All Fit & Well : Ideas For Better Health

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Knee Pain Causes and Treatment

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There a quite a number of different types of knee pain. The following terminology is used in medical Etiology regarding knee pain: Anterior Knee Pain Syndrome,Patello-femoral Syndrome, Knee Injury, Chondromalacia Patellae, Osgood-Schlatter Disease , Sinding-Larson-Johansson, Quadriceps Tendinitis, Patella Tendinitis, Bursitis and patello-femoral joint muscle imbalance. Knee pain is very common amongst athletes and runners, as well as the elderly.

Anterior knee pain (i.e. pain at the front of the knee) is the most common form of knee pain, whereas pain behind the knee occurs very rarel. Knee pain can have various causes, in most cases it is a combination of various factors such as overuse, age and poor lower limb biomechanics. Nowadays with keyhole surgery specialists can instantly find out the cause of the patient’s knee problem without having to open up the knee completely. Generally such operations are conducted very smoothly and almost immediately after the surgery full use of the knee is being restored. In some cases physiotherapy is required after the operation. In the first period after surgery, the physiotherapist will focus on reducing the knee pain and swelling.

Causes of knee complaints

The most common cause of knee pain is simply wear and tear as a result of overuse and ageing. Overuse means the knee joint is being taxed for a number of years because of strenuous exercises and/or work-related activities. Therefore the risk groups are people who play or have played rugby, soccer, cricket, cyclists, athletes, runners etc, as well as people in the building industry. As a result of the the normal degenerative process of ageing over the years the cartilage behind the knee cap (patella) will soften and wear out, resulting in small areas of soft tissue breakdown, which leads to knee pain and swelling in the knee joint. When the cartilage wears out instead of gliding smoothly over the knee, the patella start to grind against the femur (thigh bone) when the knee moves during walking, running and also cycling. With some patients complete erosion of the cartilage occurs. In the knee joint there are two pads of cartilaginous tissue which help disperse friction in the knee joint between the tibia and the thigh femur. They are called the meniscus, plural menisci. They are shaped concave at the top and flat at the bottom. Sometimes pieces of the meniscus may tear away and a torn piece can begin to move inside the knee joint, getting caught between the bones, which then leads to pain, swelling and decreased mobility.

Generally there a 3 ways to solve the issue of a d a m a g e d m e n i s c u s: r e p a i r , r e m o v a l or t r a n s p l a n t a t i o n . R e p a i r means t h e t i s s u e s a r e secured together, allowing the tissue to heal and repair itself naturally. Meniscus repair is now a very common form of treatment and the surgery is not very invasive. However when too much damage is done the only option left is to entirely remove the meniscus or parts of it. This is k n o w n a s a m e n i s c e c t o m y . The problem is that total removal of the meniscus will leads to progressive arthritis of the knee joint and constant pain and swelling. In recent years meniscus transplantation is gaining popularity, replacing the damaged meniscus cartilage with tissue from a human donor. This then restores normal knee function and it also will help protect the remaining joint surfaces.

What can you do yourself to help relieve knee pain?

Poor foot biomechanics also plays a role with problems in the knee. In particular a comnon foot condition called excessive pronation or rolling in of the ankle joint. Orthotics help correct pronation. Knee pain exercises are also recommended by physiotherapists.