People of all ages and lifestyles can complain of knee pain when walking, although this symptom is more common in elderly people and professional athletes. Causes of knee pain include both minor injuries and serious medical conditions. As a rule, when moving, healthy people do not experience pain; Their appearance can be caused by daily wear and tear of the joints, overexertion or trauma. In this case, discomfort and reduced mobility may be experienced during sports, recreational activities, housework or work.
Knee pain: causes
Knee pain can occur if you have the following conditions:
- dryness of the knee joint (gonarthrosis);
- damage to the menisci (meniscopathy);
- arthritis (arthritis);
- hip arthritis (coxarthrosis);
- circulatory disorders of the knee joint;
- knee tendonitis (inflammation around the "crow's foot" pocket).
Knee pain with gonarthrosis
Between 30 and 40% of knee pain cases are caused by gonarthrosis. Knee effusion is usually diagnosed in people over 40-45 years of age. The pathological process can develop in one or both knee joints. At first, the pain intensity is mild, the feeling of discomfort begins only after walking for a long time. As the disease progresses, severe pain in the knee joint is noted, causing discomfort when walking, even for short distances.
The patient has difficulty getting up from a chair, getting up from a hunchback, and going down and up stairs. Knee pain does not bother him at rest, at night, except in cases where the knee was under excessive load the day before.
In the subsequent stages of gonarthrosis, the pain is supplemented by a crunching noise in the knee (when walking) and joint deformity. This symptom becomes more and more pronounced each year.
Knee pain with meniscus disease
Meniscus disease (injury to the meniscus), along with gonarthrosis, is also a common cause of knee pain (up to 40% of cases).
Knee cartilage can be damaged at any age, and is equally common in both women and men. The lesion was mainly observed in one knee joint.
Meningitis can be attributed to trauma, but it can often occur in a seemingly flat place. A characteristic feature of a knee meniscus injury, in contrast to gonarthrosis, is a rapid and often rather unexpected development, caused by an unsuccessful movement in running, walking, jumping, skiing or snowboarding. , v. v.
The wound is accompanied by a crackling sound in the knee, acute pain in the knee joint, high intensity that makes the victim unable to move. After the relief of acute pain, which usually occurs after 10-15 minutes, the patient's mobility is restored. However, the next day or within a day, the pain syndrome returns, the knee joint swells a lot. At this stage, the clinical picture of meniscal disease is complemented by the characteristic sign of meniscus compression - a stabbing of the knee with walking, a "pins-and-pin" sensation in the knee, or possiblyBroken knee while walking.
The duration of the acute phase of the disease, as a rule, is from two to three weeks, after which the patient goes into remission. Without proper therapy, the disease becomes chronic. Pain sensations subside, then any circumstances (strong loads, squatting, unsuccessful sudden movements) will cause them to recur.
Meniscus disease, unlike gonarthrosis, which is extremely rarely accompanied by bony deformities of the knee joint, can occur only with the development of knee arthropathy associated with meniscal damage.
Knee pain due to arthritis
Knee pain in 5-10% of cases is related to arthritis. This 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.
The failure of the knee joints can not only be caused by arthropathy and meniscus disease, but also by one of the types of arthritis, that is, rheumatic, reactive, psoriatic. In addition, diseases such as gout, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatism also known as arthritis.
Knee arthritis is characterized by a rapid onset (within 1-3 days), accompanied by marked swelling and swelling of the knee joint, as well as increased pain in the affected joint at night. The severity of pain in arthritis can be stronger at rest than with movement, which helps distinguish the disease from arthritis and meniscus disease, which have similar symptoms - knee pain. Treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs for joint disease can relieve pain and reduce inflammation.
Knee pain with coxarthrosis
Coxarthrosis (fibrosis of the hip) affects 3 to 7% of people who see a doctor for knee pain. The disease manifests in the fact that, although the mobility of the knee joint is preserved, there is no difficulty in flexing and extending painlessly, but patients with back spasm have difficulty in spreading the legs to the sides, turning the legs ". from. hip. "
Knee pain due to poor blood circulation
Vascular knee pain associated with impaired circulation accounts for 5 to 10% of doctor visits for knee problems.
Decreased blood circulation in the knee joint, accompanied by pain, is very familiar to many people. As a rule, these unpleasant sensations first appear in adolescence, since the rate of vascular growth 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 be present throughout your life. However, their intensity levels usually decrease most after 19-20 years.
Pain in vascular disorders is usually symmetric, i. e. their presentation in the left and right knee is the same. The occurrence of pain syndrome is associated with changes in weather, changes in air temperature, cold and physical exertion. To treat such pains, warming ointments, massages, self-massage (strong massage of the knee), as well as vasodilators are used. Special treatment for these conditions is not necessary.
Knee pain due to knee tendonitis
About 10-15% of knee pain is related to knee tendonitis (inflammation around the crow's feet). Most often, this pathology occurs in half of women, mainly after the age of 40. Pain syndrome occurs when walking down stairs and when carrying weights. Walking calmly on a flat surface with knee arthritis is extremely rarely accompanied by pain.
The pain from periarthritis does not extend to the entire knee but is localized to the inner surface of the knee, 3-5 cm from the point of contact of the knee when they come together. "Goose bag" peritonitis, in contrast to arthritis, osteoarthritis, and purulent meningitis, is not accompanied by limited knee range of motion. The flexion and extension of the knee is not disturbed, there is no deformation and swelling of the knee.
Knee hurts
The main goals of the treatment of knee pain as set forth by the therapist's doctors are as follows:
- remove eye bags;
- reduce patient discomfort;
- rehabilitation 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 strengthening drugs is effective.
During the period of remission, the patient is assigned to use physical therapy techniques, massage and therapeutic exercises.
In the absence of effect from conservative therapy, experts, taking into account all the pros and cons, are considering the effectiveness of surgical treatment.
In addition, there are a number of herbal medicines that help relieve pain, but their use must first be discussed with a specialist who monitors the course of treatment for the purpose of 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 results of the patient's research, the individual features of his body and manyother important nuances.