The main purpose of the knee joint is to ensure normal motor activity of the lower extremities and achieve a stable position of the trunk. In this case, this part of the body is assigned the most important role - participation in the processes of flexion and extension of the limbs.
Despite the complex structure and sufficient strength of this joint, it is subject to injury, heat exposure, excessive physical load, various complications due to chronic infectious processes and, as a result, serious inflammatory processes with an increased likelihood of movement limitation and accumulation. exudate. To prevent such undesirable manifestations, it is recommended to immediately contact a qualified specialist for a thorough diagnosis and drawing up a competent treatment plan.
The knee is the most complex and largest joint in the human body.
Every day, a serious load is exerted on the knee joint. It is responsible for the flexion and extension processes of the lower extremities, supporting a person's body weight and ensuring their stable position. It is the knees that allow us to walk, jump, run, squat and turn.
The ability to perform these actions is guaranteed by the following components:
- tendons;
- Bone;
- Cartilage;
- Ligaments and muscles.
This explains why pain in the knee joint can occur in people of all age groups. We can talk about effective treatment and complete recovery only after finding out the cause of the disease.
Reasons why knees hurt
So, the knee joint has an important role in the human body: it is responsible for the motor activity of the legs, keeps the body in a stable position and supports a person's weight. Moreover, the knee has a complex structure represented by several interconnected elements.
If someone is experiencing knee pain and is trying to find a solution on what to do, it is first necessary to find out the factors causing the discomfort. Usually, the causes of this disease are the same for all situations.
The risk factors are the same in almost all cases: musculofascial dysfunction. This causes significant tension, leading to compression and damage to the cartilage. As a result, a person begins to experience unpleasant sensations, signaling damage to the knee joint, and begins to look for ways to eliminate the pathological process.
Injury
If you don't know what to do when your knees hurt, pay attention - the reason may lie in joint injury. This is the part of the body that is injured more often than other parts. The result is joint dysfunction accompanied by pain.
The discomfort may be caused by ligament damage. Representatives of professional sports activities are most often prone to injury. Additionally, pain and ligament problems can occur in people who do not follow running technique. Often, knee damage occurs as a result of being hit by a ball - while playing football.
It should be noted that such injuries occur quite often. Moreover, discomfort may occur not only during an exacerbation, but also after it.
If a fracture occurs, several bones can be destroyed at once. More often than others, it occurs in elderly patients and people prone to degenerative pathologies.
In case of severe damage to the joint, surgery, physiotherapeutic procedures and exercise therapy are performed.
Bursitis
The main purpose of the joint capsule is to ensure that the ligaments slip easily and improve the function of the knee joint itself. Chronic injuries and unexpected blows can trigger damage and cause inflammation.
The presence of bursitis is indicated by the following signs: swelling, pain, limitation of motor activity, increased temperature in the knee joint.
If your knee hurts badly, to understand what to do and how to treat this disease, you must first carry out a thorough diagnosis. Only an individual approach to this problem will allow you to draw up the correct treatment plan and choose effective drugs with anti-inflammatory effect. You should also adhere to a rest regimen for the knee joint.
In advanced forms of bursitis, more serious measures are taken - surgical intervention and special injections are performed.
Dislocation
We are talking about displacement of the kneecap from its normal position, which is also accompanied by pain of increased intensity.
In this case, only an experienced specialist can answer the question of what to do if there is pain below the knee - after a thorough diagnosis and examination.
To identify the fracture and develop a proper treatment plan, they perform an x-ray examination. In advanced situations, surgical intervention is performed.
Often dislocation of the knee joint can cause pain. This is a fairly serious injury that occurs after a hard blow.
Degenerative disorders
One of the common pathologies associated with degenerative changes in tissues is osteoarthritis. In this case, the size of the cartilage decreases, which is accompanied by impaired motor activity of the joint and pain. Usually, such pathological processes are caused by age-related changes in the body that occur in people aged 55-65 years.
Although degenerative changes cannot be reversed, there are treatments that can address discomfort and help improve quality of life. In advanced forms of the disease, implants are installed surgically.
Autoimmune disease
We are talking about inflammatory processes that affect 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 bodies and destroy them.
This process is accompanied by the following undesirable manifestations: swelling, pain and degenerative changes in the joints, erosive lesions of bone tissue.
Taking into account the clinical picture, the specialist will tell you what exactly you need to do when your knee joint hurts. As a rule, patients are recommended to take the following medications:
- Anti-inflammatory drugs;
- Steroid hormones;
- Antirheumatic drugs and biological agents;
- Analgesics and others.
Salt buildup in joints
This is a metabolic disease associated with the deposition of uric acid salts in body tissues. The main signs of gout are: severe swelling, limited physical activity, and severe pain. To break down urate crystals, special medications are prescribed, as well as anti-inflammatory drugs.
Infectious process
Even a small scratch in the knee area can contribute to the spread of the infectious process to nearby tissues and organs, including the joint area.
In people with a weakened immune system, this poses a real danger to the body. This means that any damage to the skin can worsen the patient's condition.
What not to do when your knees hurt?
Regardless of the reason why your knee hurts, below we will tell you what not to do so that the condition does not worsen:
- Avoid knee injuries;
- Avoid foods that cause weight gain (fried and fatty foods, confectionery, foods high in salt, potatoes, sweet carbonated drinks, fast food);
- Avoid excessive physical activity related to sports;
- If your knees hurt and you don't know what to do with the discomfort, as the reviews show, it is better to give up addictions (excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco smoking);
- Avoid wearing tight shoes, avoid high heels;
- Minimize possible stressful situations;
- Ensure healthy and restful sleep;
- Avoid staying in one position for a long time.
When is a visit to the doctor necessary?
No medical intervention is required if pain in the knee area is caused by minor damage to the skin, minor injury, or joint deformity. In such situations, self-medication is allowed.
With more severe processes, there is an urgent need to visit a specialist. First of all, this is due to possible damage to the joint capsule, which can facilitate the entry of pathogenic bacteria into the body.
If the consequences of injury are not eliminated in time, joint function may be lost. It is important to consult a doctor in the following situations:
- Your knee hurts a lot, and you have no information about what to do, what to do;
- Pain syndrome of increasing intensity does not go away for several days;
- There is swelling, redness, and fever in the joint area;
- Increased body temperature;
- Decreased motor activity, bruising.
Experienced specialists carry out a thorough diagnosis of the condition of the knee joint, draw up a detailed treatment plan and select the most effective treatment even for the most advanced pathology.
Knee pain treatment
Often people do not know what exactly to do when their knee joint hurts, and they try to deal with the discomfort on their own. Unfortunately, uncontrolled use of medications and use of special ointments can give the opposite result.
To quickly get rid of pain, an integrated approach is needed. As part of it, not only medications are used, but also physiotherapeutic procedures and special orthopedic devices are used. These include knee braces and braces, which help prevent possible recurrence and ensure a quicker 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, as they do not allow them to determine the true condition of the knee joint. Next we will discuss the drugs used in more detail:
- NSAIDs.Since eliminating the inflammatory process and pain is the main task of discomfort in the knee area, doctors especially 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 becomes achy, the patient is given an intramuscular injection. If your knees hurt a little, in this case, when asked: "What should I do? ", any doctor will advise you to use ointments. Often, when the knee joint is injured, products containing glycosaminoglycans are used. In turn, to remove swelling, they use compresses with dimethyl sulfoxide;
- Chondroprotector.Regardless of whether your knees hurt after running or after a long walk, or due to other pathologies, only an experienced doctor can advise what to do. However, the general recommendation for all patients to relieve pain is to take drugs containing chondroitin and glucosamine. Thanks to its use, it is possible to accelerate the process of recovery of cartilage tissue, prevent oxidative stress and ensure the healthy growth of cartilage cells. In addition, chondroprotectors speed up the rehabilitation period after injury, minimizing the likelihood of severe consequences and causing almost no side effects. At the same time, experts recommend consuming complex products with a high content of minerals and vitamins;
- Antispasmodic and vasodilator.They help improve tissue supply, and also help restore connective tissue and eliminate swelling. In the presence of a chronic pathological process, for example, if your knee hurts for a whole year, the discomfort returns again, and you do not know what to do, you may need to take additional antibiotic therapy and immunobiological drugs.
Physiotherapy procedures
If you are wondering what to do if your knee hurts when walking, or if the discomfort is chronic, any experienced specialist will recommend undergoing physical therapy treatment. With its help, it is possible to increase the effectiveness of the use of drugs, as well as ensure the delivery of drugs to deeper subcutaneous layers.
Physiotherapy procedures help improve blood flow, eliminate pain and reduce sources of inflammation, as well as normalize motor activity and ensure the removal of purulent exudate.
Even if your child's knee hurts and you are trying to figure out what to do, the following physical therapy options will be most effective:
- Impact of magnetic fields on the body;
- Laser therapy;
- Exposure to electric current combined with drug administration;
- UHF;
- Application of galvanic electric current;
- Use of therapeutic mud;
- Therapeutic effect of ultrasound;
- Massage treatment;
- Paraffin therapy;
- Amplipulse therapy;
- Treatment with leeches;
- acupuncture;
- cold treatment;
- Diadynamic therapy and other similar procedures.
The duration of a physiotherapy course usually reaches 7-10 procedures. However, a prerequisite before taking treatment is consultation with a specialist doctor.
UVT for knee pain
The UVT method is in great demand in eliminating pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. It is based on short-term exposure to low-frequency acoustic waves on the affected joint.
The powerful analgesic effect during a shockwave therapy session is achieved through the following process:
- Increased blood flow;
- Development of new blood vessels;
- Increased metabolism.
It should be noted that under the influence of the shock wave, there is a decrease in the fibrotic processes in the tissues inside the knee joint.
The greatest effectiveness is achieved using the UVT method for the deposition of calcium phosphate crystals in tendons. This technique is characterized by increased safety and almost no side effects.
UVT specialists will clearly determine the number of treatment sessions and their duration, as well as provide valuable recommendations regarding the implementation of other restorative procedures.
The need to perform a puncture
If significant swelling occurs, the specialist will remove the purulent contents that limit the normal function and supply of the joint. To drain the exudate, a puncture is performed using a syringe under the influence of anesthesia.
If the desired result is not obtained during physiotherapeutic procedures and the use of medications, the doctor injects hyaluronic acid into the knee joint or performs a periarticular anesthetic blockade. When a purulent inflammatory process is detected, treatment with medication is combined with the procedure of washing the knee joint with a medicinal solution (lavage).
Surgical intervention for pain in the knee area is performed in rare cases, most often in advanced situations.
Exercise therapy for knee pain
Often, when experiencing pain in the knee, experts recommend doing therapeutic exercises. By regularly performing simple exercises, patients can quickly restore joint motor activity, eliminate pain and provide optimal load on this part of the body. This beneficial effect is achieved by increasing muscle tone. You can get the desired results after 8-10 sessions. It is important to exclude sudden movements during physical therapy.
The following exercises are suitable to do 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, trying to bring them closer to the floor;
- In the "lying" position and with straightened legs, the patient should try to spread his toes towards the knee joint;
- The patient takes the "lying" position. Then he put both hands under his knees, trying to bend his limbs slowly. In this case, the knees should be smoothly raised towards the chest;
- When in the "lying" position, you need to make movements with your legs as if you were riding a bicycle.
Preventive measure
Questions like: "What to do if the nerves in your knee hurt? ", or "What measures to take if your knee hurts after a long walk? " will lose their relevance if you follow simple precautions. 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 pathological processes of a chronic or hereditary nature (gout, diabetes, tonsillitis);
- Maintain normal weight by eliminating excessively sweet, salty and fatty foods, as well as alcoholic beverages from the diet;
- Do light exercise;
- Once a year, drink chondroprotectors and undergo an examination by a specialist;
- Follow healthy sleep rules;
- Take about 2-3 liters of still water every day;
- Eliminate any possibility of hypothermia;
- Wear only comfortable shoes and clothing;
- Avoid staying in one position for a long time.