First, is there any obvious trauma to the knee joint? Pain that is accompanied by obvious trauma must be seen promptly. If there is no obvious trauma, then it is time to determine the degree of pain and the degree of knee swelling. Severe pain with localized swelling must be seen by a doctor.
If the pain is due to a sprain.
1, the knee sprain when the pain is mild, not swollen belongs to the mild acute sprain, rest 3 ~ 7 days to get better.
2, the knee sprain when there is pain, but can also be active or walking, generally belong to the moderate acute sprain. The specific degree of injury can be judged according to the post-injury swelling. One is swelling within a few hours after the injury, which is usually combined with knee ligament injury or joint capsule tear. The second is swelling found the day after the injury, which is usually a meniscal or cartilage injury. The third is swelling that does not occur after the injury, but occurs with activity after the pain has subsided. Fourth, the swelling is slight after the injury, usually a mild injury to the joint capsule. The first three cases must be seen as soon as possible, the last can rest and normal activities after the symptoms disappear.
3, the knee joint sprain when severe pain, immediate inability to move or a sense of dislocation, swelling within a few hours after the injury is obvious, belong to the severe acute sprain. These need to be seen as soon as possible, some patients can still insist on walking after the injury, and even gait is normal, but also promptly see a doctor. Such injuries generally include: large ligaments such as the medial patellofemoral ligament, anterior and posterior cruciate ligament tears, meniscal tears, cartilage fractures and even tendon ruptures.
4, can not run fast, can not turn sharply and stop, single-leg jumping difficulties, before the injury can complete the movement can not be completed, these cases belong to the chronic sprain, need to consider ligament rupture, patellar dislocation injury or bony structure injury, need to promptly seek medical advice.
5. Painful popping (clicking sound) in the knee joint, painful walking on flat ground (especially clear pain in the inner or outer gap of the knee joint), and interlocking (the knee joint suddenly gets stuck and requires activity or help from others to unlock it) need to be considered meniscal or cartilage injuries, and prompt medical consultation is required.
Causes of knee pain.
1. Fat pad strain
The fat pad fills the gap at the front of the knee joint and has the effect of strengthening the joint stability and reducing friction. The cause of fat pad strain may be due to trauma or long-term friction causing congestion, hypertrophy and inflammation of the fat pad and adhesions to the patellar ligament, thus limiting knee joint movement. This injury occurs in people over 30 years of age who walk, hike or squat frequently. Patients may feel pain in the knee joint, which is worse when fully extended, but joint movement is not limited, and symptoms are apparent after exertion.
2. Meniscus injury
Meniscus injury is a common injury in athletes. When the lower extremity is weighted, the foot is fixed, and the knee is slightly flexed, a sudden excessive internal rotation and extension of the knee or external rotation and extension of the knee (for example, in volleyball, the player suddenly turns and fishes to save the ball while defending) may cause a meniscus tear. A meniscus injury is characterized by a distinct tearing sensation in the knee, followed by joint pain, limited motion, and a walking limp. The joint exhibits swelling and slipping sensations and pops when the joint is moved.
3. Traumatic synovitis of the knee joint
The synovial membrane of the knee is one of the main structures that make up the knee joint. Synovial cells secrete synovial fluid, which keeps the cartilage surface of the joint slippery and increases the range of motion of the joint. Injury to the synovial membrane due to trauma or overexertion can produce a large amount of fluid, which increases the pressure in the joint and, if not eliminated in time, can easily cause joint adhesions and affect normal activities. Patients will feel pain, swelling and pressure in the knee joint, and the synovial membrane has a frictional and astringent sound. The most obvious feature of the pain is that when the knee joint is actively and extremely extended, especially when there is a certain resistance to do the knee extension movement, the pain in the lower part of the patella will be increased, and the pain is also significantly increased when it is passively and extremely flexed.
4. Osteoarthritis of the knee joint
This condition is mostly seen in middle-aged and elderly people, mostly women. Overweight loading is the main cause of the disease. The knee joint will be swollen and painful, and sometimes there will be friction sounds when moving the joint. The knee may have an inversion deformity and be accompanied by medial pain.
5. Knee ligament injury
The stability of the knee joint is relatively poor when it is slightly flexed. If a sudden external force causes valgus or inversion at this time, it may cause medial or lateral collateral ligament injury. Medial collateral ligament injuries account for the majority of clinical cases. In this injury, for example, the patient will have a clear history of trauma, pain and pressure on the medial side of the knee, increased pain with passive abduction of the lower leg, and swelling on the medial side of the knee, with petechiae appearing after a few days. Knee movement will be restricted.
6. Improper exercise
Some elderly people like to hike, but if they do not prepare for the activity or exercise too much, it can also cause joint pain. Especially people who suffer from synovitis or osteoarthritis, more likely to cause joint disease attacks or aggravation. In mountain climbing, when descending a mountain, the weight of the whole body is put on one knee joint and the pressure on the knee joint is several times higher than when standing normally. The same situation occurs when people go up and down stairs.
7. Bad walking habits
For example, often wearing shoes that do not fit or walking long distances in slippers and high heels can put the knee joint in an abnormal state of stress for a long time, causing chronic damage to the knee joint and causing knee pain.
8, rheumatism, rheumatoid, ankylosing spondylitis, lupus erythematosus and other immune diseases caused by the knee joint lesions.
9, metabolic diseases such as “gout” caused by the incidence of knee pain has a significant upward trend.