Knee Pain – Causes and Treatment
The knee joint is one of the important and most complicated joints. It tolerates the weight of the body and allows us to walk, run, sit, stand and facilitate to name a few. Since this joint that performs so many functions can be bent, straightened, and rotated, it may be put under high risk of injury resulting in knee pain. Knee problems can arise as a consequence of a variety of injuries. These injuries can be categorized as overuse injury and acute injury.
Causes
• Arthritis. There are several types of arthritis that can distress the knee joints.
• Torn ligaments are a type of injury usually suffered by athletes due to sporting activities causing discomfort and instability in knee movement.
• Cases of torn cartilages are generally seen in both youth and elderly people and occasionally obese people, too, happening due to overuse.
• Patellar tendonitis is one of the common causes of knee pain, thus affecting the patellar tendon, which is a large tendon that is situated at the frontage of the knee.
• Chondromalacia patella is caused due to softening of the cartilage and is described as a pain that spreads out from the base of the kneecap. This problem is frequent in individuals in the age group of fifteen to thirty five.
• Dislocation of kneecap is a major injury caused by dislocation and can lead to other type of chronic knee soreness.
• Baker’s cyst is one of the reasons that may cause knee pain. Resulting from a meniscus tear; this sort of knee ache is normally accompanied by swelling.
• Bursitis distresses the joint over the knee cap and is an ordinary knee complaint that is caused due to activities that involves a lot of bending and kneeling down while working like construction workers, carpenters and gardeners to name a few.
Treatment
All the problems have cures and hence there are many effective treatments available to address your knee pain. These are as follows-
• Anti-inflammatory medicines- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS) are frequently recommended by orthopedics for curing knee pain. This is effective for knee pain that occurs as a result of tendonitis, arthritis, and bursitis.
• Physical therapy- There are very effective forms of treatment for the common knee injuries and can be performed in consultation with a physio therapist. The physical therapy can assist in augmenting strength, reclaiming mobility and facilitating return daily activity with ease.
• Cortisone injections- These are normally used to inject cortisone into the knee joint to lessen or reduce inflammation. One should keep in mind that Cortisone is not a knee pain reducing medication; it’s only a potent anti-inflammatory medication.
• Ice and heat application- Ice packs and heat applications are generally used as a first response for knee injury. Alternating between hot and cold packs can be of assistance to reduce inflammation and pain in the knee.
• Stretching- Basic stretching exercises that focus on muscles and tendons around the knee joint are of great help to reduce the knee pain.