First Aid For Knee Injuries In The First 48 To 72 Hours
- Stop your activity immediately. Dont work through the pain.
- Rest the joint at first.
- Reduce pain, swelling and internal bleeding with icepacks, applied for 15 minutes every couple of hours.
- Bandage the knee firmly and extend the wrapping down the lower leg.
- Elevate the injured leg.
- Dont apply heat to the joint.
- Avoid alcohol, as this encourages bleeding and swelling.
- Dont massage the joint, as this encourages bleeding and swelling.
What Are The Complications Of Knee Pain
Frequently, knee pain will disappear without ever finding a specific cause. Depending on the underlying cause of the pain, the condition can progress and lead to more serious injuries or complications. Usually, these complications are long term and result in worsening pain or an increasing difficulty to walk.
What Natural Home Remedies Relieve Knee Pain
Over-the-counter pain medications can frequently alleviate the pain. If someone is taking these medications on a regular basis, he or she should see a health care professional to evaluate the knee pain for proper diagnosis and to avoid the potential side effects of chronic medication use.
The RICE mnemonic is often helpful, especially for minor injuries:
Rest: Rest the joint, and take a break from your usually activities involving the knee joint.
Ice: Applying ice can help with pain and inflammation.
Compress: A compression bandage can help prevent swelling and help knee alignment. It should not be tight and should be removed at night.
Elevate: Elevation can help with swelling and resting of the knee.
Recommended Reading: Nano Knee Replacement Surgery
What Are The Causes Of Knee Pain In Teenagers
Common knee pain problems in your teenager can be generally divided into three types:
- Anterior knee pain, also called patellofemoral pain.
- Injures to ligaments and tendons of the knee or to the kneecap itself.
- Medical conditions that affect the knee.
Anterior knee pain happens when your teens kneecap is pulled out of its groove from increased pressure. Increased pressure on the knee joint is caused by:
- Abnormal hip rotation due to imbalances in muscle strength and flexibility around the hips.
- Improper training methods or equipment.
- Poor flexibility of the thigh muscles, which support the knee joint. Thigh muscle weakness or tightness.
- Overuse of the knee from repetitive bending of the knee during running, jumping, and other activities.
- Problems with alignment, for example, the kneecap not being properly aligned within the knee or having flat feet, which changes the normal gait.
Knee pain resulting from sprains, strains and tears to ligaments and tendons or injuries to other soft tissues. These conditions include:
Medical conditions that can affect your teens knee include:
Feels Like: Stiff Tender Knees That Crack And Swell
Might be: Arthritis
Osteoarthritis is the wear-and-tear type of arthritis, and it often strikes the knees. The most common form of arthritis, it usually begins in your 30s, and is caused by the deterioration of the cushiony tissue in the knee. Just like you get gray hair as you age, you start to wear down the cartilage, the meniscus, in the knees, Tanaka says. Arthritis symptoms include stiffness, swelling, poor range of motion, and catching or grinding of the joint.
Other types of arthritis can also affect the knees, including rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
You May Like: Rollator Knee Scooter
What Should I Do If I’m Experiencing Pain At The Back Of My Knee
If you are dealing with back-of-knee pain, Dr. James makes the point that it is imperative to “see your healthcare provider to rule out some of these more serious causes.” Dr. Holder agrees, recommending a “clinical assessment of the knee is comprehensive and includes for instability, edema, and clicking or popping along with pain.” Dr. James mentions that if the diagnosis is related to overuse or muscle imbalances like tendonitis or bursitis, an exercise regimen that “focuses on proper form, good posture, and rebalancing the muscles around the knee” would be very helpful. Whether the pain is due to something more serious or not, Dr. Holder asserts that an orthopedic assessment and a physician evaluation are crucial to providing an accurate diagnosis, and that it’s important to get treatment as soon as possible.
Can Knee Pain In Teens Be Prevented
Most knee pain that is caused by injury or overuse can be prevented with some attention and work by your teen, including:
- Make sure your teen wears proper shoes for the activity/sport and wears knee pads and leg guards . Replace worn out footwear and gear.
- Engage in muscle strength training exercises. Check with a trainer to make sure proper form and body alignment are being followed. Always do warm up and cool down exercises before and after workouts.
- Keep your muscles flexible by proper stretching exercises or yoga.
- Dont engage in activities that cause or worsen knee pain.
Also Check: Is Nano Knee Covered By Medicare
See The Doctor If You Have:
- An inability to walk comfortably on the affected side
- An injury that causes deformity around the joint
- Knee pain that occurs at night or while resting
- Knee pain that persists beyond a few days
- Locking in the knee
- Swelling of the joint or the calf area
- Signs of an infection, including fever, redness, or warmth
- Any other unusual symptoms
Types Of Knee Pain And What They Could Mean
-
If youve ever experienced pain in one or both of your knees, youre not alone. About one-third of all Americans have felt pain in this major joint at some point in their lives. Women are slightly more likely than men to be affected by it . Yet the millions of people with this pain dont all feel the same thing. Knee pain can be sharp or dull, burning or excruciating, accompanied by strange noises or silent. What does your knee pain tell you about whats wrong?
Don’t Miss: What Is The Best Knee Walker
What Medical Conditions Cause Knee Pain
Medical conditions
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that can affect any joint in the body. It can cause severe pain and disability, as well as swelling.
Gout is a form of arthritis that is most commonly found in the big toe, though it can also affect the knee. Gout tends to flare up and is extremely painful during the acute episodes. When there is no flare-up, the knee can be pain free.
With , the knee joint can become infected this leads to pain, swelling, and fever. This condition requires antibiotics and drainage treatments as soon as possible.
Chronic use/overuse conditions
Patellar tendinitis is an inflammation of the tendons connecting the kneecap to the shinbone . Patellar tendinitis is a chronic condition often found in individuals repeating the same motion during exercise .
Patellofemoral pain syndrome is caused by degeneration or stress under the kneecap where it meets the thighbone . Patellofemoral pain syndrome occurs in runners and cyclists.
Osteoarthritis: a wearing down of cartilage of the joint due to use and age
Prepatellar bursitis: Inflammation to the bursa in front of the kneecap may cause anterior knee pain.
Other causes
How Are Knee Injuries Diagnosed
To diagnose a knee injury, health care providers ask about how the injury happened and what symptoms it causes.
The health care provider will do a physical exam that includes pressing on the knee and legs and moving them in certain ways. These tests can show what part of the knee is injured.
Imaging tests done sometimes used include:
- X-rays to check for injuries to the bones
- a CT scan or MRI to look inside the knee
Also Check: Ginger Poultice For Arthritis
How To Fix It:
The major cause of tightness behind the knee has a saddle that is too high or too far behind. It is best to look out for the level of your saddle if you are experiencing pain or tightness behind the knee. But above all, I would suggest that you get a bike that fits you perfectly or change your saddle completely if you have to. If you are suffering from a saddle sore and don’t know what to do with it. Check out ‘How To Prevent and Treat Saddle Sores‘ here.
Are You Experiencing Pain Behind The Knee
When the cartilage is gone, the knee bones scrape against each other and cause pain. The main symptom is a dull ache behind your kneecap . The pain may get worse when you climb stairs or after youve been sitting for a while. Ice, over-the-counter pain relievers, and physical therapy can help with the pain.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Best Knee Walker
What Causes Knee Pain
Because of the use our knees get every day, there are many causes for pain: injuries, mechanical problems, arthritis and other conditions. Some of the more common conditions include ACL injuries, bursitis, arthritis, dislocated knee and a torn meniscus. You can also injure your knee if you have foot or ankle pain that affects your gait. Limping around can put excess wear on your joints, causing more pain.
You Cant Straighten Your Knee Or Leg
If you have trouble straightening your leg or it hurts to do so, you probably have a serious knee injury.
To test this, start in a seated position and try to lift your lower leg using your own leg muscles. You may still be able to bear weight and walk slowly and carefully without assistance, but will probably require assistance to lift your lower leg and fully extend your injured knee, says Dr. Brown.
Patella fractures, quadriceps tendon tears, and patellar tendon tears all tend to be associated with an inability to straighten the leg.
Use a knee immobilizer to hold the knee in a straight position and help with pain relief. This also makes it easier to move about until your appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, he adds.
Another test is to lie down and try to straighten your leg. The goal is to get your knee to lie flat. This might be difficult or impossible to do due to the pain, but what you should watch out for is a total inability to straighten your knee.
Some of the problems that could cause a locked knee include meniscus tears or a torn ACL. The key is to determine whether you cant straighten your knee due to sheer pain or physical blockage. If you feel blocked, then we recommend getting in touch with a doctor sooner rather than later.
On the flip side, you might have trouble bending your knee. If your knee feels stuck in any way, and the feeling doesnt go away within a few hours, you could be experiencing something more severe.
Recommended Reading: Mini Knee Replacement
Lateral And Medial Knee Pain
Lateral and Medial knee pains are gotten from biking. Lateral pain is pain on the outer side of the knee, while medial pain is anterior knee pain. It is felt inside the knee. Cleat positioning is a very common cause of lateral knee pain and medial knee pain. Outside-the-knee pain is prevalent, and the culprits are often the feet or improperly adjusted pedal cleats. As a result, such pain is felt during or after the first ride with cleats and new shoes or replacement cleats.
The collateral ligaments, which sit on the outsides of the knee joint and prevent it from bending in the wrong direction, are the structures generating the pain, and they hurt because your cleats have been positioned wrongly.
Tips To Go Up And Down Stairs With Less Pain
Read Also: Can You Use An Inversion Table After Knee Replacement
You Felt Or Heard A Pop
Sometimes, a popping sound after a movement can indicate something is out of place.
Oftentimes this type of sound upon injury is indicative of a ligamentous injury, says Schwabe. Not all ligamentous injuries are full tears, though, and not all require surgery.
However, if you also experience excessive swelling and instability, get it checked out by an M.D. If you only have a mild sprain then you will be able to rehab it with physical therapy, he says.
The pop is what you hear as a result of a ligament tear, a meniscus tear, strained tendons, or a dislocated kneecap. Usually what happens is youll simultaneously hear and feel the pop.
If youre not familiar with the meniscus, its the cartilage in the knee that functions as a shock absorber. Each knee has two menisci, and theyre shaped like horseshoes. The medial meniscus is on the inside of the knee, and the lateral meniscus is on the outside.
The popping sensation can be difficult to explain, but youll certainly know it when it happens to you. Though the sound originates in the knee, youll hear it as though it was directly in your ear. Its as if the sensation travels up your body, and when it gets to your brain, it becomes audible.
If the pain is severe, youll want to visit a doctor as soon as possible. Surgery is often the recommended course of action, but physical therapy and other non-invasive remedies may be prescribed as alternatives.
Treatments For Knee Pain On Left Or Right Side
We are not going to leave you feeling panicked and scared after reading the numerous causes and risk factors of knee pain. You do not have to run towards another site to check out the treatments you can get to combat any sort of knee complication that you might have.
We have enlisted some of the best treatments which are available in all healthcare centers across the world to help you alleviate knee pain. Though, you need to keep in mind that the treatment for each type of knee pain is different so you need to go to the doctor and have a consult before implying one of these treatments in your daily life.
To get information about some of the treatments available around the world to eradicate or at least minimize knee pain, continue reading this article!
Dont Miss: How To Get Rid Of Fat Around Knees
You May Like: How To Get Rid Of Dark Spots On Your Knees
What Are The Possible Causes Of Back
If your back-of-knee pain is not due to any specific accident or incident, it could be caused by a wide array of factors. According to Dr. Celeste Holder, who holds a B.S. in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University, a doctorate in chiropractic medicine from the University of Bridgeport, and is a 1AND1 LIFE doctor, back-of-knee pain presents itself less often than other kinds of knee discomfort, but when it does appear, the “differential diagnosis is rather broad.” Holder continues that diagnoses for this kind of pain can include “pathology to the bones, musculotendinous structures, ligaments, nerves, vascular components, and/or to the bursas,” which makes pinning down the main reason quite challenging.
Apart from musculotendinous injuries, one of the most common causes of posterior knee pain is a Baker’s cyst. Dr. Patrick Jean-Pierre, board certified internal and nonoperative sports medicine doctor and part of the 1AND1 LIFE team, cites Baker’s cysts as cysts that “develop from the breakdown of cartilage or arthritis in your knee, causing an out pocket of swelling and fluid. Sometimes this swelling can become very painful, resulting in the pain behind your knee joint.” Dr. James adds that these cysts “can be caused by repeated irritation of structures in the knee. This also can be caused by poor movement habits or muscle imbalances.”
Here’s When To Seek Medical Attention For Your Knee Pain
Per Mayo Clinic, pain in the knee can also be brought on by excess body weight, having limited muscle flexibility or strength, a previous injury, and working in certain occupations particularly those that are sports-related. Some lifestyle changes that could help prevent knee pain include maintaining a healthy weight, keeping your body strong and flexible, and making sure you’re exercising safely.
The NHS advises that you arrange an appointment with a doctor if the pain in your knee fails to improve within a few weeks, or if your knee locks or clicks painfully. Seek urgent medical attention if you’re experiencing severe pain in your knee, you can’t move or put any kind of weight on your knee, the area has become swollen or changed shape, your knee pain is accompanied by a very high temperature, you feel warm and shivery, or you have redness and heat around the area, as this could indicate an infection.
Read Also: How To Get Rid Of Black Marks On Knees
What Does Bruising Behind The Knee Mean
The symptoms include pain, swelling, and bruising behind the knee of the back of the leg, which is caused by sudden movements or a force through the knee. I would really appreciate your time and suggestion. When the kneecap dislocates, it comes out of this groove and the supporting tissues can be stretched or torn.
6. Bruising occurs along with other bleeding. Bruising accompanied by frequent nosebleeds that are hard to stop or blood in the urine or stool should be investigated. Your primary care provider will refer you to a hematologist if you have continued significant bruising larger than one centimeter with no known trauma.
Caring for someone after a total knee replacement can help ensure a smooth recovery. This article gives 10 tips you can use to help them recover.
Electroacupuncture is similar to acupuncture, but in involves the use of an electric current. Learn about its potential uses, what to expect during a.
A Weekend on the Bottom : My friend E mails Me about her weekend as a subbie. BDSM 01/03/10: A Weekend with Master Jim Day: 2 Part Series: A Weekend with Master Jim Day 01 : I am won in a bet by Masters friend who enjoys all of me!