ruptured ligament.

There are other medical conditions such as gout, infections and arthritis that can be behind the pain. Most of the knee pain cases will respond positively to self-care measures and physical therapy is also effective in the management of the condition. In rare cases, the condition will be managed through surgery.

The knee joint consists of articulation involving 4 bones, the patella, the fibula, tibia and femur. This means that the knee has four compartments. These are the superior tibiofibular joint, the patellofemoral compartment, the medial compartment and the lateral tibiofemoral compartment.

The components of these compartments are at risk of suffering from injury, disease and repetitive strain.

The main reason why the knee is vulnerable is because it takes a lot of body weight and absorbs great load when a person is jumping or running.

Knee pain is more likely to occur as an individual gets older. Overweight individuals and people who are involved in sporting activities are also likely to experience knee pain.

Sports that involve multiple turning such as netball, skiing, football, basketball among others will increase the risk of developing knee pain as a result of injury.

Signos y síntomas

The severity and the pain in the knee will differ according to the cause behind the condition. There are signs and symptoms which will accompany knee pains such as the stiffness and the swelling of the knee.

Most patients will complain of warmth to the touch, redness, inability of the joint and weakness of the knee. During movement, there might be crunching or popping noises and most people will not have the ability to straighten their knee fully.

There are occurrences that need the affected individual to seek medical attention. When the knee cannot bear the body weight or when there is marked swelling on the knee, it is important to see a doctor.

If it has become a difficult affair to straighten the knee fully, there is obvious deformity of the leg or knee, and there is pain, swelling, redness and a fever, or a feeling of the knee giving out or being unstable, the patient should see a medical practitioner for diagnosis and treatment before the condition worsens.

Causas

El dolor de rodilla puede ser consecuencia de lesiones, problemas mecánicos y algunos tipos de artritis.

Lesiones

Knee injuries will affect tendons, ligaments and bursae surrounding the knee joint, the cartilage and the ligaments forming the joint. The most common knee joint injuries are ACL injury which refers to the tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament.

This is one of the ligaments connecting the thighbone and the shin bone. This kind of injury is common in people who take part in sports that require sudden direction change such as basket ball, football, soccer among many others.

Knee bursitis is also a common knee injury caused by the inflammation of the bursae found in the knee joint.

Patellar tendinitis is an irritation and inflammation of the tendons in the knee joint. This injury mostly affects runners, cyclists, skiers, and people involved in jumping sports.

Torn meniscus is another common type of knee injury and is caused by a sudden twist of the knee while bearing force on the knee. This leads to the tearing of the meniscus and can cause great knee pain.

Problemas mecánicos

Some of the mechanical problems that are known to cause knee pain include the degeneration process leading to the breakage of the cartilage or bone.

The breakage might not cause a problem unless the broken part (loose body) interferes with the movement of the joint. Illiotibial band syndrome is a mechanical problem that occurs when the ligament extending from the pelvic bone to the outer part of the tibia becomes tight such that it starts rubbing against the outer part of the femur. This is common with long distance runners.

El dolor de cadera o de pie puede provocar un cambio en la forma de caminar, lo que puede ejercer una presión adicional sobre la rodilla y provocar dolor de rodilla. La luxación de rótula se produce cuando la rótula se sale de su sitio y causa dolor.

Artritis

Existen más de 100 tipos de artritis, pero las que se sabe que causan dolor de rodilla son la artritis séptica, la pseudogota, la gota, la artrosis y la artritis reumatoide.