KNEE PAIN and INJURIES
Knee pain can keep you away from moving and exercising. It can be challenging as it progresses further and affects your ability to walk and pain becomes constant and debilitating.
Most of us seek medical care right away for a serious injury causing knee pain, we tend to take far longer to address lingering pain or irritation that slowly develops. If your knees are aching, making sounds, swelling or feeling stiff for a while, it’s time to see your rehab professional.
Cause Knee Pain
Knee joint is composed of bone, ligaments, tendons, cartilage and muscles, and it is a very complex joint, a range of issues can affect your knees and cause different degrees of pain.
Here are some of the most common ones that can affect kids and adults.
Arthritis:
Arthritis is a one of the major reasons for knee pain. Two types of arthritis affect the knee joint most frequently:
- Osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis, happens when the cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears away. Without intact cartilage, bones rub against each other, causing pain and stiffness.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis, also known as “RA,” is a chronic inflammatory condition that develops when your immune system attacks a membrane that lines and lubricates joints. RA causes your joints to become swollen, unstable, painful and stiff.
Osgood-Schlatter Disease
Osgood-Schlatter disease develops most often during adolescence when growth spurts rapidly change muscles, tendons and other knee structures. Kids will feel pain below the kneecap because tendons that connect the knee to the shinbone become inflamed.
Physical activity puts more strain on the knee, so those who participate in sports with running and jumping are more at risk.
Weight Problems
Excess weight puts more stress on your knee joints and is a risk factor for arthritis.
Walking Issues
Gait issues, often caused by hip or foot problems, can affect your knees.
Overuse Injuries That Affect Knees
While exercising offers multiple health benefits, sometimes it leads to overuse injuries in your knees, which include the following conditions.
Bursitis
Bursitis usually happens when you experience a blow to your knee or fall, causing the bursa — the fluid-filled sac between your muscles — to swell and become irritated.
Tendinitis
Tendon inflammation is known as “tendinitis” and is most often caused by sports that require a lot of jumping, like basketball. Your knee will feel tender and painful to the touch when running, walking or jumping if you have tendinitis.
Strengthening muscles properly surround the knee and working on flexibility can prevent some knee injuries and conditions.
Iliotibial Band (ITB)Syndrome
Iliotibial band syndrome causes the band that runs along the outside of your legs from your hips to your knees, to rub against the bone and become inflamed or tight. Certain sports where your knees often bend, such as cycling, running, hiking or walking long distances, are more likely to cause IT band problems.
Meniscus tears
Meniscus tears typically, give painful symptoms, such as a knee that slips, locks or feels extremely stiff.
Care for knee problems:
A detailed and thorough assessment by a physiotherapist or your health care professionals will help to identify the problem early and prevent it from getting worse and help you to improve faster. Therapeutic intervention like pain relieving modality, Ultrasound, LASER therapy will be useful to reduce your pain and inflammation, and graded exercises with help of a therapist will be useful to help you restore your strength and mobility.