The main purpose of the knee joint is to ensure normal motor activity of the lower limb and to achieve a stable position of the body. In this case, this part of the body is given the most important role - participation in the processes of bending and extending the limb.
Despite the complex structure and sufficient strength of this joint, it can be subject to various complications due to injuries, thermal effects, physical loads, chronic infectious processes, and, as a result, serious inflammatory processes that increase the possibility of limiting movements and assembly. from the exudate. In order to avoid such unwanted manifestations, it is recommended to immediately contact a qualified specialist to make a comprehensive diagnosis and a competent treatment plan.
The knee is the largest and most complex joint in the human body.
A serious load is placed on the knee joint every day. It is responsible for the process of bending and extending the lower limb, supports the weight of a person and ensures its stable position. It is the knee that allows you to walk, jump, run, squat and turn.
The ability to perform these actions is provided by the following components:
- tendons;
- Bones;
- cartilage;
- Ligaments and muscles.
This explains why pain in the knee joint can occur in any age group. Only after learning the cause of the disease can we talk about effective treatment and complete recovery.
Causes of knee pain
So, the knee joint has an important role in the human body: it is responsible for the motor activity of the leg, keeps the body in a stable position and supports the weight of the person. Moreover, the knee has a complex structure represented by several interconnected elements.
If a person has knee pain and is trying to decide what to do, the first thing to do is to find the factors that are causing the discomfort. As a rule, the causes of the disease are the same for all situations.
The risk factors are the same in almost all cases: musculo-facial dysfunction. This causes a significant stress, which leads to compression and destruction of the cartilage. As a result, a person begins to experience unpleasant sensations that indicate damage to the knee joint and begins to look for a way to eliminate the pathological process.
injury
If you don't know what to do when your knees hurt, be careful - the reasons may be hidden in joint damage. This is the part of the body that gets injured more often than others. As a result, joint dysfunction accompanied by pain occurs.
Such discomfort may be due to ligament damage. Representatives of professional sports activities are most susceptible to injuries. Also, people who do not follow the running technique can develop pain and ligament problems. Most often, knee injuries occur as a result of hitting the ball - during a football game.
It should be noted that such injuries occur quite often. Moreover, anxiety can occur not only during an exacerbation, but also after it.
In the case of a fracture, several bones can be destroyed at once. More often than others, this happens in elderly patients and people who are susceptible to degenerative pathologies.
In case of serious damage to the joint, surgery, physiotherapeutic procedures and exercise therapy are performed.
Bursitis
The main purpose of the joint capsule is to ensure easy sliding of the ligaments and improve the functioning of the knee joint itself. Chronic injuries and unexpected impacts can cause damage and inflammation.
The presence of bursitis is indicated by the following symptoms: swelling, pain, limitation of motor activity, increase in temperature in the knee joint.
If your knees hurt a lot, you should first make a comprehensive diagnosis in order to understand what to do and how to treat this disease. Only an individual approach to the problem will make it possible to draw up the correct treatment plan and choose effective drugs with anti-inflammatory effects. You should also follow a rest regime for the knee joint.
In advanced forms of bursitis, more serious measures are taken - surgical intervention and special injections are performed.
Dislocations
We are talking about displacement of the knee cap from its normal position, which is accompanied by pain of increasing intensity.
In this case, only an experienced specialist can answer the question of what to do when there is pain under the knee - after a thorough diagnosis and examination.
They resort to X-rays to identify fractures and formulate a proper treatment plan. In advanced cases, surgical intervention is performed.
Dislocation of the knee joint can often cause pain. This is a fairly serious injury that occurs after a strong blow.
Degenerative disorders
One of the common pathologies associated with degenerative changes in tissues is osteoarthritis. In this case, the cartilage decreases in size, which is accompanied by impaired motor activity of the joint and pain. As a rule, such pathological processes are caused by age-related changes in the body that occur in people aged 55-65.
Despite the irreversibility of degenerative changes, there are treatments that can overcome anxiety and help improve quality of life. In advanced forms of the disease, the implant is installed surgically.
Autoimmune diseases
We are talking about inflammatory processes affecting the joints. They are characterized by a malfunction of the immune system, as a result of which it begins to perceive its own tissues as foreign and destroy them.
This process is accompanied by the following undesirable manifestations: joint swelling, pain and degenerative changes, erosive lesions of bone tissue.
Taking into account the clinical picture, the specialist will tell you exactly what to do when your knee joints hurt. As a rule, the patient is recommended to take the following drugs:
- anti-inflammatory drugs;
- steroid hormones;
- antirheumatic drugs and biological agents;
- Analgesics etc.
Salt deposition in the joints
This is a metabolic disease associated with the deposition of uric acid salts in the tissues of the body. The main symptoms of gout are: severe swelling, limited physical activity and severe pain. Special drugs are prescribed to break down urate crystals, as well as anti-inflammatory drugs.
Infectious processes
Even a small scratch in the knee area can help spread the infectious process to nearby tissues and organs, including the joint area.
In people with weak immunity, this poses a real threat to the body. That is, any damage to the skin can worsen the condition of such a patient.
What not to do when your knees hurt?
Regardless of the cause of your knee pain, here's what you shouldn't do to avoid making the condition worse:
- Prevent knee injuries;
- Avoid foods that cause weight gain (fried and fatty foods, confectionery, foods high in salt, potatoes, sweet carbonated drinks, fast food);
- Avoid any extreme physical activity associated with sports;
- If your knees hurt and you don't know what to do with such discomfort, as the reviews show, it is better to give up addictions (excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and smoking);
- Avoid wearing narrow shoes, avoid high heels;
- Minimize the likelihood of stressful situations;
- Provide healthy, complete sleep;
- Avoid staying in one position for a long time.
In what cases should you visit a doctor?
If the pain in the knee area is caused by a small skin injury, a minor injury or a deformity of the joint, there is no need for medical intervention. Self-treatment is allowed in such cases.
With more severe processes, there is an urgent need to visit a specialist. First of all, this is due to the possibility of damage to the joint capsule, which can facilitate the entry of pathogenic bacteria into the body.
If the consequences of damage are not eliminated in time, the functionality of the joint may be lost. You should consult a doctor in the following cases:
- Your knees hurt a lot and you don't know what to do, what to do;
- The pain syndrome of increased intensity does not pass for several days;
- There is swelling, redness and fever in the joint area;
- Increase in body temperature;
- Decreased motor activity, bruising.
Experienced specialists carry out a comprehensive diagnosis of the condition of the knee joint, draw up a detailed treatment plan and choose the most effective treatment even for the most advanced pathologies.
Treatment of knee pain
Often, people do not know exactly what to do when their knee joints hurt, and they try to cope with the discomfort themselves. Unfortunately, the uncontrolled use of drugs and the use of special ointments can have the opposite effect.
An integrated approach is required to quickly relieve pain. Within its framework, not only drugs, but also physiotherapeutic procedures are carried out, special orthopedic means are used. These include knee braces and braces, which prevent the possibility of relapses and ensure a faster recovery period.
Use of drugs
To relieve pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroid hormones, vasodilators and chondroprotectors are prescribed. Experts prescribe painkillers with extreme caution, because they do not allow determining the true state of the knee joint. We will talk in more detail about the drugs used later:
- NSAIDs.Since the elimination of the inflammatory process and pain is the main task for discomfort in the knee area, doctors first recommend the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. For this purpose, they resort to the help of special tablets and ointments. If the pain hurts, the patients are given intramuscular injections. If your knees hurt a little, in this case, when you ask: "What should I do? ", any doctor recommends using an ointment. Products containing glycosaminoglycan are often used when the knee joint is damaged. In turn, they resort to compresses with dimethyl sulfoxide to eliminate swelling;
- Chondroprotectors.Regardless of whether your knees are painful after running or after a long walk or against the background of other pathologies, only an experienced doctor can advise what to do exactly. However, a general recommendation for pain relief for all patients is medication with chondroitin and glucosamine. Thanks to their use, it is possible to accelerate the process of regeneration of cartilage tissue, prevent oxidative stress and ensure the growth of healthy cartilage cells. In addition, chondroprotectors contribute to a faster rehabilitation period after an injury, minimize the possibility of severe consequences and have almost no side effects. At the same time, experts recommend taking complexes with high amounts of minerals and vitamins;
- Antispasmodics and vasodilators.They help to improve tissue supply, as well as help restore connective tissue and reduce swelling. In the presence of chronic pathological processes, for example, if the knee hurts all year round, the discomfort returns and you do not know what to do, it may be necessary to take additional antibacterial therapy and immunobiological drugs.
Physiotherapy procedures
If you are wondering what to do if your knee hurts while walking or if the discomfort is chronic, any experienced specialist will suggest physical therapy treatment. With its help, it is possible to increase the effectiveness of the use of drugs, as well as to ensure the delivery of drugs to deeper subcutaneous layers.
Physiotherapy procedures help to improve blood flow, relieve pain and reduce the source of inflammation, as well as normalize motor activity and ensure the removal of purulent exudate.
Even if your child's knees hurt and you're trying to figure out what to do, the following physical therapy options will be most effective:
- Effect of magnetic field on the body;
- laser therapy;
- Exposure to electric current with medication;
- UHF;
- Application of galvanic electric current;
- Use of healing mud;
- therapeutic effect of ultrasound;
- Massage procedures;
- paraffin therapy;
- Amplipulse therapy;
- Treatment with medicinal leeches;
- acupuncture;
- cold treatment;
- Diadynamic therapy and other similar procedures.
The duration of the physiotherapy course usually reaches 7-10 procedures. However, before carrying out treatment measures, a condition is consultation with a specialist.
UVT for knee pain
The UVT method is widely demanded in the elimination of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. It is based on the short-term effect of low-frequency acoustic waves on the affected joint.
A strong analgesic effect during shock wave therapy sessions is achieved through the following processes:
- Improved blood flow;
- development of new blood vessels;
- Improved metabolism.
It should be noted that under the influence of shock waves, a decrease in fibrotic processes is observed in the tissues inside the knee joint.
The greatest effectiveness is achieved by using the UVT method to precipitate calcium phosphate crystals in tendons. The technique is characterized by increased safety and practically no side effects.
UVT specialists will accurately determine the number of treatment sessions and their duration, as well as give valuable recommendations on the implementation of other restorative procedures.
The need to make a puncture
If there is a significant swelling, specialists remove the purulent contents that limit the normal functioning and supply of the joint. To drain the exudate, a puncture is performed using a syringe under the influence of anesthetics.
If the desired result is not obtained during physiotherapeutic procedures and the use of drugs, the doctor injects hyaluronic acid into the knee joint or performs periarticular anesthetic blockade. When purulent inflammatory processes are detected, drug treatment is combined with the procedure of washing the knee joint with a medicinal solution (lavage).
Surgery for pain in the knee region is rarely performed, most often in advanced cases.
Exercise therapy for knee pain
Often, when feeling pain in the knee, experts recommend doing therapeutic exercises. By regularly performing simple exercises, the patient can quickly restore the motor activity of the joint, relieve pain and provide optimal load on this part of the body. These beneficial effects are achieved by improving muscle tone. You can get the desired result after 8-10 sessions. It is important to avoid any sudden movements during physical therapy.
The following exercises are suitable for doing at home:
- The patient takes the "lying" position and stretches his legs forward. Next, he performs alternate flexion and extension of the fingers of the lower extremities;
- While in the "lying" position, you need to straighten your legs. After that, the patient turns his legs in different directions, tries to bring them closer to the ground;
- In the "lying" position and with the legs extended, the patient should try to extend the toes towards the knee joint;
- The patient takes the "lying" position. Then he puts both hands under the knee and tries to slowly bend the limb. In this case, the knee should be raised smoothly towards the chest;
- While in the "lying" position, you need to make movements similar to riding a bicycle with your legs.
Preventive measures
If you follow simple preventive measures, questions such as "What to do if the nerve in your knee hurts? " or "What measures should you take if your knees hurt after a long walk? " will lose their relevance. These include:
- Elimination of infectious processes and conditions after knee injury should be carried out under the supervision of a professional specialist;
- It is mandatory to eliminate chronic or hereditary pathological processes (gout, diabetes, tonsillitis);
- Maintaining a normal weight by excluding excessively sweet, salty and fatty foods, as well as alcoholic beverages from the diet;
- Do moderate exercise;
- Take chondroprotectors once a year and undergo an examination by a specialist;
- Follow healthy sleep rules;
- Drink about 2-3 liters of still water every day;
- eliminate the possibility of hypothermia;
- Wear only comfortable shoes and clothes;
- Avoid staying in one position for a long time.